Dear @WSJ I don’t have the luxury of a regular opinion column, but I believe your readers deserve to hear the truth from people on the ground, not from those fast-tracked into public office through name recognition, like Mr. @PabloJoseHR. Puerto Ricans Are Not Content With Disenfranchisement The certified 2024 plebiscite shows a clear democratic mandate for equality through statehood. 58.61 percent voted for admission to the Union. Some argue that the vote is not binding, but that view overlooks both legal precedent and congressional acknowledgment. When Puerto Rico’s own Constitution was enacted in 1952, it was done under the authority of Public Law 600, a statute passed by the United States Congress that recognized the island’s right to hold plebiscites in accordance with its electoral laws. Congress expressly approved the process and the outcome. That acknowledgment set precedent. It established that elections held under Puerto Rico’s constitutional framework are valid expressions of the people’s consent, not mere opinion polls. Therefore, the 2024 referendum is not advisory. It is a binding act of self-determination carried out under the same democratic and legal structure that Congress itself authorized. To disregard that outcome now is to disregard the very precedent Congress created. Under the U.S. Constitution, citizenship was never meant to be conditional or territorial. Yet any American from the mainland who moves to Puerto Rico and becomes a resident of the island immediately loses the right to vote for President or elect voting members of Congress. How can the United States advocate for political equality abroad while maintaining a system at home that erases citizens’ rights at its shoreline? Pablo José himself is a prime example. Puerto Ricans also lack voting representation in the U.S. Congress (they have to elect a non-voting Resident Commissioner). So how can Puerto Ricans (Democrat or Republican) truly influence federal policy under such arrangement? I highly doubt that Pablo José truly enjoys being a non-voting member of Congress, or that he enjoys having to ask other members to sponsor or support his measures. No representative of American citizens should have to beg for a vote on behalf of their own people. The Constitution’s essence is inclusion, the pursuit of happiness, and political equality for all. Puerto Ricans pay billions in federal taxes, serve in the Armed Forces, and uphold the same Constitution, yet remain voiceless in the very government that governs them. “Taxation without representation” was wrong in 1776, and it remains wrong in 2025. Congress must act. The 2024 certified results are not a suggestion; they are a mandate. Equality delayed is democracy denied. It is time to admit Puerto Rico as the fifty-first state and fulfill the democratic promise that citizenship implies. I respectfully disagree with the Resident Commissioner. No Democrat committed to constitutional equality should celebrate being a glass half full. The Constitution does not promise partial rights or limited participation. It guarantees full representation to every citizen of the Union.

En DC, los Republicanos finalmente se estan dando cuenta que el tranque político nacional tiene solución. La estadidad para Puerto Rico. Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!

Yo no soy fanático del presidente, pero dejó claro que, antes de que los demócratas hagan de Puerto Rico un estado federado, él lo hará primero. Reporten eso como lo han hecho cuando alguien dice que no. Creo que los republicanos en Washington D. C. finalmente están viendo la luz al final del túnel con respecto al asunto político de Puerto Rico. @JugandoPelotaPR @ElNuevoDia @TelemundoPR @jayfonsecapr facebook.com/share/r/1Cuu2w1…

I don’t care what your political beliefs are; if you’re a federal employee still working without pay, thank you. You’re keeping the lights on while the leaders of our two major political parties use the rest of America as pawns in their endless power struggle.

Disculpen mi typo...Segovia...ha sido un día largo.

Buenas tardes desde Segobia, España.

Buenos días desde Toledo, España.

España es el mejor spot (para mi) de todos los que he visitado hasta la fecha.

Here's my last post on this matter... Still waiting for your answer (it'll never come). It seems you’re the one talking to yourself in the mirror and mistaking that echo for a majority. Facts don’t bend to ideology, no matter how passionately it’s preached. Be well.

I come with lifelong experience on the subject, not just opinions shaped by ideology. You still haven’t answered the question, and I think we all see why. It’s the same pattern every time: plenty of rhetoric, no substance. Sadly, that’s become the hallmark of the anti-American narrative on the island.

I come with lifelong experience on the subject, not just opinions shaped by ideology. You still haven’t answered the question, and I think we all see why. It’s the same pattern every time: plenty of rhetoric, no substance. Sadly, that’s become the hallmark of the anti-American narrative on the island.

I come with lifelong experience on the subject, not just opinions shaped by ideology. You still haven’t answered the question, and I think we all see why. It’s the same pattern every time: plenty of rhetoric, no substance. Sadly, that’s become the hallmark of the anti-American narrative on the island.

Dude, I served and I'm well-versed in US military/tactical doctrine. Your comment, on the other hand, is empty and ideologically motivated.

What is the majority? Prove it! Otherwise, you're simply full of horse manure.

And how do you support this baseless claim? Please show us the factual or scientific evidence.

A Visit to Normandy Today, I had the privilege of visiting Normandy, a place my father often spoke about with reverence. Though he served in Germany, Normandy held a special place in his heart. He would often tell me how much he wanted to visit one day. Being there myself felt like fulfilling a part of his wish, and honoring the conversations we once shared. The visit was deeply moving. The air was cold, the skies gray, with scattered showers and brief moments of sunlight breaking through, almost as if nature itself was pausing to remember. Walking through the rows of white crosses at the American Cemetery, I paused to pay my respects not only to those who gave everything that day but also to Puerto Rico’s 7th Governor, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who led with courage and integrity during the D-Day landings. As I walked those hallowed grounds, I couldn’t help but reflect on what that generation might say if they saw the world today, the divisions, the loss of unity, and at times, the diminishing respect for service and sacrifice. It reminded me of the responsibility we all share to uphold the values they fought for. For me, this was more than a visit; it was a humbling experience that brought back memories of my own twenty years in the U.S. Navy. It reminded me how blessed I am to have served and how grateful we should all be to my father’s generation, the generation that truly defined courage, duty, and sacrifice. @MarkHertling

My father served in Germany, but he always dreamed of coming to Normandy, but life and health stood in the way. Today, I stand where he longed to be, honoring his wish, his memory, and the quiet strength he left behind. More to follow from Omaha Beach & other places.

Pues aquí estamos. Mañana a subir la torre. Buenas noches.

Next segment...Paris and Normandy, to pay my respects to the Greatest Generation and to fulfill my father’s wish (he served in theater); one he never got the chance to fulfill.