Flags Of Our Future Fathers.

Not long ago, I ran across an old 48-star flag at work. It's been fifty years since Alaska and Hawaii became states, bumping the U.S. flag to an even fifty in count. I got to thinking about what would happen to our flag should Puerto Rico ever decide on statehood, and, not surprisingly, there is already a 51-star flag designed for just such a contingency.

Even more surprising is that the U.S. Army has designed flags to accommodate up to 56 states.

Where would we get 56 states, you ask? Google and Wikipedia, as always, to the rescue....

As it turns out, we could end up with even more than that, if everybody who wanted their own state got their way. Think about these changes to our U.S. map -- lots of them make sense to me.

Eastern Washington joins with Idaho's panhandle: Eastern Washington has absolutely nothing in common with the western part of the state -- not weather, not lifestyle, jobs, politics -- nada.

Divide California in half: This idea actually passed the California senate just a few decades ago. Differences may not be as extreme as in Washington state, but many exist; plus the state is just too damn huge to manage. Personally, I'd give everything east of the Sierra Nevada's "spine" to Nevada, with which it has more in common.

Speaking of Nevada, Los Vegas is a city-state all to itself, again having nothing in common with the vast desert and agricultural territory that makes up the "real" Nevada. Those stupid Las Vegas types don't even pronounce the state's name correctly... it's Nee-VAAAA-duh, for gosh sake.

Which leads us to the biggest city-state of them all, New York City. Make it a state, and leave Upstate New York alone. While you're at it, break off Long Island and make it a state, too.

There have been revolts over water in Georgia, taxes in Virginia, and arguments in Texas dating back to its admission into the Union.

Then there's all those islands out in the Pacific we mainlanders never think about except when watching documentaries on WWII or atomic bomb tests. The Marshall Islands, the Northern Marianas, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa all are under our government's thumb. Shouldn't they receive recognition, too?

Think beyond, for a minute, what this would do our flag, and think about the repercussions in American politics. How would, say, twenty extra Senators change the present balance of power? Would it swing the USA left or right? I'll let you ponder that. Get back to me with your thoughts.