Texas candidate Jerry Patterson says don’t secede from the union — just throw liberal states out

Remember Rick Perry and secession? That’s so yesterday. Ever-quotable lieutenant governor candidate Jerry Patterson says he has a better idea. Texas shouldn’t secede – it should just make the U.S. better by throwing liberal states out. California, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut. “I get lots of questions all the time, ‘Well, we should secede.’ I say, ‘No, I’ve got a better idea. Instead of secession, I’m a proponent of expulsion,’” he told the AP. “I want to kick about four states out of this union.”

Patterson’s idea about state ideological cleansing underscores his distinctive political persona. A 2nd Amendment-loving, motorcycle-riding Marine – currently the state’s land commissioner – Patterson is running for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor to replace incumbent David Dewhurst. It’s a crowded contest. He trails in money, but is good at grabbing headlines to present himself as the most conservative candidate in the field.

On guns: He always has a .22-caliber Magnum in his boot and sometimes a .380 in his waistband. “It’s like a smoke detector: You don’t turn it on just for when you think you might get a fire.”

On the Endangered Species Act: It protects “critters that probably ought to die anyway. I mean, the blind salamander? How long are we gonna let that little bugger last?”

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http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/texas-candidate-jerry-patterson-says-dont-secede-from-the-union-just-throw-liberal-states-out.html/