The story on Bill Clinton’s campaign swing through Puerto Rico had a classic illustration of why we need to cut our last major colony loose, pronto, whether they like it or not. While Clinton was giving a speech, in English:

Nobody interpreted, and only a handful of audience members seemed to understand him. The crowd — raucous and dancing a few minutes earlier — remained mostly silent during the 10-minute speech. Some people left. Others chatted on their cellphones. “What is he saying? Do we clap now?” asked Jerry Nieves Rosario, a college student who speaks only Spanish.

What kind of democratic deliberation can there be if Mr. “Do we clap now?” — who if Puerto Rico became a state would be voting for (real) congressmen and presidents to make law for you and me — cannot even understand what we’re saying, and vice versa. It’s time we all acknowledged that we are two separate peoples, neither of whom has any business being involved in governing the other.