Will Anyone Ever Speak Up For Puerto Rico?

Carol Guzy via ZUMA

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From Sarah Palin:

Well, I’m sure Puerto Ricans appreciate the sentiment. But considering that their island has been almost literally demolished, and electricity will be out for months, I’ll bet they’d appreciate a concrete expression of concern even more. Like maybe heading up a huge fundraising drive. Or maybe this from our president:

Puerto Ricans are American citizens just like the rest of us, and their home has been devastated beyond comprehension by Hurricane Maria. Tomorrow I will ask Congress to pass an emergency $10 billion bill to provide temporary housing throughout the island and to rebuild following the devastation. I expect this to have bipartisan support and to pass by the end of the week. It will take time to ramp up this effort, so in the meantime I have ordered the military to begin rescue and resupply missions as its top priority. This is what Americans expect from their government, and we won’t rest until the job is done.

Yeah, I know. Trump doesn’t have time for this because he’s too busy stirring up outrage over the protests of black athletes. What a goddam embarrassment he is.

Maybe it’s time for Democratic leadership to say something. I imagine they’ve been relatively quiet because they don’t want to turn this into a partisan affair, but they’ve waited long enough. If Republicans would rather waste their time on a doomed and horrible health bill instead of helping three million American citizens who have lost everything, it’s up to Chuck and Nancy to lead the charge in their place.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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