Trump's Katrina: The ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico

[JA]

Even if Congress happens to, by some miracle, provide a suitable aid package to Puerto Rico, there's still an austerity program being imposed upon the island. Puerto Rico is facing a serious crisis and the threat of an even great brain drain as a result of this hurricane and the policies of the territorial and federal governments.

[JA]

Next Tuesday is too late.

Anyway, it’s time Puerto Rico became a state. They pay taxes, they fly our flag, they are citizens, they can become president (yet aren’t allowed to vote in the general), no passport is needed to travel there. I suspect a lot of people don’t know most of that, and I bet the president didn’t know, which is the most likely reason for his delayed and weak response.

They are as American as anyone in the mainland and should finally be treated as such.

The same applies to all American territories. They're even allowed to participate in the Presidential primaries. But, they're excluded from actual representation at the federal level due to their racial identities and the political implications of their incorporation into our federal electoral process. Even the District of Columbia is denied representation in the House and Senate. There's no stomach for this fight among Democratic representatives and the GOP would fight it every step of the way since their goal is to suppress representation and democratic participation of demographic groups unfavorable to their interests.

[JA]

This president...

"President's comments regarding the lifting of the Merchant Marine Act, “We’re thinking about that,” he said at a White House press event. “But we have a lot of shippers and … a lot of people who work in the shipping industry that don’t want the Jones Act lifted. And we have a lot of ships out there right now.” Remember, those people can vote, Puerto Ricans can't!"


I.E. "Who cares if American lives are lost to starvation, thirst, or illness. The other ones can vote!"

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Recall that his first serious remarks regarding the situation in Puerto Rico were a series of Tweets that reminded them of their (imposed) debt problems and faulty infrastructure. He can get away with this blatant disregard for the lives of Puerto Ricans because (a) half of Americans don't even know that they're American citizens, (b) Puerto Ricans can't vote for President, House, or Senate, and (c) they're Hispanic. Add to that, Congress won't even bother to work on a serious relief program until next month, Puerto Rico's debt collectors and loaners are largely using this as a way to sink the island further into debt, and the policies pursued by our government are doing absolutely nothing to tackle the contributions to anthropogenic climate change that will cause even more Hurricane Maria and Irma type storms to devastate the Caribbean.

In summation: Puerto Rico and its residents simply don't matter to elites; they'll be exploited, disregarded, and subjected to further devastation to further the interests of others. Only ordinary, everyday people can effectively help Puerto Rico by standing in solidarity with them by raising awareness, pressuring public officials, holding elites accountable, and providing relief through donations of time and money.

[JA]

So, Trump was triggered by the mayor of San Juan's, Carmen Yulín, response to the administration's misinformation, in which they say things were fine even as casualties increase by the day in the island. So, he decided to go on a Twitter tantrum, calling her "nasty" and calling Puerto Ricans lazy...

Hoooooly s--t. What a douchebag.

Literally no words for this. That man is beyond deplorable.

[JA]

Puerto Rico's new migration to Florida could turn state Democratic

There could be some very negative (for Trump/GOP) unintended political consequences for this administration's mismanagement of this crisis.

[JA]

Trump’s visit to PR is an utter disaster right now. He straight up told them he blamed the territory for throwing us into some sort of “economic predicament” and did his “around the table praise me” icebreaker.

Puerto Ricans can't vote for President. He doesn't care.

They can if they move to Florida, which many of them will.

It's extremely unfortunate what's happening in Puerto Rico and largely avoidable. Like any sane and empathetic person, I wish this situation never happened and that it improves quickly for the folks on that island. But with that said, I hope there will be enough Puerto Ricans in Florida by 2020 to help tip the state against Trump since they're unable to vote on their island (which is absurd), and that it's shown they're the reason Trump lost Florida. It'd serve his sorry ass right.