Puerto Rico's Existential Crisis: One Month In (UPDATED)

While an unfit and dangerously narcissistic man- baby sits in the Oval Office tweeting about the NFL, Hillary Clinton, and (this morning) the infamous pee pee tape dossier, over 3 million Americans in Puerto Rico are still suffering the effects of Hurricane Maria one month in. As CNN reports, 80% of the island is without power, and one million still have no drinkable water. Roads and bridges have been destroyed and are impassible, particularly across the central, rural areas of the island. Tens of thousands of homes had their roofs and walls blown away, and are making do with tarp and whatever materials can be salvaged from the rubble. Many communities have yet to see a FEMA or military presence one month after the disaster. And these are Americans. Among all states and territories, Puerto Rico ranks 29th in population, higher than Iowa, Nevada, Kansas, New Hampshire, etc. Imagine the administration's response if this were happening in those states.

There is an increasing out-migration of Puerto Ricans to the mainland, either temporarily or permanently, as a result of Maria. The pattern of relocating to the mainland has caused Puerto Rico's population to decline from 3.8 million to 3.4 million in recent years. That depopulation has brought on a sinking tax base for local government, a spiral in the local economy and the increased burden of debt. It's allowed vultures on Wall Street to extend credit to the desperate island on predatory terms.

The recovery effort will be a very long haul, and it hasn't started well in the least, thanks to a bigoted, incompetent and disinterested sociopath in the Oval Office. You can help -- and we urge you to do so -- by contributing whatever you can to these organizations.

UPDATE:  The man- baby still thinks "he" deserves a "10" for the federal response. On a scale of 100, maybe. What a delusional, dangerous sociopath.