As if we needed another contradistinction.

While Hurricane Fiona ravaged Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, knocking out power and flooding cities and towns and causing billions of dollars of damage…

… Elizabeth II’s coffin-encased remains were majestically transported through the streets of London and then to her family’s estate as her bejeweled crown, like a crumpled gnome, bore final witness to the torturous ceremonial journey of her kingdom’s dead Queen.

The multitude of the Queen’s admirers left marmalade sandwiches along her funeral route, hoping that…?  Signifying their…?

This while Puerto Ricans were left with shit sandwiches along their routes, as they watched their bridges get swept away by raging storm waters.  Signifying their… marginalization.

Was it the Brits’ responsibility to set aside their royal fetish and do something real to serve humanity for a change?  No (I mean, of course) but the real onus is on U.S. politicos and media to stop their fawning over royalty who aren’t even our royalty and to make more than a token effort to serve and respect humans who are actually part of the United States, even though they live on an island that hasn’t been declared a state yet.

Jesus Juxtaposition.  How much longer can we get away with treating Puerto Rico as the socio-political equivalent of Guantanamo, an island without status, a place where bad things happen to poor Americans and no one, not even us, has to care.