Carpe Diem #1263 - Neighborhood of Colors

I took a sharp turn from Italy to Puerto Rico, so beautiful only a few short days ago, now a pile of rubble. Making things worse, out idiot predisent* has shown no enthusiasm for getting them any aid. There may also be corruption involving shipping laws to complicate things further.

{Mitch McConnell's wife is from a family that owns Foremost Shipping. I have not been able to verify the allegation that they have near- exclusive rights for shipping to Puerto Rico due to the Jones Act. John McCain has been trying for years to get the Jones Act - which stipulates that only American made, owned, and crewed ships can deliver freight from one American port to another - lifted. This Act has been harming the Puerto Rican economy for a century, and it looks like big profits for McConnell. I have no doubt that this rat would never lose a minute''s sleep over thousands dying, as long as he could add to his own already enormous wealth. It's also very hard for me to believe that racism is not a factor.}

To help victims of the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida, the Jones act was temporarily lifted for those states - as has happened several times in the past. Puerto Rico - completely isolated from overland transport - has not been given the same consideration.

There is a desperate need for food, potable water, medications, shelter, fuel for generators. People are dying for want of these basic things. But aid is slow in coming from our great nation. Evidently the people of Hispanic heritage on the island don't rate the same kind of assistance that quickly came to those in Texas and Florida.

Puerto Rico is part of the United States, and Puerto Ricans are U. S. citizens.  Could their skin color be causing our Republican Party leadership to downplay their worth?   Sure looks that way to me.

It only took a few seconds on the Google to discover what I guessed might be the case - that Puerto Rico also had houses of many colors.

Colorful Houses

many house colors

many tints of human skin

grey puerto rico

~:~

*Some time ago one of Trump's attorneys mispelt "president" as "predisent" in a document.  It's good, since "predisent" is a portmanteau of "predator" and "president."  Columnist Charlie Pierce refers to occupant 45 as the president*.  I've combined these ideas and always refer to this genuinely corrupt and horrible man as the predisent*.