Solo Star State

This is a photo from El Nuevo Día, the pro-statehood newspaper of Puerto Rico, a photo that would probably not run in any other newspaper in the world. It shows Puerto Rico's resident commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, shaking hands with Representative Nick Rayhall (D-West Virginia), on the occasion of the submission of yet another proposed plebiscite on Puerto Rico's "status," or colonial relationship with the United States.

Why Nick Rayhall? Well, the distinguished West Virginian is the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, which is the venue through which issues pertaining to Puerto Rico are heard. Pierluisi is a non-voting member of Congress whose role is to suggest things that, in this case, don't even make the Committee's homepage as part of its "Latest Committee News."

The pro-statehood party is currently in power in Puerto Rico, with its new governor and ex-resident commissioner Luis Fortuño benefitting from a misuse-of-funds "scandal" that brought down his predecessor, ex-resident commissioner Anibal Acevedo-Vilá. (Tangentially related to the U.S. Attorney scandal, which involved Bush White House appointees going after political enemies of some Republican faction, Acevedo-Vilá's prosecution resulted in his acquittal just months after he lost the election.) With the economy tanking rapidly, unemployment flirting with 20% and massive budget cuts to the government, the island-colony's largest employer, there is a good chance that Puerto Ricans will vote for a change in status as specified by the first round of the proposed resolution.

Puerto Rico flirting again with statehood? Still a bit of a laugh considering the anti-Latino bent this country's been on over the last few years. But here's an idea: instead of Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state, how about replacing Texas, whose governor is threatening to secede from the Union. It really wouldn't be too much of a stretch, I mean the flags are almost the same:

Call it the "Solo Star State."