Puerto Rico Thread

This is an attention grabbing headline, and I’ll admit this administration sucks for doing this sort of stuff, but according to my research, FEMA has a budget of 13.9 billion, so 10 mill is what, 0.1% of their budget.

Could FEMA have used that cash? Obviously! Will losing that sum prevent operations? Doubtful.

Seems a bit hyperbolic to me.

Alexandra Petri, still funny, but in a decidedly not-for-laughs way…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/09/13/three-thousand-people-did-not-die/

Helluva piece Alexandra, Jonathan Swift would be proud.

Fuck this guy.

Brockie, you’re doing a heck of a job.

CNN has `one year after the storm documentary out, worth watching.

I couldn’t find it online, but this article covers most of the points

I wonder why they are not recovering so well… sh*thole territory

Puerto Rico needs to become a state.

A bunch of the displaced Puerto Ricans in Florida weren’t that interested in participating in the last election.

At some point, I gotta point at them and call them idiots.

For this kind of thing to happen to their territory, and not actually hold the GOP accountable, is dumb.

It is, but then again I didn’t just have my home wiped out, lose family members, and have to rebuild my life in what’s almost a new country in some ways. Registering to vote might not be the easiest or highest priority for me at the time.

I do get what you’re saying, though.

A lot of puerto ricans don’t want to be a state of the united states. They might want to be entirely independent instead.

We should give them the option to do what they want, but it should be their call.

The Puerto Ricans should decide their own destiny, no question. That said, indications are that a clear majority favor statehood.

For a long time I believe there was a slight but nonmajority plurality in favor of status quo over independence or statehood. But those polls were distorted by long-time graft and corruption in the government, not to mention COINTELPRO and similar
operations. No idea what the polls are like now.

In addition to the trauma of what they had to go through, it’s also the GOP’s mission in life to prevent people like this from voting so they probably faced additional obstacles.

Oh, thank you for saying this. I didn’t mean to imply we should go in and make them a state, it should absolutely be their call. But if they wish to remain part of the United States, I think they should be a state. They need to have some representation for this abhorrent treatment they’ve received from the Trump administration.

And all the better for us to vote the bastards out.

We shouldn’t treat Americans like shit. It’s not complicated.

It’s in PR’s best interest to become a state at this point, but it’s up to them. Also I’m fairly sure the GOP wont let it happen.

I agree, but it’s probably not in their hands. They’re too devastated to go independent. Odds are going for statehood will fail. The status quo is giving them nothing, even though they’re Americans. Their best option is to leverage people living stateside to get a regime change that gives them options and/or help. Their citizenship is the only card they have to play right now, imo, but it’s a strong card if they use it right.