# If you could get rid of any state... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724 "2017-11-15T21:44:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/121 "2017-11-18T13:55:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I think the South should secede again, and the North should let them. Let it, but then invade it, and annex it as a territory with only ceremonial representation. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/122 "2017-11-18T17:44:19Z")
Give Texas back to Mexico? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/123 "2017-11-18T17:51:46Z")
> [@ThisIsTheEnd](#): > > Let it, but then invade it, and annex it as a territory with only ceremonial representation. You do know that in a real North vs. South war today, the South is considerably more likely to win? ---
**Author:** ![CastletonSnob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ea924/32.png) [@CastletonSnob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/124 "2017-11-18T18:44:50Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Give Texas back to Mexico? Why should we? ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/125 "2017-11-18T19:43:46Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > You do know that in a real North vs. South war today, the South is considerably more likely to win? Based on what? Sincere question. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/126 "2017-11-18T20:24:30Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Based on what? Sincere question. Some web site. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/127 "2017-11-19T22:05:13Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Delaware, obviously. I’m not really convinced it exists in the first place. I mean who has ever met someone from Delaware. I have! I think she was even telling the truth, too. The stretch of highway between NJ and MD exists, but I’ve seen no evidence that it is actually in Delaware. The University of Delaware definitely exists, but it’s possible that it is some kind of enclosed Potemkin village located in an unused corner of Maryland. All in all, Occam’s Razor suggests that Delaware is real, but given that I live in adjacent state and even I’m not really sure it’s there does provide some food for thought. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Huh. I assumed we’d all universally agree that New Jersey has to go. Other than “herp derp New Jersey sux, amirite,” why? > [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > I say we merge New Hampshire and Vermont because their shapes are roughly the same, only one is upside down and I can never remember which is which. Vermont is the one shaped like a V. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/128 "2017-11-22T05:01:15Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > I say we merge New Hampshire and Vermont because their shapes are roughly the same, only one is upside down and I can never remember which is which. > > Besides, then I can brag that my ancestors (mother’s side) spent the Revolutionary War in Hampmont or shout to my friends “Road trip to Vershire for Ben and Jerry’s!” Woohoo! Oh, sure. That’d create another rectangular state and people already complain too much about that. Besides, we’d have to redo so many business logos, and completely rethink them because who wants a sign with a logo that looks like this ?? ---
**Author:** ![Lickety\_Split\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/67e7ee/32.png) [@Lickety\_Split\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lickety_Split_1)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/129 "2017-11-22T06:28:01Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I’ll vote for Florida, but I’ll keep my reasons to myself. +1. Florida is rightfully referred to by many as “the dong of America.” Because of the fact that cities like Miami and Orlando are there, some folks tend to forget that it is in all actuality a southern state. Thus, just as chock-full of inbred rednecks as Alabama or Mississippi or Georgia. But Florida also boasts the huge criminal Cuban element; thousands of drug-runners; unbridled ecological destruction; corrupt politicians (remember it was that clusterfuck with the ballots in 2000 that gave us W as POTUS); and a popular college football team whose logo should not be the “U” but rather a pair of handcuffs. Some of it is not their fault–though most of it is. Recall, when Castro shit all over FLA and the USA when he emptied out his prisons and insane asylums and sent them their back in the 80s as a response to our government’s protesting his refusal to allow his people to emigrate here. Those Marielitos and whatnot bred like rats, and spawned thousands of criminal sociopaths who are now in their second and third generations. The USA would be far better off if we could castrate this dong. LOL ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/130 "2017-11-22T06:42:10Z")
Give Maine back to Canada. Ever notice that cowboy hat bump in the border? That’s Maine. Much of it is carved out of New Brunswick. We should restore it back to Canada with our apologies. 😉 [https://www.google.com/maps/vt/data=PXJiVuBgARZt9bR1gVQlqprjVMG7D6YFFh9E3deuRJhxjcuWH54T\_KqArcwAY6s7i\_KkPqS9BvK0ZxdWkEDk\_whKhF13Z3tNw-\_WUNpEuh9G4wPBe\_BpCL8dhJ9EgKG2L7tsu9IXcyLYuRiw4QK5gnwSvXsay\_nxs-qx1coFJkXaQZe-Ajgz9LDTH1OaBd6mcppkb8mPDhWfD4flNlLapw?scale=3&w=396](https://www.google.com/maps/vt/data=PXJiVuBgARZt9bR1gVQlqprjVMG7D6YFFh9E3deuRJhxjcuWH54T_KqArcwAY6s7i_KkPqS9BvK0ZxdWkEDk_whKhF13Z3tNw-_WUNpEuh9G4wPBe_BpCL8dhJ9EgKG2L7tsu9IXcyLYuRiw4QK5gnwSvXsay_nxs-qx1coFJkXaQZe-Ajgz9LDTH1OaBd6mcppkb8mPDhWfD4flNlLapw?scale=3&w=396) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/131 "2017-11-22T06:53:56Z")
btw, I’m loosely referencing Steinbeck in _Travels with Charley._ ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/132 "2017-11-22T16:03:14Z")
Illinois. Can’t stand the place, and really nothing of value has ever come from there. 'cept Abe Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Lurking\_Quahog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lurking_quahog/32/21274_2.png) [@Lurking\_Quahog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lurking_Quahog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/133 "2017-11-22T19:00:08Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Holy shit! I’ve seen this written a million times, my family is from RI (I was born there) and I have been reading a non-existent “the” in that name for decades. I shall begin lobbying to have it added in at once. This grand historical mistake must not stand!! 😉 You’ll do no such thing! Leave it be!😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724.md?page=6)