{"id":2373,"date":"2016-07-01T06:36:01","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T11:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=2373"},"modified":"2016-07-01T06:37:19","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T11:37:19","slug":"in-dependence-daze-poem-a-little-colony-pr-owed-too-puerto-rico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/01\/in-dependence-daze-poem-a-little-colony-pr-owed-too-puerto-rico\/","title":{"rendered":"IN DEPENDENCE DAZE POEM — A Little Colony PR: Owed Too Puerto Rico"},"content":{"rendered":"

If at first you don’t secede<\/strong>
\nYou will be tried, tried agin<\/strong>
\nTaking atoll<\/strong>
\nLargely unheard<\/strong>
\nFeigning liberties<\/strong>
\nIn centuries owed looming freedom<\/strong>
\nWeave earned our lessen<\/strong>
\nFrom the British umpire<\/strong>
\nNever let US leave North America<\/strong>
\n[Except for certain exceptionalisms proving the rule]<\/strong>
\nThe land of the free<\/strong>
\nFor giving debts<\/strong>
\nIn rolling that island pair o’ dice<\/strong>
\nAssure abet<\/strong>
\nCapital flushed down that Saint John<\/strong>
\nWelcome to the state hood!<\/strong>
\nThat mourning after<\/strong>
\nA fifth of July<\/strong>
\nOnly too have<\/strong>
\nTheir suffrage denied<\/strong>
\nNothing that can’t be fixed<\/strong>
\nBuy a little colony PR<\/strong>
\nIn dependence daze for all<\/strong>
\nLet freedom wring<\/strong>
\nThis is the America I no<\/strong>
\nEnough to make a native restless<\/strong><\/p>\n

On this Independence Day weekend, I dedicate this poem to the people of Puerto Rico, who are nominally American citizens but do not enjoy either statehood or independence. \u00a0Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress may put Puerto Rico solidly back into colony status with a seven-person outside controlling board taking over whatever governance Puerto Rico now has. \u00a0This has triggered reconsideration of the status of Puerto Rico by the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization. \u00a0The re-colonization of Puerto Rico as reported by Democracy Now<\/a>\u00a0:<\/p>\n

The U.S. Senate has passed the so-called PROMESA bill, which will establish a federally appointed control board with sweeping powers to run Puerto Rico\u2019s economy. While the bill\u2019s supporters say the bill will help the island cope with its crippling debt crisis, it has also been widely criticized as a means of removing democratic control from the citizens of Puerto Rico. The Senate\u2019s 68-30 vote comes two days before Puerto Rico is expected to default on a more than $2 billion debt payment. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez led the opposition to the bill.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sen. Bob Menendez: “It is a vote to authorize an unelected, unchecked and all-powerful control board to determine Puerto Rico\u2019s destiny for a generation or more. It is a bill to force Puerto Rico, without their say, to go $370 million further in debt to pay for this omnipotent control board, which they don\u2019t even want. It is a vote to cut the minimum wage down to $4.25 per hour for young workers in Puerto Rico. It\u2019s a vote to make Puerto Ricans work long overtime hours without fair compensation. It\u2019s a vote to jeopardize collective bargaining agreements. It\u2019s a vote to cut worker benefits and privatize inherently government functions. It\u2019s a vote to close schools and shutter hospitals and cut senior citizens\u2019 pensions to the bone. It\u2019s a vote to put hedge funds ahead of the people. And it\u2019s a vote to sell off and commercialize natural treasures that belong to the people of Puerto Rico.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

May the United States and all of its citizens free themselves from colonial and imperial rule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If at first you don’t secede You will be tried, tried agin Taking atoll Largely unheard Feigning liberties In centuries owed looming freedom Weave earned our lessen From the British umpire Never let US leave North America [Except for certain … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174,9,15],"tags":[563,675,684,196,341,416,272,116,115,148,509,658,94,17,215,685,186,406,380],"class_list":["post-2373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-america","tag-citizens","tag-colonial-rule","tag-congress","tag-control","tag-debt","tag-democracy","tag-economy","tag-freedom","tag-government","tag-mourning","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-political","tag-politics","tag-puerto-rico","tag-state","tag-status","tag-work"],"yoast_head":"\nIN DEPENDENCE DAZE POEM -- A Little Colony PR: Owed Too Puerto Rico | News, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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