Isn't anyone going to comment on how overheated, vile and disgusting the headline is? Dred Scott protected slavery, for crying out loud! I don't see any Puerto Ricans being bound in leg irons, picking cotton in the hot sun for 18 hours, while a slavemaster mercilessly lashes their backs with a bull whip.
Give me a frickin' break, people! Talk about hyperbole.
Puerto Ricans are citizens and do, in fact, receive ALL civil rights afforded to citizens. They absolutely can, and do, vote for federal office when they reside in a state. Many Puerto Ricans establish dual residencies, in fact, so they can live tax-free in Puerto Rico, and vote in New York.
While Puerto Ricans can and do vote, the COMMONWEALTH of Puerto Rico does not get represented in the U.S. Congress. That is the will of the people of Puerto Rico, who have voted not to become a state on several occasions.
The Boston globe simply wants 7 more Democratic representatives and two more Democratic senators, and so they are trying to frame the issue in an insulting and degrading way so as to make Puerto Ricans feel victimized. The Insular Cases were overturned by federal action in the 1950s, when they were given full rights.
"so they can live tax-free in Puerto Rico"
How is Puerto Rico "tax-free"?
"Puerto Ricans are citizens and do, in fact, receive ALL civil rights afforded to citizens"
Let me count the ways your statement is not accurate:
1. I served 22 years in the U.S. Army. The guy in the foxhole next to me could vote for the Commander in Chief and I never could.
2. Congress taxes me and my employers without our consent. Social Security tax, Medicare tax, Unemployment tax, Income tax on mainland or offshore (non-Puerto Rico) income.
3. Congress makes most laws applicable to Puerto Rico without our consent.
4. The status quo serves only to a very small, select oligarchy.
5. Technically, Congress can do as it pleases with four million Americans. That is a state of tyranny.
6. We get labeled as democrats, liberals or socialists by ya'll, yet we are not given a chance to prove different. Puerto Rico is not East Harlem, you know.