Statehood for Puerto Rico

[Politruk]

This presents a different issue from statehood for D.C.: Up to now, a territory was never admitted as a state until English-speaking Protestants had become a majority of the population -- or at least clearly the dominant culture, as in Hawaii. That will never happen in PR, it will always be part of the Latin-Catholic culture complex. So statehood for PR does, at some level, mean redefining American identity.

Apart from that, I see no reason why not.

In partisan terms, statehood for DC would mean two more Democratic senators forever. Not so with PR, the picture there is more complicated -- PR has its own parties and they do not map neatly onto the mainland parties.

 

[Pad_Foot]

DC for sure!!
UnAmerican NOT to allow it !!

 

[Politruk]

Funny thing -- when Trump visited PR after Hurricane Maria -- he never seemed to fully understand that PR is American territory and its people are citizens. He thought he was visiting some foreign country.

 

[Politruk]

In 1848-49, the U.S. was this close to annexing all of Mexico. Ethnic prejudice certainly played a role in the decision not to. See All of Mexico Movement.

That debate brought to the forefront one of the contradictions of Manifest Destiny. Identitarian ideas inherent in Manifest Destiny suggested that Mexicans, as people of color, would present a threat to white racial integrity and so were not qualified to become US citizens, but the "mission" component of Manifest Destiny suggested that Mexicans would be improved (or "regenerated," as it was then described) by bringing them into American democracy. Identitarianism promoted Manifest Destiny but was also used to oppose Manifest Destiny.

An example of this identity-based and racist position was that of John C. Calhoun, Senator from South Carolina, former vice president and future spokesperson for southern secession, in which, in his own words in a speech to Congress on January 4, 1848, he explained that: [We] have never dreamt of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race the free white race. To incorporate Mexico, would be the very first instance of the kind of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes. I protest against such a union as that! Ours, sir, is the Government of a white race.[2]

 

[Politruk]

The political parties in PR are:

New Progressive Party -- centrist; pro-statehood.

Popular Democratic Party -- centrist; pro-commonwealth (i.e., perpetuation of the status quo).

Citizens' Victory Movement -- progressive; anti-colonial; proposes a constitutional assembly on PR's future relationship with the U.S.

Puerto Rican Independence Party -- progressive; pro-independence.

Project Dignity -- Christian conservative.

So, kinda hard to predict how statehood would affect the partisan composition of Congress.

 

[Politruk]

Cue West Side Story: "I like to be in America . . ."

 

[Politruk]

No one has yet given any reason why statehood for PR would be a bad idea.

 

[Politruk]

xxxx

 

[Bray123]

Maybe because the people in PR will remember how poor Trump's response was to the hurricane, come the election.

 

[Chernosoth]

Maybe with a different name. A port is an island entrance, not the whole island.

 

[Politruk]

Maybe with a different name. A port is an island entrance, not the whole island.

[shrug] Blame Spain for the name.

 

[Saint_Ann]

At this point it would be nearly impossible to get China to add another star to the American flag.

 

[Politruk]

I've actually seen designs for 51- and 52-star flags.

But I'm thinking the flag has reached saturation point -- if we add any more states, we should just go back to the original ring of 13 stars.

 

[Politruk]

And then there's this kind of attitude.

 

[Politruk]

You know, after Hurricane Maria, Trump could have -- and any president not entirely brain-dead would have -- dispatched the Army Corps of Engineers, or the Seabees, to restore power to the island ASAP.

 

[JoePepsiCo]

No one has yet given any reason why statehood for PR would be a bad idea.

Conversely, the only good reason for PR to be a state is...,

 

[JoePepsiCo]

You know, after Hurricane Maria, Trump could have -- and any president not entirely brain-dead would have -- dispatched the Army Corps of Engineers, or the Seabees, to restore power to the island ASAP.

Yeah. December is just around the corner and we cannot have Puerto Ricans freezing to death...

How the fuck will they fish without electricity? They're surrounded by water you know... DUH!

This must have taken everybody by surprise, it sure as hell looks like it caught the nitpickers off guard...



You don't even know who the fuck you're supposed to send, but you know it had to be somebody and if you keep rattling off enough names with authority, why you might sound positively authoritative on the subject...


... The Seebees... lo-fucking-l...

ah, ah, ah, ah, staying' alive!

 

[Rebel5soul]

You know, after Hurricane Maria, Trump could have -- and any president not entirely brain-dead would have -- dispatched the Army Corps of Engineers, or the Seabees, to restore power to the island ASAP.

Brain dead is not knowing how the fuck electricity is delivered.

 

[JoePepsiCo]

It comes in a spare can.

Ask any EV owner.

The idiot Elon.



( :hat tip: to adrina for the word of the day: idiot)

 

[Politruk]

Yeah. December is just around the corner and we cannot have Puerto Ricans freezing to death...

You are a worthless animal.

 

[Politruk]

Conversely, the only good reason for PR to be a state is...,

The reason is that PR has been subject to the U.S. government for more than a century, with no representation in Congress and no EVs in presidential elections. It is a colony.

A territory is not supposed to remain a territory indefinitely. That is not the American way. That's colonialism.

 

[Politruk]

Brain dead is not knowing how the fuck electricity is delivered.

Not by any means the ACE couldn't fix pronto.

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

Conversely, the only good reason for PR to be a state is...,

The Puerto Ricans are American citizens and deserve a full say in our elected government.

 

[Bray123]

The Puerto Ricans are American citizens and deserve a full say in our elected government.

Much like the American citizens who reside in DC.

 

[MajorRewrite]

Much like the American citizens who reside in DC.

For voting and representation, DC residents probably ought to be considered residents of Maryland. Two senators for a city would be a bit much, but there’s no reason why they couldn’t vote for President and Senators as Marylanders and have House of Representatives districts too.