Militant Conservatives against P.R. Statehood

[L_F_Miranda]

Deceitful Tactics Used to Make Puerto Rico a State
by Phyllis Schlafly

03/21/2007

Even though Puerto Rico has three times voted against becoming a U.S. state, yet another effort is being made to persuade Puerto Rico to change its mind. Of course, the Democratic Party thinks making Puerto Rico our 51st state is a cool idea because that would give the Democrats two additional U.S. Senators and 6 to 8 additional Members of the House, more congressional representation than 25 of our 50 states.

Despite millions of dollars being spent to promote statehood, on December 13, 1998, Puerto Ricans voted only 46.5 percent for statehood, 2.5 percent for independence, and 50.5 percent for "none of the above," which must be seen as an endorsement of the status quo, the present commonwealth status.

The Puerto Rican independence faction is small, but that doesn't mean its members would acquiesce in being outvoted in a democratic election. They are among the most militant groups in the world and are responsible for domestic terrorist incidents in the United States.

The 1998 percentage of Puerto Ricans favoring statehood was approximately the same as in the 1993 referendum. It is asking for big trouble to admit a new state in which nearly half the people oppose the idea.

The most important issue about Puerto Rico statehood is that it would transform the United States overnight into a bilingual nation. Puerto Ricans don't speak English, don't intend to learn it, and are even antagonistic to the whole idea of learning English.

English is the language of our Declaration of Independence and our United States Constitution. It would be divisive and troublesome to admit a state whose people don't speak the language of our founding documents.

Puerto Rican statehood would cost the rest of us plenty in taxes. The average income of Puerto Ricans is less than half that of our poorest state, and infrastructure and the environment are far below American standards, so statehood would bring immediate demands for massive federal funding.

The smoking gun proving that Puerto Rico statehood is designed to make us a bilingual nation is H.Con.Res.11 introduced by Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), who is also the sponsor of H.R.900, the Puerto Rico statehood bill. H.Con.Res.11 levels a stinging attack on English as our national language and demands that the Federal Government "oppose" our many state laws and bills that designate English as our official language.

H.Con.Res.11 demands that our government provide services in languages other than English and even encourage all U.S. residents to learn languages other than English. The bill falsely asserts that our nation has "drawn strength from a diversity of languages," whereas the truth is that having English as our common language is a principal factor in making us “e pluribus unum.”

H.Con.Res.11 is dishonestly entitled "English Plus Resolution" and is all dressed up in flowery rhetoric to make it appear that its purpose is to protect Native American Indian languages. That ruse doesn't fool anyone; it's obvious that the bill is just cover for the impudent demand that we accept Puerto Rico as a Spanish-language state.

Serrano's statehood bill, H.R.900, would set up two plebiscites that rig the process to deceive Puerto Ricans into voting for statehood. In the first plebiscite, scheduled for this year, Puerto Ricans would be given a choice of (a) remaining as a U.S. territory or (b) pursuing an (undefined) "constitutionally viable permanent non-territorial status."

If the majority chooses (a), Puerto Rico would be required to vote again at least every eight years (presumably until the are bamboozled into voting for statehood). If the majority chooses (b), a second plebiscite would be held at which Puerto Ricans could choose between "only" two "nonterritorial" options: statehood or independence.

Not only is the double-plebiscite procedure rigged to prevent a vote to continue the present commonwealth status, but the ballot propositions are written so that only a lawyer can figure out what they really mean.

A vote on Puerto Rico would have momentous effects on whether America remains "one nation, indivisible" or whether we start down the road of countries that have fought bloody wars when minority populations tried to maintain a separate language and cultural identity within another nation, such as Quebec, Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq.

With a 92 percent turnout in the October 30, 1995 referendum in Quebec, secession lost by only a razor-thin margin: 50.6 percent of Quebeckers voted to keep Canada one nation, while 49.4 voted for Quebec to secede from Canada. The close vote adversely affected Quebec’s financial markets and caused a flight of capital and people.

Puerto Rico is a vestige of the 19th century era of colonialism; we got it as booty in the Spanish American War of 1898. In the 21st century, colonialism is so retro; we should give Puerto Rico its independence.

Tell your Representative to vote NO on both Puerto Rico bills.

[Suki]

Phyllis Schafly is really representative of the lack of support conservatives from Puerto Rico get when they try to lobby for statehood in the United States. The reason why statehood is a nightmare for them NOW? I think it has more to do with the fiscal problems than anything else. They told "El Vocero" that they don't have the money to burn with Puerto Rico anymore. Why? I think the problems they are experiencing with their lousy conservative economic neoliberal dead in the water crap is finally coming to a head. They don't care that Fortuno has a problem and needs 'support' from his conservative cronies in the USA---they don't have the money and don't want the headache involved.

I wonder if the HR 900 by Serrano or the HR 1230 whatever by Velazquez if it gets past all the Schafly types---if that is going to change the basic reality of Puerto Rico. I wish that the USA congress just shoots down statehood as a possibility once and for all. I wish they would say---hey, no way. It is not going to happen ever. Sovereignty is ok, but we hold the key to everything in Puerto Rico. But NO WAY is statehood gonna happen. What will they do then? The statehooders like Dona Myriam? Commit suicide maybe. They all buy into equality and all that nonsense. They don't seem to understand that militant conservatives like Schafly and the Bush administration could care less about a bunch of prietos del caribe, with broken English and dreams of sharing power and rubbing elbows with the big wig good old boys network on Capitol Hill. Talk about pajaritos prenados. They don't seem to understand that bootlicking and submissiveness and telling the powerful just how much they too are more Americans than Apple Pie doesn't change the basic reason why the majority of the poor in the whole world and in the Latin American nations are being screwed over to this very day. THE ONE PERCENT OF THE WEALTHY AND THE ELITE WOULD RATHER DROP DEAD THAN SHARE ANY POWER WITH SOME INFELICES PRIETOS SIN INGLES. That is a simple reality. I don't understand why the Puerto Rican statehooders have such a difficult time grasping that basic reality in the USA system. I don't understand why it takes some public rejection and humiliation to the PNP party by the USA executive, congress and judicial branches to finally get the message. WHY MIRANDA WHY?

What they think they too can be the next Harriet Myers, Alberto Gonzales, Condoleeza Rice types? They too can be the next token conservatives women, minorities hand-picked for the loyalty--rubber stamp factor? Didn't they miss the reality of their lack of being born and raised in the United States? Did they miss their lack of natively spoken English? They are outsiders to the USA on many levels. They also are corrupt and full of incompetence. They are not good capitalists in the least. They don't and can't make an elite from the island appear and compete toe to toe with the elite corporations internationally. You need sovereignty to do that with. They can't even do that. Yet they aspire to be part of the club on the hill. It makes NO SENSE.



Maybe the statehooders need this sales pitch about rejection to make it in life. What do you think Miranda?

“No” means
“Maybe”
and other secrets to success

YOU DIDN’T MAKE THE BALL TEAM. YOU DIDN’T GET
ACCEPTED TO YOUR FAVORITE COLLEGE. YOU DIDN’T
QUALIFY FOR THE HOME LOAN. THESE THINGS DO HAPPEN.
REJECTION IS A FACT OF LIFE. SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE,
HOWEVER, KNOW THEY NEED TO EMBRACE REJECTION
INSTEAD OF SHYING AWAY FROM IT.

Embrace the rejection estadistas. Embrace the rejection and LEARN FROM IT. Realize you are puertorriquenos prietos and don't have to change to find value and move forward in life. Embrace your boricuaness and start realizing aint no outside powerplaying elite types gonna solve your problem for you. A lot of Latinos in Hollywood have realized that they can't wait for the corporate types to give them the plum roles. They have to go and create their own projects on their own. That is the beginning. To get to the good stuff that is advanced you need to finally accept who you are and how you are going to cope with reality not fantasyland.

[L_F_Miranda]

The problem I see with Phyllis Shafly's call to arms is that, like her fellow Fem-Nazi Ann Coulter, she has no credibility and respect in mainstream conservative circles. They are considered clowns, on the line with Bill O'Reilly or CNN's Nancy Grace, not to be taken seriously. Nonetheless they make good news hysteria and command some attention from the most Nazi orientated legions of conservatives in Fox news and the religious right. When push comes to shove, nobody in POWER pays them any attention.

When right wing intellectuals like Denish D' Souza, Samuel Huntington or Francis Fukiyama from the National Review say something then we are really talking. In fact Samuel Huntington is rabidly against Puerto Rico becoming a state. These are the voices we will hear from when, and if, this 3,765th attempt to solve our colonial relation ever gets to second base.

Believe it or not, the liberal NY Times has time and time again written editorials against P.R. Statehood but they do it so subtly that you have to be a Rocket scientist to understand what they're saying.

I'll never forget their editorial written about Quebec years ago, it read, " "Canada's tangle and ours", meaning Puerto Rico. Like they say in my home town, " para un buen entendedor basta"

[Suki]

Miranda if you take the time to read this article there are some interesting issues he brings up to discuss about all this America first stuff. Have you ever heard of a book with the title of "The Nine Nations of North America". It analyzes each region of the United States and its attitudes and social history in an interesting way.

9/11 AND THE MYTH OF THE UNCORRUPTED IMMIGRANT - by Carl F. Horowitz

What is my opinion on all this? I will be very brief. The fear of multiculturalism, bilingualism, the brown hoardes, and the happy and loyal immigrant---all cover up the reality of living in a global economy run by a few very powerful economic interests. The conservative questions if global warming exists--and if it exists, is it a threat to the quality of the earth's atmosphere or not? They blindly refuse to acknowledge that human activity and all its many facets including economic interests and disparities and injustices are the impetus that drives all the problems that people have to pay for on a social level, on an economic level and on a real physical and biological level. America was damaged in the 60's with free love, drugs, civil rights, lack of restraint and the questioning of old and good establishment values and that is why the world is the way it is today---blah, blah, blah. NO. The world is the way it is today because there are huge chunks of humanity that are living in intolerable and disfunctional social and economic conditions. And those conditions are a direct result of a few powerful groups with vested interests who have a very narrow and dangerous point of view. That point of view is that GREED IS GOOD, GREED IS NATURAL, EXPLOITATION and INEQUALITY is a natural part of life and that any concept introduced that is not related to exclusivity of rights, private property and profit margins is anathema to humanity. They are peddling a bill of goods that if left unchecked threatens not only the immigrant and the struggling hordes but the health of the planet Earth through their stubborn and in deep denial of the basic reality that we are all CONNECTED. And that if a system is unfair and exploitative to the majority of humanity of planet Earth, then the entire world systems will be adversely affected by that disconnect and lack of inclusiveness and tolerance and cooperation.

They can talk all they want. It won't change the fact that the immigrants from Asia, from Africa and from Latin America have enormous economic problems in their home nations and it makes them mobile and it makes them MOVE to where they can get semi-survival wages. The homo sapien species survives because it looks for the tools for survival wherever they may lie. These fools that are from the Right and the Not Too Bright, should realize that it is not the new America that is destroying the society that used to be so good and wonderful from the 1950's when men where men, women were housewives and children were seen and not heard and knew who their daddies were---the New America is the product of the need for exploitation, having women enter the workforce for productivity and shifting the severe need for cheap labor to offshore companies---that then bleed the local consumer for all that they are worth. In reality the average American now is more polarized than ever before and the underlying causes of the dysfunction remain unaddressed. Until they are dealt with---America will continue to decline morally, socially and economically until it is a skeleton of what it once was. Not because of the decay of the people. But because of the premises of the system practiced as is in the last generations. It is a society lacking values in the right direction. And the superstructure is rotten because the core value---profit and private property is flawed from the beginning it naturally causes polarization and class division and can only be bandaged but not cured. I don't know if the USA's conservatives really get it at all. They are too comfortable living with the illusions of superiority and so on to see the truth. That unless you deal with the vast majority of people with lack of greed all the troubles are coming your way. Guaranteed.

You can't have your cake and eat it too in life. Everything is a choice. It is. You want cheap and powerless groups to exploit so your profits go up? You want people to let themselves be used and abused without protest? You want those who live in foreign nations who grow up speaking different languages and different histories to come here as adults and forget who they were before this? You want them to adopt real American values? What are American values anyway? Get a house and a car and own your own piece of the American dream, speak English, wave the flag, go to church, iron your kid's shirts, praise capitalism and its greatness way on high. Work hard, play by the rules, pay taxes. Etc. etc.

Reality is very different. GM Auto Workers in Detroit and Ohio used to be able to get relatively high wages in those cities, until the capitalists needed to downsize and move offshore for higher profits for the stockholders. Today's corporations are a different animal then back then. They see the entire world as their oyster and they are not loyal to nationalism or its petty loyalties. Their job is to expand their marketshares, profit and invest the least in entry level labor. Wherever it is located. Do you think they require the Chinese factory worker to speak English, and have a 4th of July barbeque to prove they are fit workers? C'mon. They don't give a damn what language you speak because their interests are about as narrow and reductive and self-interested as can be. They represent GROUPS of individuals who want them to make them some money. Anyway they can. They want the least amount of government interference as possible, and if that is not possible, then they want to be able to control the government as well if they can---anyway they can (lobbyists, special interest groups and much, much more). That is why Chiquita Banana company were caught paying drug dealers off. They will do whatever they can including being corrupt in order to reach their goals.

[Suki]

Are they loyal to anyone is what these 'politicians' should be asking these huge companies and multinational corporations? What are the values of these places? So many say they have great values! Do they? Is it a great value to discard workers just because they are getting old? Because there are greater profits to be had in some foreign country? Because in order to compete with other ruthless companies they need to 'adjust'. Mattel doesn't make their version of Barbie in the USA. They make it in China. The PRC. Why? Because Chinese labor costs are very low in comparison. And the company value is really about $$$$ not people. When are the people going to challenge the whole concept of profit vs. human needs? When? When people all over the world wake up and become sufficiently evolved to realize that human beings and their needs should outweigh profit and the crazy concept of privatization of natural resources. No, the air is not a thing. The water we depend on to live is not private. The land we must use to grow food on is not someone's exclusive backyard. No, the DNA of a plant is not the intellectual property of some bozo in some high-rise office building in Tokyo, New York or Frankfurt. Yes, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, giving medicine and treatment to the sick, educating the ignorant is the responsibility of the ENTIRE HUMAN FAMILY. Not just something that must be earned through letting some capitalist exploit people. That is not the right values. AT ALL. And until those distorted and low-life values that are the catalyst of international modern capitalism are eliminated forever----the problems of the entire world will be arriving at the USA's doorstep. And they better not DARE complain about their self-created messes. No sirree!

The Mexicans and etc. are coming in? And Bush wants them here. He does. He wants them to be 'guest workers' and work for peanuts and when his buddies who own and profit from cheap, illiterate Mexican labor no longer need them for now---throw them back. The Mexican lives under Capitalism in Mexico. Where big factories sprout up and hire young, healthy workers---they take the juice out of them. The best productive years. Do you know in slavery times in the USA the highest prices for slaves in the Southern states were for slaves between the ages of 18-30 and declined steadily afterwards? You are hard-pressed to find in some maquiladora workers over the ages of thirty who are entry level labor. They are pressured out and replaced. They have carpal tunnel syndrome or just have older reflexes that are slower. They are discarded. No one cares. No one gives a damn about their daily struggles. It is seen as Mexico's problem. But the USA does brisk business with Mexico. It wants the profits but not the human responsibilities. It wants to have exclusive rights but it doesn't want to fund local slums near the maquiladoras so the workers can have clean water, sewers, indoor plumbing, health clinics, paved roads, schools and etc. It wants to have their cake and eat it too. That is not the way it works in life. They are the ones without any sense of social responsibility. Charity is not a solution. Systemic change is the solution. Everyone knows that if you want to see permanent change in someone they must first acknowledge the problem, embrace a solution, then make a decision to implement the change and make it a habit for life. The same with this. They should stop trying to keep everyone's surplus value, redistribute the wealth, work for the community good and not for individual profit shares and give up the premise of class exploitation. That is the only long-term solution. Everything else is smoke and mirrors and short term b.s. temporary solutions.

[Stanley]

The question is why would anyone want PR as a state?

The truth is that whites and blacks do not want PR.

Where I live most blacks want DC to be a state. These blacks would be highly insulted if PR becomes a state ahead of Washington, DC.

Blacks know quite well DC is not a state because of the left wing welfare- state issue. There is no surprise PR is viewed in the same manner because mainland PRs align themselves with the black community.

However, blacks see PRs as competition. John Conyers tends to propose independence for PR. The last thing he wants is more competition for US dollars.

If PR was full of white right wing Cubans congress would admit PR as a state in a heartbeat. As long as PR is full of regatoneros----forget it!

[L_F_Miranda]

Stanley said:
The question is why would anyone want PR as a state?
The truth is that whites and blacks do not want PR.

The reality is that it's "The Powers That Be", who are the ones who DECIDE.

There was a time, back during the 50's and 60,' when Puerto Rico was indeed seen as a "possible state" Even the conservative Republican party put it on its party platform.

Those were the days of Puerto Rico, the jewel in the crown of National Defense, the answer to communism in the Caribbean and a sure money maker for U.S. corportations.

Since the Fall of the EVIL EMPIRE and the stagnation of the Cuban revolution, things have shifted, first slowly, now much faster. Nonetheless sad but true, there are still thousands of Puerto Ricans refusing to accept new world paradigams. They still remain in the the world of the 60's, with little change and refusing to acknowledge that Communism, as a world threat to the West went KAPUT in 1992-93.

And Puerto Rico?

We are no longer of any strategic military value, in fact, like Ruben Berrios once said, "what do they need Puerto Rico for? With spy Satellites circuling the planet every hour, they can count the ants in the Plaza of Jayuya and troop movements in the Congo at the same time. We've entered into a new phase of world history.

However Statehooders continue to hope.........

They say that Puerto Rico is still indispensable, after all aren't we American citizens. Like if REAL POLITIKS DOESN'T MATTER. Their new shtick is that we are one of the largests markets for U.S products and we still have an edge on attracting tax free corporations. They stress that our soldiers died with theirs, like if they care.

By the way the tax code being used now is similiar to the one used in Ireland for off shore corporations. The catch is that Puerto Rico MUST remain out side the U.S tax system, something Statehood can't do. In the mean time we will remain in limbo until we demand independence. LOL

As for the blacks you are right , they don't want competition. If Puerto Rico ever became a state we would out strip Blacks in political power, 2 senators and 7 representatives. On top of that there is still the specter of us making political coalitions with other Hispanics, making us a massive threat to Blacks and those who follow the neo-nationalist revival after 9-11, the majority of the U.S. population.

Neo-nationalist revival?

One language of union, maintain white control of the political system, western values, not afro-centric ones, enhance and strenghten values inherited from England, not Africa or Latin America and control the hordes of hispanics storming the borders.

I disagree with your perception that Cubans are seen different. On the surface they might be, but when push comes to shove Cubans are just as "Blingueros" and Rumberos as the rest of us. LOL

Cubans tend to put us all down saying they are the Jews of the Caribbean, but I've never seen Jews addicted to dancing and cafreia as they are. Jews are known to be intellectuals and readers, Cubans are known for producing cheap dumb tele-novelas, cafre shows like Cristina and are addicted to show business not serious intellectuality. Jew's Yeah right!

No Cubans would never have been admitted as state, why? By now Americans know that the majority of Cubans are BLACK. A quick trip to Cuba will prove this. In fact Cuba has more Blacks, as a percentage of population than we do, but don't tell this to the Nuyoricans, they'll burn you alive. LOL

During the colonial period Cuba's population was 53% Black where-as Puerto Rico's was never above 12%.

"Los Marielitos" dispelled the myth of Cubans being all white. Nonetheless myths die hard. However Gringos had an inkling of this before hand, MMMMMMM, when they saw Celia Cruz?

I'll never forget a Cuban woman telling me once , "Cubans are different, wherever we go we progress. We got to Miami and took over."

Yes, but what Cubans refuse to acknowledge is that WHITES fled in droves when they got there, WHITE FLIGHT? If they were considered REAL WHITES, then why did Gringos flee? "Le dejaron el canto" "Le sacaron el calzo", LOL

Being "Whites" of this kind is dangerous, more so if things begin get sticky as the Hispanic presence begins to breed more prejudice. LOL