EoT: If at First You Don’t Secede …

A weekly roundup of national and international news about Texas.

In the wake of President Obama’s re-election, citizens from several states, including Texas, have filed petitions with Obama to secede. Diane Roberts of the U.K.’s Guardian wrote that  the movement has been coordinated by “white supremacists, Christian fundamentalists, and other malcontents lost in the back streets of Crazytown.” Roberts asked who would miss Texas anyhow: “As long as we get Austin … they can have George W. Bush, Ron Paul and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.”

Austin residents have filed their own petition–to secede from Texas if it leaves the U.S., said an MSNBC report that partially quoted the city’s appeal to the president: “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.”

Despite the state’s Republican leanings, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro has become the face of the state’s new political reality, said the L.A. Times in a piece about Castro’s book deal with Little Brown for “a memoir detailing the up-from-the-bootstraps story of his Central Texas family.” Castro first gained national attention when he delivered a memorable keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in September.

In racier news, the BBC reported that Austin’s first Formula 1  race could bring in $400 million of revenue for the state’s capital and surrounding towns.