No to D.C. Statehood!
What we should do with D.C. is drastically reduce its size. Leave the central government bit and divide the swaths of city between Virginia and Maryland. D.C. was never meant to be this big and there's still something to be said for having a space for the central government, unencumbered by state issues. Perhaps people living in D.C. proper should be extended voting rights in Virginia or Maryland as well.
Additionally, I don't rightly understand why the "East California Statehood" movement, or whatever, was so quickly dismissed. Such a move might alleviate tensions and help facilitate a smooth adoption of Puerto Rican statehood.
Republicans are wrong to keep Puerto Rico in colonial dependence if people there seek statehood, but, ultimately, I get why they fear the prospect of another Democratic state and additional Democratic voters.
... Don't give me that look, you judgy Democrat, you. If you were facing the prospect of admitting another state like Mississippi, you'd be worried, too.
(Though, on a side note, I think Puerto Rican statehood might not be a universal boon for the Democratic agenda. Puerto Rico, for example, is generally more pro-life and favors traditional marriage and gender norms more than a typical blue state. A lot of Puerto Ricans seem to fit that rare "socially conservative, fiscally liberal" niche. Might be interesting).
But when it comes to denying statehood, Republicans just don't have firm ground to stand on. "We might be letting in a bunch of spooky libs" isn't reason enough to deny Americans access to their full array of constitutional rights.
This is bigger than your political anxieties. I worry that a collection of Puerto Rican senators and congressmen might pose a theat to Second Amendment rights.
But my fear of what they might do isn't enough to justify their exclusion. They're Americans and they deserve the rights we all deserve. Sometimes doing the right thing means risking the things you hold dear. Wish it didn't, but that's the way of the world.
I'm for 51
