Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor has traveled to Guam to swear in some lawyers, one of whom is named Perfecto T. Gallman. We know nothing about this individual other than he has a great name. On her trip though Justice Sotomayor drew some parallels between Guam and Puerto Rico. Justice Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent and knows the ins and outs of the ceaseless debate over what Puerto Ricans want and/or do not want and/or might not want now but will later.
Guam and Puerto Rico both share a special unincorporated status within the United States. Puerto Rico has more independence in their governance, but both territories struggle with the same basic options: the status quo, full independence, or statehood. There are also people in Guam who would like to join Hawaii and gain statehood in that fashion. Statehood would give the the people of Guam and Puerto Rico more voice in national politics. But, it wold also come with more centralized controls.
For now though Justice Sotomayor makes a good point. She, and we are paraphrasing, states that the choices of the citizens of the two territories ought to be the deciding factor. These should come in an evolutionary fashion and not a revolutionary way. This way no hasty decisions are made and annexation, long out of fashion, makes a comeback. However, that said, the fifty stars could use a sprucing up. It's been stuck at that number for 53 years. A new star or too might brighten the mood in the ol' US of A.
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