Why do states like Rhode Island even exist?

[Placebo]

Seriously, aren't they just hanging on by a thread?

Why can't some other bigger state just take them over? Simplify things a bit.

It would make life so much easier for everyone.

All the brain space saved in the minds of our nation's youth by not having them memorize Rhode Island's state capital when they're doing the 50 (It should be 49...just sayin'...) state capitals is worth its weight in gold alone!

[Yavin4]

1. Show Rhode Island Some Respect and Love

Bush has his lowest approval rating in that state. It's lower than NY and CA. R.I. should be damn proud of itself.

[Placebo]

2. Yeah but there's like 5 people in the whole state.

That's what they don't tell you. Damn liberal media.

[ZombieNixon]

3. Yeah, but one of those people is Peter Griffin.

And when Bush has lost Peter Griffin, he's lost America. :D

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. My stepdad went to college with the creator of Family Guy.

Yeah, he went to school in Rhode Island.

[ProfessorGAC]

69. Just Like Montana

5 People. Two Senators. Go figure!
The Professor

[Ptah]

4. Well,

One county out west: 9,189 sq. mi. (23,799 sq. km.)Pima County, Arizona


One state 'back east':1,214 sq. mi. (3,144 sq. km.) Rhode Island


You decide

:shrug:

[Placebo]

6. Precisely!

The numbers don't lie.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. It should be 49 because Hawaii should be given sovereignity

I actually really like Rhode Island. It's very nice and very liberal. I was actually just up there because we have a house in Stonington, CT, which is right next to Rhode Island. We go into Watch Hill and Westerly pretty much daily and jumping the swells over to Block Island is awesome (even though I banged my knee). Regardless, I like Rhode Island enough to keep it a state, even though it's tiny.

Now the thing I don't get about Rhode Island is why it's called Rhode Island. It's more like Rhode Speck, but they deserve to be a state. There are islands that are part of Rhode Island, but the state itself is not an island.

[Placebo]

9. Why is Hawaii so special?

Why does it deserve to be free while the rest of states are made to suffer? :cry:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

11. They were a kingdom that we took over.

They also don't recieve the rights that the Native American tribes do. Much of the population is still native Hawaiians and many of them want their country back.

[Redstone]

38. Damn good point you raise, and one that few Americans understand.

Redstone

[hfojvt]

85. hey I raised that point several days ago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=5351341&mesg_id=5352962

It is really ironic that Hawaii was not even a state when Pearl Harbor got bombed.

[KamaAina]

84. I sometimes think we should have a status like Scotland has in the UK

its own legislature and judiciary, but a common currency and defense. Thing is, Scotland's quite a bit bigger than we are, and the UK is smaller than the US.

Full independence just isn't practical at this point, and besides, if we had our own Navy (who needs an army when you're defending a chain of islands?), the PNACers would just come and invade us again, and we'd be back to square one...

[liberalpragmatist]

96. Except that the majority isn't Native Hawaiian

The overwhelming majority are whites and Asians. And the Asians, especially, have been there for generations.

I agree that the natives should receive federal recognition like Native American tribes; but independence is not desired by most nor is it a feasible option - by that standard, much of the U.S. should be taken away since it wasn't ours to begin with.

[Arkham House]

22. Nobody really knows...

...the origin of "Rhode Island"...there are theories, but no one is quite sure. And that's kind of odd, when you come right down to it...the fact is, several states have names whose origin is obscure...

[Oeditpus Rex]

30. It's because of the chickens

The Rhode Island Reds.

They wanted to name a state after 'em.

[Arkham House]

43. The chickens were called "Rhode Island Redlegs" during the Cold War--

--because people thought "Reds" might be considered Communists...

[Oeditpus Rex]

48. So were the Cincinnati Reds

Come to think of it, I think Crayola changed the name of its red crayon to "Love It or Leave It, Ya Commie Bastids."

[mainegreen]

62. Its called Rhode Island after Rhode/Aquidneck Island, on which

Neport is located.

[YankeyMCC]

79. And the rest of what is now RI was mostly part of

Plymouth Colony I believe. I'm not sure how it happened but I guess in the process of Plymouth merging with Massachusetts Bay RI gained some land.

So how about this. Let Northern/Inland Maine merge with Northern NH (they want to split from the downeasters anyway and North and South NH are pretty different.) Remerge Costal ME with Massachusetts but carve out what was Plymouth colony and make it part of RI. Take a bit of southern NH (the part with Nashua, it's essentially a Boston Suburb anyway) and use it to connect the new portions of Mass and get the rest to VT.

Now that would be an interesting New England Map and keep the same number of senators/reps for New England. :)

[mainegreen]

91. Oi! I dont want to be part of Mass!

:spank:

[Gormy Cuss]

93. Not again!

The Maine colonists didn't like being pushed around by those Mass Bay people even in the 17th century.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

95. I'll be dead in the deep, deep, ground before I recognise Missoura n/t

[texanwitch]

8. I live in Texas and I have great respect for the little states.

I think Harris County is as big as Rhode Island but the size of the state doesn't mean a thing.:kick:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. Rhode Island has more people than some of the "big" states.

Rhode Island - 1,076,164
Montana - 917,621
South Dakota - 764,309
Alaska - 648,818
North Dakota - 633,837
Wyoming - 501,242

Plus, it's a very blue state. We should just combine some of those big red states with no people.

[Ptah]

16. Some counties in the west

Have nearly as many people -Pima County 957,635
As some 'small states - Rhode Island - 1,076,164

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. New York City has more people than about 37 of the states.

Are you a Pima County promoter? Small New England states rock and deserve to be seperate states.

[Ptah]

26. Please don't take my statism seriously.

I had a two week vacation in and around Providence that
was perhaps the most exquisite fall color experience
I will ever have.
It was even more spectacular than around Ann Arbor.

Thank you for your efforts at West Point, haruka3_2000.

:hi:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

28. You're welcome.

More protesting against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to be coming up across the country. I'll be organizing the NJ one and I'll be in attendance at the Times Square one.

The protest website should be up within a few days.

[hfojvt]

87. That's just Tuscon

many counties in the west are more like Gila or Graham with less than 50,000 people.

[hfojvt]

86. really, combine the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana

throw in Nebraska and we'd be bigger than Texas, at least in area.
464,197 square miles. Still smaller than Alaska at 570, 374. There'd be two senators instead of 10 and perhaps 10 fewere electoral votes for a population about the size of Alabama. Four less governors and capitol buildings and four fewer state legislatures. Seems like a huge tax savings to me.

[kwassa]

12. Rhode Island is great.

Historical, beautiful, some great schools like Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. Beautiful bay and ocean.

[Placebo]

13. TOO beautiful.

Lets bomb it! }(

[kwassa]

14. Political Science, by Randy Newman

Boom goes London and boom Paris
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

[speedoo]

32. And don't forget Newport and Block Island.....

two wonderful places for sailors to hang out.

Plus, my daughter lives in Providence...

don't mess with Rhode Island!!!

[vikegirl]

15. Why do states like Illinois even exist?

O'Hare - nuff said. ;-)

just sayin' (just checked your profile :evilgrin: )

[Gidney N Cloyd]

23. Illinois keeps Indiana and Iowa from breeding...

[vikegirl]

24. Hey! I grew up in Iowa

boo!!! :crazy:

[Placebo]

25. ...

:rofl:

[vikegirl]

31. Uh, is that why Jeri Ryan

rejected your governor? :shrug: ;-)

I'm kidding, kids!

[Redstone]

17. And split up the big states. Is Pittsburgh ANYTHING like Philadelphia?

Los Angeles like San Francisco?

Buffalo like New York City?

Cincinnati like Cleveland?

Redstone

[Placebo]

18. 'Nuff said.

:patriot:

[Ariana Celeste]

20. Yeah!

Western Washington and Eastern Washington should be split, too!

[u4ic]

19. But then you'd have to rename the chickens!!!

:silly:

[Redstone]

27. What??? No Gaggas? NO COFFEE MILK? No quahogs?

I'll man the barricades for Rhode Island. And I'm volunteering the State of Connecticut to defend our sister state as well.

Redstone

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

29. My family has four boats and some guns on the CT/RI border.

Provided we're in CT and not NJ at the time, we be in Rhode Island within 10 minutes, by sea or land.

[Redstone]

37. We MUST defend the last bastion of the Clam Fritter.

Redstonbe

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

40. I ate some Clam Fritters last night.

At The Cove in Mystic, CT last night. They were very good.

[Placebo]

46. Seafood is gross.

It's all fishy and dirty.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

47. It shouldn't be fishy.

Anyway, all the fish I eat up there is either stuff I caught myself or was brought in off the commercial boats that morning. Freshest fish you can get. I love it. Fish is the only "meat" I will eat. Now factory-farmed cows and chickens...that's dirty.

[Redstone]

53. Hey, you were right around the corner from us!

At least in New England terms; Mystic is only about 20 minutes away.

(In case you didn't know, a true New Englander thinks nothing about driving 45 minutes to get an ice-cream cone.)

Redstone

[Placebo]

56. What is a "true" New Englander anyway?

:shrug:

[Redstone]

58. Someone who lives conservatively and votes liberally.

Someone who TRULY doesn't care if his neighbor is gay, Communist, Rastafarian, or whatever, as long as that neighbor doesn't let his property get run down.

Someone who never forgets his own, and is always ready to make an outsider one of his own.

Someone who doesn't wear his patriotism on his sleeve, but always is the first to sign up to defend his country. And doesn't boast about it, or even much talk about it afterward.

Someone who will do anything to help someone else, as long as the someone else never tells anyone.

Someone like the people in the town where I grew up, always remember you even though you moved away 40 years ago.

Someone who doesn't complain.

Someone who endures.

Someone who remembers.

Redstone

[Placebo]

89. Wow...

you should put that on a plaque or something and nail it in the middle of town square. :P

[Gormy Cuss]

94. Redstone. n/t

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

57. My stepdad has a small summer house in Stonington.

I'll actually be up there again this weekend. Don't worry in NJ, we also will drive 45 minutes for an ice cream cone. Actually, my father was known to drive two hours for a hot dog. My friend and I once traveled NJ for about three hours in search of a Slurpee. The machine was broken at every 7-11 and by the time you've hit the three 7-11's close by with no luck, you're really on a mission. Once you're on a mission, you need to succeed.

[Hippo_Tron]

33. Because they elect liberal Senators and Congressmen

And even though they have one GOP Senator, he's about to be unseated.

[Placebo]

35. That remains to be seen!

We can only hope, though.

[JVS]

34. To charge highway tolls which allow them to lower taxes and be...

the location of corporate HQs

[Floogeldy]

36. The tension between pure numbers and local sovereignty.

The independence of "nation states" incorporated within a federal system is the main consideration.

Read James Madison's notes from the Constitutional Convention.

Perhaps then you will not be so hasty. ;)

That being said, I am open-minded on the subject as was Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison.

Tread lightly if you dare enter the realm of intellectual underpinnings and the history of the World prior to the framing.

You have been warned.

:smoke:

[Shine]

39. Well I, for one, was born there, so that counts for something.

My dad was in the Navy at the time, so I was born at the naval hospital in Newport. We moved within my first year and I have absolutely no connection with that area AT ALL except for it being my birthplace....so it remains important for that reason, alone.

Aren't you simply FASCINATED? :eyes: :D

[Placebo]

42. Yeah, it counts for something alright...

a very small something. :P

[Shine]

49. 8 lbs. 11oz, to be exact.

:D

[MnFats]

41. Independence for the Northwest Angle! I'll send a prize to the first DUer

who knows what I'm talking about!

[Ptah]

50. The part of Minnesota north of the 49th parallel?

The population was 152 at the 2000 census.

[XemaSab]

65. Fifty-four forty or fight!

[MnFats]

72. dingdingdingdingding! you are correct!

will have to figure out the prize deal.....but congratulations..

[Rabrrrrrr]

44. To help put some more blues in Washington, DC.

And because Rhode Island rocks - not only has it the longest name of any state in the nation, it has Brown University, a notoriously liberal place; it's beautiful; and has a very intelligent population overall.

[Placebo]

45. Once again, only because the sampling size is soooooo tiny.

:)

[antigone382]

51. Because at that time Massachussetts was full of self-righteous fucks...

...and they kicked all the sane people--at least, the ones they didn't drown or hang first--into the wilderness of Rhode Island in the hopes that they'd die and earn their punishment in Hell. Instead, the outcasts got together and made a state where people could form their own opinions about religion and things of that nature...even named their capital "Providence" as a clever little "fuck you" to all the windbags tellin' 'em they were going to hell for not doing what they were told...Massachussetts eventually learned its lesson, of course, but if I was a Rhode Islander, I'd want to keep my hard-won independence just the same.

[JVS]

52. But enough about MA's universal indoor smoking ban

:hide:

[Placebo]

54. ...

:spank:

:rofl:

[Ptah]

55. That was a very enjoyable paragraph.

Thanks.
:applause:

[GreenTea]

59. How about Southern California? Money, with no real clue or substance

Northern California should just "split" the scene - we don't belong!!!

[XemaSab]

66. I agree!

Williams seems like a good place for the split.... :D

[GreenTea]

60. Their existence, I think, is really just to fuck with us!!!

:bounce:
:hi:

[calico1]

61. Why would you want to get rid of one of the bluest

states in the union? Wouldn't it be a better idea to take bigger blue states and make them into 2 or 3 smaller states?:) I can understand wanting to do away with a small or sparsely populated red state, but a blue one?:shrug:

I live in the Ledyard area of CT so I am close to RI and go there frequently. Its a cool state imo.

[Squeech]

63. Home away from home

I have a long history with Rhode Island. I went to Brown as a (singularly lazy and ineffective) undergrad, and the east side of Providence was a fun place to be. I realized the error of my ways when I noticed that most of my friends were RISD students rather than my colleagues at Brown. (Thank you Kwassa for posting those charming photos of Benefit Street.) Later I discovered the distinct culture of Federal Hill and Atwells Ave, equally fun. Years later we recorded the Cul de Sac CD at a recording studio called Sound Station Seven, off Atwells.

Rhode Island's history is cool too. It's already been mentioned in this thread that, back in the colonial days, it was established by people escaping the rigid sectarianism of the Massachusetts Bay Puritans. I would also like to mention that Rhode Island was the last, or second to last, of the original 13 colonies to vote to adopt the Constitution. The independent-minded Rhode Islanders felt that even as constrained a system as the federalism prescribed therein was too much of a sacrifice of individual liberties.

And the Rhode Island seacoast is breathtakingly beautiful.

So count me a big fan.

[kwassa]

64. I'm a RISD grad

hence the Benefit Street pictures... the East Side is gorgeous.

Incidentally, there is a new series about organized crime in Providence on Showtime, called "The Brotherhood". I watched part of the pilot the other night for the background; they shot a lot in the State House and on the Hill.

But guess what? In this show, the Mafia has suddenly become Irish! Um, how did this happen in this most Italian of places?

My neighbor cross the street is a Brown grad who claims that he used to hang out on Atwells Avenue, sitting on the stoop and drinking beers with Raymond Patriarca, head of the New England mob, in the early '60s. I am skeptical, but this guy is not a liar.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

67. No I don't think we should be abolishing Rhode Island anytime soon

Firstly Rhode Island is one of the bluest states in the US. I think it recorded one of the highest votes for a Democratic presidential candidate in 2000 and 2004. It also sends two Senators and two House Reps to Congress. Granted, one of those Senators is a Republican but even the Republicans represenatives there tend to be quite moderate in their political views. After all it was a Republican Senator from Rhode Island who cast the sole dissenting party vote against the IWR and who voted against the Federal Marriage Act and the flag burning amendment. And the Republican Senator from Rhode Island's father was a passionate advocate of helping those with disabilities and protecting the environment -and he cast one of the votes that saved Clinton from impeachment

No, I'm not advocating the re-election of Lincoln Chafee -I'd love to see Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. But you've got to concede that Chafee is not in the same league as Jefferson Sessions, Wayne Allard and all the other no-talents who occupy the Republican benches in the Senate

Rhode Island is breathtakingly beautiful from pictures and movies I've seen and it's also breathtakingly progressive. It's definitely a state that I intend to visit next time I'm in the US.

And yes, I am taking this thread waaaaaaaaay too seriously:)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

73. Rhode Island is awesome.

There's a place in Watch Hill that has good ice cream (plus a bunch of nifty shops...including a nice independent bookstore called Books & Tackle). Outside of the ice cream place is an old lady that sells really good popcorn with real melted butter for a $1.

[skygazer]

68. Why do any states exist?

Why these arbitrary and artificial divisions within a country? Why can't we all be one under the benevolent rule of our Federal government?

Wow, who took over my body today?

[ProfessorGAC]

70. Why Are Their Two Carolinas and Two Dakotas?

For that matter, why aren't Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin just one big state? Or the whole west coast. Geez, more than half the state boundaries are just lines on a map!
The Professor

[tigereye]

71. don't let Biggie see this

;)

[NewWaveChick1981]

74. To give people something to complain about.

:P :hi: Seriously, Rhode Island is a viable state just like the rest. Just 'cause it's small doesn't mean it's not a state!

So size matters here?

[NNadir]

75. It's not for long. Connecticut is massing troops at the border.

They're feeling brave after making a treaty with New York.

[Midlodemocrat]

76. I just saw that on CNN. Glad I left CT when I did.

War with Rhode Island. More saber rattling on the part of chicken hawks. Let's hope they don't destroy all those beautiful roses on the Cliff Walk.

[NNadir]

78. I have always thought of Connecticutians as kind of fascist.

New York may think itself large enough to absorb the Connecticutian army, but I don't think, with global climate change, the Albany winter will be enough to stop the troops driving through on their way to attack Ohio.

You watch, the Connecticutians will be emoldened when the world lets the conquest of Rhode Island go unpunished.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

80. Hmm...I only saw some fishermen and boaters at the border.

Weird. I hope this Rhode Island take over doesn't affect my weekend at the CT/RI border.

[NNadir]

82. Fishermen and boaters? You mean infiltrators, don't you?

One of the best ways to conceal a transmitter antenna is as a fishing rod, btw.

[Placebo]

90. This agression will not stand!

We have to draw a line in the sand.

[m_welby]

77. Because Rhode Islanders are independant.

Very independant. There's a statue on the top of the state house dome called 'the independant man' for heavens sake !!.


A little trivia...

As for the name, It's actually "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" (the longest name for the smallest state)

Rhode Island is Portsmouth (where Newport is) and Providence plantations is the mainland.

Personally, I've always thought all of new england should be one state, but apparently the rest of new england doesn't agree.


The reason there's a separation of church and state in this country is because of Rhode Island (and Roger Williams).

The first battle for this nations independance was fought here (the burning of the gaspee).

The oldest continuous 4th of july parade is here (in Bristol).

The first 'vampire' stories in this country originated in RI

RI is the birthplace of the industrial revolution (Slater Mill, Pawtucket)


That's enough, I think.

Don't mess with RI!

[UrbScotty]

81. Connecticut should be ppunnishd for giving us Lieberman!

Masachusettts should overtake both states!

[KamaAina]

83. Lowell Weicker once let Imus be "governor (of Conn.) for a day"

unofficially, of course. The I-man commutes from his Conn. home to his NY studios, and at the time Weicker was a frequent guest.

Imus' first (un)official act as "governor" was to declare war on Rhode Island, "because who needs Rhode Island?"

Come to think of it, it was just about that time that he stopped being funny... :eyes:

[Saphire]

88. because 50 is such a nifty round number........

[Tenseiga]

92. But 50 is a nice round number

.