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For anyone who didn't think Gov. Rick Perry was a big enough wingnut to suit the state of Texas, there's an even nuttier one waiting to take his place -- secessionist Larry Kilgore. The Daily Show's Jessica interviewed Kilgore and his sidekick, Lynn Troxel, and it was a surreal enough segment that it could have been something you'd find over at The Onion.

Sadly, this guy is actually talking about running for office in Texas: With Stickers, a Petition and Even a Middle Name, Secession Fever Hits Texas:

Secession fever has struck parts of Texas, which Mitt Romney won by nearly 1.3 million votes.

Sales of bumper stickers reading “Secede” — one for $2, or three for $5 — have increased at TexasSecede.com. In East Texas, a Republican official sent out an e-mail newsletter saying it was time for Texas and Vermont to each “go her own way in peace” and sign a free-trade agreement among the states.

A petition calling for secession that was filed by a Texas man on a White House Web site has received tens of thousands of signatures, and the Obama administration must now issue a response. And Larry Scott Kilgore, a perennial Republican candidate from Arlington, a Dallas suburb, announced that he was running for governor in 2014 and would legally change his name to Larry Secede Kilgore, with Secede in capital letters. As his Web page, secedekilgore.com, puts it: “Secession! All other issues can be dealt with later.”

In Texas, talk of secession in recent years has steadily shifted to the center from the fringe right. It has emerged as an echo of the state Republican leadership’s anti-Washington, pro-Texas-sovereignty mantra on a variety of issues, including health care and environmental regulations. For some Texans, the renewed interest in the subject serves simply as comic relief after a crushing election defeat.

But for other proponents of secession and its sister ideology, Texas nationalism — a focus of the Texas Nationalist Movement and other groups that want the state to become an independent nation, as it was in the 1830s and 1840s — it is a far more serious matter. Read on...

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An Alabama man who started a petition calling for the White House to allow his state to peacefully secede from the Union says he's angry that the government forced him to close his topless car wash.

Disaffected Americans have created hundreds of “We the People” petitions on the White House website following President Barack Obama' re-election earlier this month. There have been petitions from each of the 50 states requesting permission to secede.

WKRG-TV managed to track down Derrick Belcher, the man responsible for the petition calling for Alabama's secession.

Gawker noted on Thursday that the 45-year-old trucking company manager was really just upset because his Euro Details topless car wash had been shut down by the government.

But according to Al.com, it was the Mobile city government -- not the federal government -- that arrested Belcher and charged him with obscenity after the state of Alabama enacted an anti-obscenity law in 1998.

"The government ripped my business away, and now they're choking America to death with rules and regulations," the secessionist explained.

"The American people are being mistreated by the federal government and there is absolutley no reason why we shouldn't end this treatment from the federal government," he told WKRG-TV. “And I guess there is a part of me that is angry because my government has mistreated me year after year after year, and I am fed up with it and I know there are several other people in this state and all across the country that are fed up with it as well.”

At the time of publication, Belcher's petition for secession had 29,124 signatures, meeting the 25,000 threshold needed for a White House response.

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It looks like Texas Gov. Rick Perry has decided those remarks on secession might not go over so well now that he's running for president. From Sean Hannity's show on Fox Wednesday night:

HANNITY: All right. But some people said, while you used the term once succession, is that something you believe?

PERRY: No, I never used that term at all. As a matter of fact --

HANNITY: Why was it reported?

PERRY: I have no idea to be real honest with you, because it was never a factual bit of reporting. It was shouted out by an individual at an event at a Tea Party actually. And I said listen, America is a great country. We have no reason that we would ever dissolve this union. But I said I get it about why people are frustrated, because they are seeing Washington spend this massive amount of money, we've got a huge debt being created. And people are really frustrated with what they see in Washington, D.C. I understand that, didn't agree with it, but I understood it.

As ThinkProgress reported, among Perry's other lies he's been telling lately, although he did not use the term "secession" himself, anyone who listened to what he said knew exactly what he was talking about:

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From this weekend's coverage of the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on MSNBC, another classic example of Villager, "both sides", false equivalencies. From AmericaBlog -- NBC’s David Gregory equates Perry’s secession talk to Obama’s push for national health care:

Yesterday, we saw a stunning example of how the traditional media types equate the views of Democrats and Republicans, even when the GOP idea is so extreme it would undermine the stability of the United States. NBC's David Gregory equated Rick Perry's treasonous call for secession with Obama's effort to provide national health care. Perry first talked secession back in April of 2009. Gregory seems to think they're equally extreme. This conversation occurred yesterday on MSNBC following the announcements that Michele Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll and Rick Perry had entered the race. It's painful enough to watch Chuck Todd and David Gregory. But, this analysis from Gregory really shows how warped the media is:

Chuck Todd: Perry-Obama would be a picture of sharp contrasts.

David Gregory: You know, Perry talked about potentially seceding from the union. You think that's extreme. Well people on the other side think that introducing health care reform for the whole country is akin to European Socialism.

And as they noted, beyond just the ridiculous false equivalency, David Gregory just legitimized Perry's wingnuttery and secession talk. Thanks Greggers.

h/t Digby

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Here we go again. It seems Governor Goodhair just can't get enough of the secession talk.

From TPM -- Rick Perry: Let States Secede From Social Security:

Freshly reelected Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) just isn't ready to give up on the secession talk that made him a topic of conversation last year. Taking a national victory lap after his election to an unprecedented third term this week, Perry is out talking up his new plan to break up the union, kind of: It's time, he says, to let states opt out of Social Security.

Last April, Perry told some Austin tea partiers that though "there's absolutely no reason to dissolve" the union the state of Texas has been a part of for about 160 years, "if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that." Texas, he suggested, could lead the charge.

His new suggestion is not to split Texas from the other 49 states, but rather to give it the option to secede from the national pension program that has defined retirement in the country for 75 years.

"When you look at social security, it's broke," Perry told the hosts of MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning. "My kids, 27 and 24, they know this is a Ponzi scheme."

One way out of this mess, in Perry's mind? Just abandon Social Security altogether and let the states handle it. Texas (of course) has already fixed Social Security's problem, Perry says, so why should it be saddled with paying the Ponzi debts of every other sucker?

"Why is the federal government even in the pension program or the health care delivery program?" Perry asked. "Let the states do it." Read on...

Chris Matthews talks to former McCain advisor Mark McKinnon and Richard Wolffe about Sister Sarah's flame throwing speech at the National Tea Party Convention this past weekend and her performance there is finally enough to scare the crap out of even Chris Matthews. He blasts her for war mongering on Iran.

MATTHEWS: I don`t know what to make of it. It gets worse, Richard. Let`s look at this. Here she -- asked her about what -- well, should Obama would be -- would it take to defeat Obama in 2012? And here`s what Palin said. This is getting truly scary. This isn`t just not knowing what you`re talking about, or pretending you know what you`re talking about. Here is scary thinking you know what you`re talking about. Let`s listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: Say he played the war card. Say he decided to declare war on Iran or decided really come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do. But that changes the dynamics in what we can assume is going to happen between now and three years because I think if the election were today, I do not think Obama would be reelected.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: You`re not suggesting that he would cynically play the war card?

MATTHEWS: I`m not suggesting that. I`m saying if he did, things would dramatically change, if decided to toughen up and do all that he can to secure our nation and our allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEWS: Is she a balloon head? I mean, Richard, listen to this. I`m asking the question. She said it would be popular in this country to go to war, to declare war on yet another country with 77 million people and a pretty darn modern air force to fight with. To declare war on Iran would be popular in this country. What world does she -- and then she puts the oath up, like to Israel. What was that putting the hand up, kind of an oath there, and bringing in Israel into this? What did that have to do with anything that`s reasonable?

WOLFFE: Well, number one, I think she suffers from living in a pre- Iraq war mentality, which is that, you know, you can go out and prove you`re tough by invading another country. Two problems with that. First of all, it ignores the fact...

MATTHEWS: Declaring war on Iran, she`s talking about.

WOLFFE: First of all -- right. First of all, it ignores the experience that we had in Iraq. Secondly, her brand is that she`s an authentic politician, that she is somehow bringing a sense of reality to the Washington dynamic. And here in this question, she`s engaging in some nakedly political scenario, role playing, as if it`s acceptable. It isn`t! It isn`t to regular voters. It`s not acceptable to foreign policy folks. I -- I -- you know, what can you say except she`s ripping off Pat Buchanan`s column, apparently.

MATTHEWS: Mark, I don`t get it, declaring war on Iran. I mean, everyone knows that Iran is a hell of a lot more sophisticated country than Iraq, a hell of a lot more fierce a war to take on. To go into a ground war of any kind, even -- I would think the most far-right hawk in the country would say drop a few bombs on them, knock out their plant, their nuclear plant. But the idea of declaring war and going to all-out war with -- well, I don`t know what to make of why she`s doing it and saying that would be popular in this country. Where?

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From Countdown's WTF!! segment. Keith considers what would happen to Texas if their wingnut Governor got his wish it did secede from the United States. You'd better be careful what you wish for Governor Perry since leaving, as Keith notes, would be pretty expensive for Texas.

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From Hardball April 16, 2009. Why oh why does Chris Matthews feel the need to keep bringing this man on his show. Tom DeLay defends Gov. Rick Perry's talk of secession for Texas and explains how it would work. Did Matthews actually expect anything else from this thug?

Matthews: You know Mr. DeLay all through the Bush administration the government money, the debt went rising and rising and rising. It went from something like four to seven trillion dollars to almost triple, double that rather and there wasn't this talk of secession or leaving the union or this incredible radical talk. Why is it coming now because we have a Democratic President?

DeLay: It comes all the time in the state of Texas. Texans are Texans and they fight for their sovereignty and fight for the Constitution of the United States. And every time the federal government mandates things from the state of Texas, the state of Texas is a huge donor state. We only get about seventy cents back for every dollar we send to the federal government. Now we're paying for a lot of this and the Americans, Texans are fed up with the government growing like it's growing. Uh, I tell you what the biggest skunk at the party is for someone to come into Austin. And we are absolutely fed up with what is going on as I think hundreds if not millions of people yesterday were expressing the exact same sentiment in these tea parties.

Matthews: You know that sounds like, you sound like some rebel leader in the sixties in the Congo in Katanga Province that produced all the mineral wealth for the country and wanted to secede from the Congo. I mean this idea that suppose maybe Texas does produce a lot of the wealth. A lot of states are wealthier than other states. They just are. Does that mean they should secede?

DeLay: Chris Texas is wealthy because it works hard. It's a pro-business state. It doesn't overtax its businesses and its citizens. It's no where near what California or New York or New Jersey that's losing businesses left and right. Losing jobs left and right. It ain't even close to what the rust belt is. We are a pro-business state. We love jobs. We love businesses to come to Texas. We will not overtax you. We don't have an income tax. We're, we're, that what people are coming to Texas is because of our ability and our penchant to fight for what we believe in and we're going to use every means possible, uh, legally to fight for our position and fight the Obama administration and the Democrat liberals Pelosi and Harry Reid in what they're attempting to do to this country and to the state of Texas.

Matthews: When you talk about the sovereignty of the state of Texas are you talking about nullification. What are you talking about? The right of the state to deny the role of the federal government. What right are you insisting on when you say sovereignty? Like it's an independent country again.

DeLay: It is an, it's an independent state.

Matthews: It is?

DeLay: And given many powers by the tenth amendment of the United States Constitution. The tenth amendment is violated every day in Washington DC and we're standing up and reminding the American people that the tenth amendment is strong and we're going to defend it and we're going to fight for it.

Matthews: So all powers not delegated to the federal government reside in the states. Right?

DeLay: That's exactly right and we ought to return to that Constitution.

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Keith talks to Jim Moore about how irresponsible Rick Perry's remarks about secession for his state were. Moore reminds viewers of the tragic incident with a separatist movement in 1997, the Republic of Texas led by Rick McLaren which led to a week long stand-off with the police.