Repub county exec 'jokes' that Dem colleague should kill himself

Unbelievable.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is known for his blunt sense of humor, and Wednesday was no exception when, during a discussion today at the Mackinac Policy Conference, WJR Radio host Frank Beckmann asked what advice he would offer fellow Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, whose administration is the subject of a fast-moving FBI investigation.

"Go in the garage, pull the door down, leave the engine running," Patterson said with a laugh, as Ficano, another guest on the program, looked on.

Suicide is no laughing matter. Nearly 35,000 people committed suicide in 2007, and for every person who actually does commit suicide, eleven others survive suicide attempts.

Patterson is a very controversial figure in Michigan politics. In March, he got Republican lawmakers to change the law so that Oakland County Commission districts would be redrawn in favor of Republicans.

This is also the same Brooks Patterson who famously said:

I love sprawl. I need it. I promote it. Oakland County can’t get enough of it.

But Oakland County has had enough sprawl - and it's had enough Brooks Patterson. He's been in office for 20 years.

This year, we can change that. Democrat Kevin Howley is challenging Patterson.

Shame on you, L. Brooks Patterson.