On July 13, 2019, we in Puerto Rico were rocked when we learned that our (now ex-)governor, Ricardo Rosselló Nevárez had been involved in some bad chatting. Really bad, if you’ll permit me the adverb. I’m a huge believer in context, but in almost any context, making fun of people killed during or as a result of the worst hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in almost 100 years qualifies as a “bad thing.” In addition to mocking the dead, the misogynistic, homophobic, and sexist comments clearly spelled out how Mr. Rosselló and his chatbuddies felt about everyone from deceased independentista Carlos Gallisá to beloved singer and actor Ricky Martin.
Many issues are burning through the island, today, making this tropical paradise more of a tropical inferno. The citizens of Puerto Rico are still in the middle of recovering from the twin destruction meted out by Irma and Maria, are suffering through a recession that is now in its 13th year, and are looking forward to austerity measures that are intended to dig the island out of its massive, $72 billion debt but that include massive cuts to education, health care, and pensions, among other things. It should be noted that Mr. Rosselló bears no fault for the hurricanes (though his management of their aftermath has been less than stellar), has fought against the imposition of said austerity measures (perhaps ineffectively, but that is a story for another person to tell), and did nothing to incur any part of the debt under discussion (though he made a number of questionable decisions with regard to how to deal with it). However, to the people of Puerto Rico, the 899 pages of offensive text were “la gota que derramó el vaso.” That is, the straw the broke that camel’s back. Because, truly, the person who has been elected as the peoples’ representative must act—in public and private—with grace, decorum, and integrity, must be treat all his or her constituents with humanity and dignity.
It is not my intent to rehash this news. Anyone with an internet connection can find news about all the above and more and get a better write up than I can provide. Instead, my purpose is to focus on the unprecedented outcome: Mr. Rosselló was, for all intents and purposes, forced out of office. The people of Puerto Rico arose en masse and spoke as from a single throat: “Ricky, Renuncia” (Ricky, resign). By using the guaranteed rights to assemble and speak freely, borinqueños in the hundreds of thousands ousted the beleaguered governor, peacefully and effectively but without compromise.
Look at the title, look at action described and the numbers associated with it, look at the result. Now look at what Donald Trump said:
“I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
Grace, decorum, and integrity seem somewhat lacking.
Photo by Daryana Rivera - Photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0; https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80904227