Will Jasmine Trias be the Queen?

I am currently enjoying a browse-read of Waging Peace, Dwight D. Eisenhower's memoir of his second term as president, and yesterday afternoon came across a discussion of the Hawaiian statehood question, which was resolved on Ike's watch. He lobbied for admission of Hawaii (though interestingly, he was less enthusiastic about Alaska), and says most of the objections to statehood centered on fears of communist infiltration. As Ike tells it, he countered these arguments by pointing to the excellent performance of Hawaiian troops in the Korean War, "where the enemy had been both Asiatic and communist."

So it's intriguing, 45 years on, to hear from Matt Welch that residents of the American Estonia are pushing for independence. As far as I'm concerned this one's a push: I can't figure out how 49 stars can be arranged into attractive rows on the flag, but I wouldn't mind losing the eyesore of the poorly scaled island chain inserted into the lower left corner of the U.S. map, where it ends up looking like a dropping behind the steer shape of the lower 48. Keanu, your youth is behind you! You want an issue worthy of a mature actor, here it is!

This of course is just one of the many gems you'll find in Reason's ongoing coverage of the DNC in Boston.