So, Washington DC may become a state soon. Not sure how I feel about that.
On the one hand, it seemed unfair when the folks in DC couldn’t vote for president, but that was corrected in 1961.
I always thought they should let Maryland and Virginia have the land they ceded in 1790 back and divide DC the way Kansas City is divided between Kansas and Missouri. Or, perhaps, like football, Maryland and Virginia could flip a coin and the winner could decide if they want to kick or receive.
Making DC a state was a no-brainer for the Democrats when they realized it was fait accompli that DC voters promise to give them two solid seats in the Senate and a few in Congress. Why not put their finger on the scale? Trust me, if DC leaned to the right instead of the left, the Republicans would have done it a long time ago.
Rhode Island would lose the “Smallest State” bragging rights, but it never was a good state slogan. DC, with only 68 square miles, makes the 1,214 square miles of Rhode Island look huge! Who says size matters? The governor of Rhode Island could brag to the governor of DC, “Mine is bigger than yours!” and she would be right!
While we are adding stars to Old Glory, why stop with DC? If a little city like DC can grow up to become a whole state, what about New York City? Why can’t New York City be a state? First of all, New York City is over 300 square miles, over five times the size of DC, and I guarantee it would deliver two solid seats on the left! Upstate may split the ticket, but it is like a chess game: Sacrifice a pawn, but pick up three Democratic seats… Checkmate!
And the Big Apple has a population more than 12 times that of DC. New York City has almost half of the entire population of New York State. If you can believe Wikipedia, New York City is the largest city by population in the entire country! In fact, New York City has more people than 40 of the 50 US states. New York City deserves to be a state!
I think we should start a petition. I’m sure it will get popular support…in upstate New York.
Fawn Tantillo
New Paltz
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Great letter.