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To: MinorityRepublican
The people who want this keep having these votes every few years. I guess they won't stop until the Puerto Ricans give them the answer they want.

I think statehood is a bad idea. It certainly isn't something to be rushed into on the basis of a slight majority in a nonbinding resolution. The Puerto Ricans are products of a different cultural tradition--Spanish-speaking and Catholic. The colonies which later formed the United States were English-speaking and 99% Protestant (seeing Spain as the enemy and generally holding anti-Catholic attitudes). A lot of Puerto Ricans may have moved to the mainland, but few if any non-Hispanic Americans have gone to Puerto Rico to live.

Statehood is irrevocable, or at least the outcome of the War between the States seems to have established that. What if PR became a state and twenty years later everyone thought independence was better? If they were allowed to leave, 600,000 lives were wasted to establish the principle that secession is not allowed.

That's in addition to a Puerto Rican state being a guaranteed two Democrat senators and five Democrat congressmen--and 7 electoral votes for the Democrat nominee for President.

As for the flag, we could either keep it at 50 stars and require Vermont to become a province of Canada, or add a star. 51 is 3 times 17--so could have a set of three rows of stars 8 across and a set of stars 9 across, alternating rows--might not look too bad. I remember when Hawaii became a state and my father thought there would be a problem with a 5 by 10 arrangement. They worked out something different.

19 posted on 11/07/2012 6:58:49 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Verginius Rufus

Statehood is not irrevocable.

The rebel states lost their soverignity when they committed insurrection. They got back in only with permission of the other states.

If PR wants to leave the US they can- with the permission of the other states. If that permission is not granted, then no they can not. Such permission could be expressed by
Constitutional Amendment.
Federal Legislation.
Successful Supreme Court Case.


24 posted on 11/07/2012 7:03:13 PM PST by donmeaker (Blunderbuss: A short weapon, ... now superceded in civilized countries by more advanced weaponry.)
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To: Verginius Rufus; All

The fully taxed but only partially represented people of Washington, DC would also like to become a state. With two stars, a flattened triangle with the 2 stars could be placed at the end of the blue field. I think that solution was done once before.


78 posted on 11/07/2012 9:59:00 PM PST by gleeaikin
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To: Verginius Rufus
The Puerto Ricans are products of a different cultural tradition--Spanish-speaking and Catholic.

The same was true of Florida when it became a state. Louisiana was largely French and Catholic. So what?

As for the flag, we could either keep it at 50 stars and require Vermont to become a province of Canada

Do you realize that a generation ago Vermont had NEVER elected a Democrat to statewide office? Even more recently Texas was a reliably Democrat state. Things change. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

115 posted on 11/08/2012 1:37:13 AM PST by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: Verginius Rufus

your arguments against a Spanish colonial background would then hold true for Texas, Cal, New Mexico, Florida etc. etc.


123 posted on 11/08/2012 2:54:43 AM PST by Cronos (**Marriage is about commitment, cohabitation is about convenience.**)
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To: Verginius Rufus

“Vermont.. province of Canada” — you may have missed the election trends in Canada. the Canucks voted for a conservative party and moved hard right. Now they have lower corporate taxes than we have...


124 posted on 11/08/2012 2:56:10 AM PST by Cronos (**Marriage is about commitment, cohabitation is about convenience.**)
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