H/T reader Mimik: Austin is my hometown, and it’s a refreshing dot of reasonable blue in a sea of angry red. Since a handful of residents of the Great state of Texas have petitioned to secede — instead of having a black President it seems — some Austinites have created another petition noting “we’re not with those idiots.” Sign it here.
We petition the obama administration to: Peacefully grant the city of Austin Texas to withdraw from the state of Texas & remain part of the United States.Austin Texas continues to suffer difficulties stemming from the lack of civil, religious, and political freedoms imposed upon the city by less liberally minded Texans. It is entirely feasible for Austin to operate as its own state, within the United States, in the event that Texas is successful in the current bid to secede. It is important for Austin to remain in the union as to do so would protect it’s citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers.
We would also like to annex Dublin Texas, Lockhart Texas, & Shiner Texas.
I’d also like to include enough of the hill country to get most of Lake Travis and the entire Enchanted Rock State Natural Area along with a big chunk of the new 85 MPH Austin to San Antonio turnpike.
Signed. But the whole thing was apparently a misunderstanding.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ttnzJ1kSFPo/UKPP6lM8xeI/AAAAAAAAEWI/YJPVWGPMAdg/s500/texasccdd.png
So Austin wants to secede from Texas?
This is where we get into semantics. They should have made it clearer that Austin is part of the USA, and that if Texas chooses to leave the USA, then they are also leaving Austin.
Austin – the West Berlin of Texas.
Independence isn’t the only way. Austin could become an exclave of some other state.
Screw that. If Austin gets to opt out of Texas, Houston’s coming as well.
Hey, 41 percent voted for Obama in Texas. We aren’t all idiots, here. And if Austin gets to stay in the US, so does San Antonio. Obama won in Bexar County, just like he did in Travis County.
Yes, don’t let San Antonio go. I don’t want to have to renew my passport just to visit the Riverwalk.
Next: Austin airlift.
Signed it, and posted it to the CFI forums.
Hey, Steven (or Stephen) we still need to meet for dinner. I’ll buy.
Texas has the right (theoretically) to split into five states. So west Texas (El Paso) and south Texas (Austin and San Antonio) stay, and the other three Texases (Texi?) go there own way.
Give those other three Texas states back to Mexico. If the U.S. stays neutral, I think the Mexican Army can take care of any resistance this time around.
Perry made an official pronouncement today that he considers the petition a low priority and a distraction.
But you also have to consider that Houston considers itself a world city that happens to be in Texas with a gay mayor and all that. The focus here is being part of the world. Many major world companies have their US headquarters here. You can be pretty sure they wouldn’t be happy about secession. You think a crazy rabble can take on Shell Oil?
Back when I was a kid Shell used to send “guest speakers” who were really spies to make sure we were learning proper geology and biology. The Texas State Board of Education recently had its powers reduced and soon revoked many of its pro-creationist policies. I think the oil companies were behind that. Good for them.
Any readers here from Dallas? I suspect y’all don’t wanna bail either.
Austin, Houston and Dallas can stay. The rest can be used as a conservative “independent” bantustan, providing cheap immigrant labor to USA.
@10: while the act by which Texas joined the US has language allowing for its division into multiple states, this is subordinate to the US constitution, of which Article IV provides that Congress would have to consent. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_divisionism#Federal_Constitutional_Provision ).
Since one effect of subdividing Texas would be a splitting of its electoral college votes, and some of the new states would probably go Democratic, there’d be some difficulty in getting Republicans from other states to agree to the division.
So, no.
@10 – The plural of “Texas” ought to be “Texai”.
@birger: as long as Plano is included with Dallas…
Please include the Hill Country. I am writing this now inside Austin city limits but when I go home I will be on the other side of Lake Travis. I think we should include all of Travis County, not just Austin. Don’t leave me behind! ;)
@swells.
I understand the need for consent by Congress for the admission of new states. I’m just saying that instead of a civil war this time, if Texas wants to leave, we should just carve out the parts that want to stay and tell the rest not to let the door hit them on the way out.