The Overlooked Election Story: Puerto Rico

[Maximilianus]

[quote name='vee8' timestamp='1352851297' post='2509503']
what good has Puerto Rico done for anyone anyway???
[/quote]


they provided Hawaii with a new highly vocal invasive species of frog.

[vee]

thats good

[Adrestia]

[quote name='vee8' timestamp='1352856986' post='2509551']
oh. well thats more than canada has done for anyone so viva PR!!
[/quote]

Vidal Icewine is from Canada.

[Era Might]

[quote name='Maximilianus' timestamp='1352850776' post='2509494']

hard to claim that when they are Citizens of the United States and part of the insular territory.
[/quote]
Legally, of course, it's not a country. But I've never met a Puerto Rican who would consider being Puerto Rican a subset of being American, like being a "New Yorker" or a "Texan."

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Era Might' timestamp='1352933761' post='2510070']
Legally, of course, it's not a country. But I've never met a Puerto Rican who would consider being Puerto Rican a subset of being American, like being a "New Yorker" or a "Texan."
[/quote]
Was that not the whole point of the United [i]States[/i]?

[Era Might]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1352933823' post='2510071']
Was that not the whole point of the United [i]States[/i]?
[/quote]
Much of the Lincoln-Douglas debates is devoted to whether America was ever meant for non-Whites. Even Lincoln, while arguing for the human dignity of non-Whites, was very clear that Whites were socially superior and must always remain so. As Douglas phrased it, "this government was made on the white basis."

The original expansion of America was for the expansion of the White man, not the incorporation of non-White peoples into States. Of course, that is not relevant to the Puerto Rican question today, but it relates to the question you're asking about what "United States" originally meant.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Era Might

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Era Might' timestamp='1352934243' post='2510072']
Much of the Lincoln-Douglas debates is devoted to whether America was ever meant for non-Whites. Even Lincoln, while arguing for the human dignity of non-Whites, was very clear that Whites were socially superior and must always remain so. As Douglas phrased it, "this government was made on the white basis."

The original expanasion of America was for the expansion of the White man, not the incorporation of non-White peoples into States. Of course, that is not relevant to the Puerto Rican question today, but it relates to the question you're asking about what "United States" originally meant.
[/quote]
You always have to make it about racism.

[Era Might]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1352934314' post='2510073']
You always have to make it about racism.
[/quote]
lol I only brought that up because you brought up the historical meaning of the "United States." There was always the overarching question of national identity. Back then it was racial. Today it is not racial, but there is a national identity that has been forged and America has evolved from a simplistic collection of separate countries, so it's a strange to "graft" Puerto Rico onto America IMO. You're Canadian anyway.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Era Might

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Era Might' timestamp='1352934518' post='2510075']
lol I only brought that up because you brought up the historical meaning of the "United States." There was always the overarching question of national identity. Back then it was racial. Today it is not racial, but there is a national identity that has been forged and American has evolved from a simplistic collection of separate countries. You're Canadian anyway.
[/quote]
I am Albertan first!

[img]http://www.viewcalgary.com/peter/stampede/bullRiding/images/DSC_4320.jpg[/img]

Not really though. Canada has never had the same kind of provincial identity that is analogous to the states. At least not since the very earliest Dominion times.

Edit: Except for Quebec.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Nihil Obstat

[Era Might]

We've got Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln. You've got Dan Akroyd and Jim Carrey.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Era Might' timestamp='1352935126' post='2510080']
We've got Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln. You've got Dan Akroyd and Jim Carrey.
[/quote]
Hey, we have [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_riel"]Louis Riel[/url]. You would love that guy.

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Louis_Riel.jpg/240px-Louis_Riel.jpg[/img]

[StMichael]

California needs to be split in 2 (North California, South California). Keep it all even. 52 states, still short of the 57 states Obama thinks he has visited...

[dominicansoul]

[quote name='Era Might' timestamp='1352935126' post='2510080']
We've got Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln. You've got Dan Akroyd and Jim Carrey.
[/quote]

Don't forget, they've got Justin Bieber, too...

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='Maximilianus' timestamp='1352857914' post='2509557']
they provided Hawaii with a new highly vocal invasive species of frog.
[/quote]


Whaaaat? I didn't know that the Coqui was now in Hawaii. [s]Does it sing (make noise) there?[/s]

Edit: just read online about Hawaii and the coqui. Wow.

Edited November 15, 2012 by cmariadiaz

[dominicansoul]

I wanted to bring a Coqui home with me, but I couldn't risk going through customs and them finding one on me

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='dominicansoul' timestamp='1353010997' post='2510719']
I wanted to bring a Coqui home with me, but I couldn't risk going through customs and them finding one on me
[/quote]
Given Australia's experience, perhaps that is for the best.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1352935242' post='2510082']
Hey, we have [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_riel"]Louis Riel[/url]. You would love that guy.

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Louis_Riel.jpg/240px-Louis_Riel.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

He looks like Edgar Allen Poe.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' timestamp='1353023708' post='2510871']


He looks like Edgar Allen Poe.
[/quote]
Great minds look alike?

[brianthephysicist]

So has anyone figured out where the proposed 6 members of the house would come from?

I'm going under the impression that we're no longer going to add any to the house, just reshuffle every ten years (when the census data is taken). Which states would lose representatives?