The American election may be over, but for me, the fun of American politics never really ends.

After democrat Barack Obama narrowly defeated republican Mitt Romney (or Mittens, as I affectionately refer to him as) in the November 6 presidential election, the American republican party is attempting an about-face, but without really changing anything at all. One might think that after getting lambasted in the national media over opposition to basic human rights such as contraceptives (which the United Nations named as a universal human right last week) and abortion (which is legal across the vast majority of developed nations), the party might consider a change of some of their policies.

Wishful thinking, perhaps.

Instead, the republicans have turned on everyone but themselves, attempting to lay the blame at anyone’s feet but their own. Romney’s running mate, former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan took to blaming voter turnout in “urban areas” (read: black and hispanic) while Ohio secretary of state and republican Jon Husted suggested a new electoral system that would have given Romney a win in the crucial swing state of Ohio.

Not to be outdone, after Obama won the election, American citizens from more than 40 states have now filed petitions with the United States government asking to officially secede from the country. Does anyone remember the last time states tried to secede from the union? The last time that happened was in 1861, and it ignited a small war that you might have heard of in high school history class, known as the American Civil War.

Among the seven states that have reached the 25,000 signature threshold for the White House to officially craft a response, is Texas, which at the time of this writing had amassed over 100,000 signatures on their online petition. (Hilariously enough, the capital of Texas, the city of Austin, has also started a petition to withdraw from Texas and remain a part of the United States.) Texans complain that “the US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending,” and go on to say that “given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union.”

Far be it from me to judge other people based on their religious or social ideas, but the fact that there are over 100,000 people in Texas who feel like leaving the United States of America and forming their own sovereign nation is really their best option is ludicrous (insert mandatory Quebec joke here.) Instead, how about working with your neighbours, and working with the political party across the aisle to co-operate and build the best possible community and country that they can?

Wishful thinking, perhaps.