Neither John Oliver nor the Dalai Lama are sure why Washington, D.C. still doesn’t have statehood, but on Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight,” the comedian made the case for a constitutional amendment to change that.
Washington, D.C., while housing the federal government, provides only nominal congressional representation to its residents. Congress even has to approve its budget.
“We’re the only democracy in the world that does this,” Oliver said. “In fact, when the Dalai Lama came to visit, he wondered why a small pocket of people living in the world’s champion of democracy lacked full voting rights, calling it, ‘Quite strange, quite strange.'”
And the Dalai Lama has some knowledge of governments encroaching on democratic autonomy.
“It’s not good when a guy from Tibet says, ‘Wow, this situation is really undemocratic. Someone should do something about it,'” Oliver said.
Watch the segment below:
If DC was a bastion of White Conservatives, the Republicans would be falling all over themselves to get it statehood. Instead, they are desperate to keep it voteless and disenfranchised- like they’re trying to do with every minority and Liberal in this country.
I can’t figure out why Wyoming’s 585K people get voting representation in Congress while D.C.'s 660K don’t.
I mean, other than the average melanin quotient in the latter population, that is.
D.C, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands should all be granted statehood.
“Well let’s all kick out Florida 'cuase no one thinks there great!”
are you suggesting 5 states, or 1?