Some more partly baked ideas for a Friday morning:  Last time, it was amending the Constitution.  This time, it's adding and subtracting states.  I mean, let's face it -- aren't you as bored as I am with the arrangement of stars on the flag already?  The only way that'll change is if the number of states changes.  So, here goes...

Enough already with territories and commonwealths.  Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia all become states.  Guam is a big boy now and can stand on its own as an independent country -- let's face it, there are enough Pacific island countries smaller than Guam already.  Same with whatever small island groups we have left over from World War II.

Do we really need north, south, and west states?  I don't think so.  Combine North Dakota and South Dakota into one state.  Same with Virginia and West Virginia, which were all one state until the Civil War. I'd make one exception, though:  the Carolinas.  Because I think the original 13 states shouldn't be turned into the not-so-original 12.  (All right, so I'm a sentimental historical softie.  It's my blog, so deal with it.)

Break up a couple of the biggies.  Did you know that when Texas joined the United States, they had the right (still do, actually) to split into up to five smaller states?  Maybe five is a little much, but good God, that's one ugly blotch of a state.  Slightly schizophrenic, too; I just don't see the resemblances between the Gulf Coast and the Panhandle, or the Dallas area and the Houston area.  I can see giving the Panhandle to Oklahoma and splitting the remainder in roughly equal parts, and the Texans probably have a better notion of just how to split than anyone else (certainly, better than I).

And speaking of schizophrenic states, ladies and gentlemen, I give you California.  Has there ever been such a mental split as the mindsets of San Francisco and Los Angeles?  Cut it in half, I say, and they'd both sleep easier.

Of course, the real fun comes in giving names to all these new Texas and California states.  I'll leave that to you.  (Who says I can't share?)