Thoughts On Statehood...

...that aren't Mine. Here, for the unwashed, uninformed and unimpressive statehooders that insist on begging/whining for inclusion in the U.S. of part of A., is a sample (errors and all) of comments from a Yahoo! News article about the recent plebiscite:

Discombobulation Incorpor... • 5 mins ago  
The majority of the residents on the island are under some sort of government help (just like the Puerto Ricans in N.Y. City). Even among other Spanish speaking nationalities, Puerto Ricans are considered "lazy" and "inefficient". They're dominance of the Spanish language is considered the worst.  

David • 5 mins ago
Just what the US needs; an island that has 13% unemployment!  

Antoni • 5 mins ago
THATS ALL WE NEED - MORE CRIMINALS

OU812 • 6 mins ago
Do I get to vote not to let them become a state? 1 Million new liberals looking for the next government check.

H • 6 mins ago
great 437,000 more people on welfare we have to pay for

Mack • 8 mins ago
Hey...here we go again. Just what we need to stabilyze the economy. A few more million people on food stamps!!!!

Robert • 9 mins ago
Why would they want Statehood??? They have all the benefits without the Taxes!!!

Bolden • 10 mins ago
Thanks, but we don't need MORE division. Cut them loose and let them be a free independent nation of the Caribbean.

PaulS • 10 mins ago
I have always felt that Puerto Ricans wish to have all the benefits of statehood without any of the obligations and duties, i.e. the way things are now.

Coigne • 13 mins ago
This is crazy. We don't need to incorporate non-English speaking countries into our union. What for? Divorce Puerto Rico and let it find it's own way among the Spanish Cultural heritage of Latin America. It is our decision to make.

Charles H • 15 mins ago
why would we want the toilet bowl of the world to be a state? Isn't there enough of them here already. Selling drugs, stealing and breeding like roaches.  


Now one can say that these comments--many of them blatantly racist and stupid--are not an accurate reflection of what all "Americans" feel about Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state. That would be correct. Many people in the States actually believe Puerto Rico can and should become a State.

But they aren't--by ANY stretch of the imagination--a majority. 

Look at those comments above. They represent ignorance and indifference of and to Puerto Rico. The comments may not represent the majority, but the attitudes most definitely do.

Remember, it takes 38 States to approve a new one, a super-majority of 75%. To most "Americans," Puerto Rico is a tiny infrequent blip on their U.S.-of-part-of-A.-centric view of the world, one that is myopic about anything other than "U.S.A.!"  To a majority of the population, Puerto Rico is simply not something they think about at all, or give a damn about.

But if the topic of statehood for the Island comes in, they will. And what do you think will be their reaction after years of ignorance and indifference to Us, Brethren?

Read those comments and tell Me--with a straight face--that they won't have a significant impact on forming public opinion. Read them and tell Me that a smear campaign--a Republican Party specialty--won't make the idea of statehood for Puerto Rico tantamount to treason, fiscal disaster, unwanted miscegenation and pandering to welfare bums. Tell Me there won't be an overtly racist knee-jerk reaction by many who are forced to come face-to-face with the possibility of Us becoming the 51st state. Go ahead: tell Me.

It won't matter if you do, because you'll be wrong. You can deny it by being willfully blind or criminally stupid, but you'd be wrong anyway. This isn't about Me or any of Us feeling "like a victim": it's about people reacting to a concept by making a snap judgment on it. Human nature being what it is, that snap judgment will be hard to change and will carry enormous weight for years to come.

Oh, you want proof? Okay. Do a little Googling to find out what "Americans" thought of Puerto Ricans circa 1898-1908, Our first decade together. Go ahead. Then stick this in your pipe dream and smoke it: when it comes to statehood for Puerto Rico, it's been 114 years and counting.



The Jenius Has Spoken.


[Update: 9 Nov 2012: Over at the Latino Rebels Facebook page, I've been exchanging barbs with some spineless grub named Julio Fig Figueroa, a statehood supporter. Yes, I understand that most of you knew what he was after "spineless grub." I'm consistent that way.]

[Update: 10 Nov 2012: And the stupidity, the racially-oriented gut-level shit-for-brains stupidity continues, even under the lying guise of """satire""". I won't even bother giving the title, to avoid adding to the Google juice, but stop a moment, statehooders, and notice how quickly and how vitriolic this response is. Your party lies about "statehood winning" and the response has covered the gamut from "No, not really" to "Uh-uh" to "Fuck y'all brownies." Are you listening? Have you ever listened? That's the root of My problem with your "kneeling/open-mouthed/servile" stance: it lacks any sense of dignity, integrity and self-respect. And yes, I am implying exactly what that stance implies. Deal.]