Don't Know Much About Geography
“…Don't know much about geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for…” - Sam Cooke - “Wonderful World”
Apparently Republicans didn’t pay much attention in geography class. Why else would they say some stupid shit like the recent nonsense from South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace about Washington D.C. statehood.
Rep. Mace actually said, aloud so other people could hear her, that D.C should not become the 51st state because it doesn’t have a lot of people.
“D.C. wouldn't even qualify as a singular congressional district, and here they are, they want the power and authority of being an entire state in the United States,” said Rep. Einstein.
First of all, population is not a requirement for statehood. While D.C. is not as populous as, say, California, its 705,749 residents have a voice, but not a vote in Congress like the other 50 states.
And for your information Rep. Mace, Vermont and Wyoming have smaller populations than D.C. And they are actual states with power and authority.
Lest you think the Republican party is lacking in ridiculous rationalizations as to why D.C. should not become a state, here comes Georgia Representative Jody Hice aboard the stupid train.
“D.C. would be the only state, the only state, without an airport, without a car dealership, without a capital city, without a landfill, without even a name on its own, and we can go on and on and on,” Hice said recently.
OK. This tends to get exhausting, but let’s unpack the stupidity of this one too.
Again, none of these things are a requirement to become a state.
But, that aside, when the rules for statehood were written into the constitution, there were no airplanes and no cars. Still, according to the Washington D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, of the 85 car dealerships in the metro D.C area, 65 are actually located within D.C. proper.
As for not having a name on its own – and this is almost too stupid to address – have you ever heard of North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina?
There are other, less inane, but still supremely stupid, reasons Republicans give as to why D.C shouldn’t be allowed to be a state. Among them: it’s geographically too small and it doesn’t have the correct industries to qualify. What kind of industries? Fracking and strip mining?
Probably the stupidest of the stupid ideas came from a non-politician. Zack Smith, a legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, recently said at a Congressional hearing that D.C. residents don’t need congressional representation because they have lawn signs.
“How many committee members on their way to this hearing today passed yard signs, banners, or even billboards advocating D.C. statehood?” He asked. “I certainly did. Nowhere else in the country would it be possible to reach so many members of Congress so easily.”
You can’t make this stuff up.
But leave it to a Democrat to inject some sanity into the debate.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, from one of those states without its own name, Virginia, noted that the real reason Republicans oppose Washington D.C. statehood is that it votes overwhelmingly Democratic and would likely add two Democratic Senators to Congress.
“This is about race and partisanship and affiliation,” Rep. Connolly said.