The Coronavirus

[Eric the Green]

(04-09-2021, 12:36 PM)David Horn Wrote:

(04-09-2021, 12:10 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: The inadequacy of the people in confederate America (Classic Xer's America) certainly matches that of the previous civil war era. Our new crisis leader Joe Biden certainly aims to manage the crisis well, and is doing pretty good job. He is more like George Washington; steady and practical and dignified, although not as charismatic or eloquent as Lincoln and FDR. The problem is the supporting cast. As long as our country is not split, as under Lincoln, the Republican Party (which has switched to become the confederate Party) is given too much power by our system to block progress. A few Senate Democrats are representing Republican states, so their ability to act is also limited. We may have to separate so that the blue half of the country can make progress. Only as the separate red half later sees itself falling into total ruin will it then petition to join back. Unless enough voters in red and purple states can send enough representatives to congress to support Biden, end the filibuster, pass all the voting rights in the For the People Act, give DC and PR and maybe Guam two senators, reform or abolish the electoral college, reform immigration, and if needed reform and pack the Court, stalemate will continue, and I don't think we can deal with our existential threats without separating ourselves from our retrograde half.

While I agree, I don't see Guam making the cut, to be fully honest about it. The same can be said of American Samoa.  Guam has fewer than 170,000 residents; American Samoa less than 50,000.  The US Virgin Islands may be ripe for statehood, but they have only slightly over 100.000 residents -- another no-go.  

Revising the Constitution is a bigger task, one that may only happen if Texas gets painted Blue.  At that point, the GOP will have no chance of electing a POTUS, and may be ready to bargain.  That may be a while coming, so statehood for the deserving needs to come first.

The main reason I added Guam to my list, is the electoral college, which isn't going away anytime soon, most likely, and DC already has 3 votes, and the total-incompetent Trump almost won the 2020 election solely due to the EC (the margin was 43,000 votes in 3 states total). Just adding 5 or 6 votes for likely-Democratic Puerto Rico doesn't do much to change the balance. And given Texas' 6% margin for Trump in 2020, I don't see it going blue in the next presidential election. If Georgian Republicans can make it stick that their Republican legislature can just decide who wins the elections there, that is one more doubtful blue state. I don't know if Guam will ever be added, but it seems like a good idea. Maybe Guam and American Samoa could be cobbled together as the state of Oceania?

Meanwhile yesterday new cases in the USA were over 85,000, CA added 3600 and NY over 8000. The pandemic isn't going anywhere yet. New variants and pandemics could happen too. This existential threat, one among several, remains. Our Cold Civil War 4T will continue until the blue side wins the great divide and the red tide recedes, or we have put together some kind of division of the USA.

The greatest dangers I see now are the Republican drive to suppress the vote, leading to possible Republican congress takeover in 2022, Manchin's current unwillingness to support Democratic Party senate reforms and bills, and Kamala Harris's possible nomination in 2024 which would assure Republican victory for the White House.