I haven’t been able to truly celebrate our Independence Day since 2017…since this malignancy first occupied The People’s House, fondled and kissed a flag he has not respect, no loyalty to. We used to have a BBQ with friends & family, walk to a nearby park to watch fireworks, we hung the Betsy Ross flag and celebrated our country…no more. This year we will instead gather to simply celebrate our granddaughters and their birthdays…no flag waving, family not country!
Some can be rescued from the "MAGA Matrix" Of "Make America Great Again"
Will we take the Red Pill inoculation as prescribed by the Democratic White House:"Do one thing everyday that scares you."--Eleanor Roosevelt after her husband, FDR and UN.org promised FREEDOM FROM FEAR as a universal human right and scientists found the only way to protect us from the 60% of us that are cured by placebo is to scare ourselves routinely just as routine exercise is medically indicated.
Their Make America Great Again is BS, but our Stay Safe is even more unrealistic because there is no absolute safety to go back to or to cling on to. Threats happen and if we are inoculated we are less likely to panic or worse turn to a placebo of anger to cure our anxiety.
Your grammar makes this unintelligible... typically I've heard the red pill ascribed to "Melissa Red Pill", who is a magat and evangelical cultist. What are you trying to say?
What the Fourth of July meant to me as I was growing up is vastly different to what it means today. While we make brave efforts to celebrate its original meaning, independence from a monarchy, we are now at the point where we must begin to admit that we are a nation of masochists. We gobble up the daily onslaught of disastrous news with a certain ravenous hunger for more because in our addiction to media input, we have lost the distinction between what constitutes news and what defines entertainment. And in my opinion, that is exactly why we are unable to take the positive actions that would free our minds of the malignant forces that are consuming us. We are hiding behind the laws of decency and due process in a vain effort to excise the wealthy and powerful evildoers whose only goal is to control and enslave us.
Steven, as an historian, you surely know that regime change in a fractured society has rarely, if ever, taken place peacefully. And much as we would wish otherwise, we cannot afford to wait for the November elections that may never happen if we truly want to rescue our democracy and peace of mind. Our enemies among us have been very patient at playing the long game in their goal of nomination, but we must understand now that it is time to flip the board off the table because this is a game that we will surely lose if we do not.
I'm afraid that the hoopla surrounding the 250th will overshadow the dire straits that this country finds itself in in Year 2026.
We're all witnesses to what's happening: the collapse of the very infrastructure of our Republic Democracy, the mass wave of indifference, and frankly, stupidity that has washed over We the People, and the concurrent rise of authoritarianism, systemic racism, and white christian nationalism.
The current POTUS is a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, serial liar and ring leader of the three plagues detailed above. A failure throughout his miserable life, the Con has morphed back into his "developer/master builder" scam having displayed absolutely no discernable ability to govern. His ham-fisted work now on display throughout the nation's Capital.
The current SCOTUS is stacked with barely qualified radical right-wing idealogues who brazenly betray the very words chisled above the entrance to their court.
The Speaker of the House is now running a protection racket - and bragging about it.
No, there's no celebrating the 250th anniversary of a document that most Americans - including the POTUS - have little to no idea what's in it or what it means.
I am thankful to have been born in this country. My family and I have been blessed. I’m grateful for all the men and women who, for the past 250 years, have fought to preserve the liberty we have enjoyed. Not all of us, but still despair has not deterred the efforts to ensure we as citizens are treated as equals worthy of respect.
I cannot celebrate what Trump, his corrupt cronies and his mindless sycophants are doing to our country. I cannot celebrate his interpretation of this 4th of July. I won’t decorate or participate in any events this year except to support my family.
I’ll keep a small Statue of Liberty over my kitchen sink to remind me of what our principles are supposed to be.
I don’t say these things with pride, but with anger and sadness.
when my father was in North Africa fighting the Nazi tanks (see a book on WW 2) his job was to lead a bunch of misfits who kept questioning while
they sent supplies to the army Air Force on the front line. They guarded the bodies that came back. The put them on a stack of pallets letting the hot air make them into mummies. They were running out of food, at least 50 pounds per person of lost weight. Like many veterans of that era they made a pact: if any survived on the Fourth of July, they should eat a special meal for those who had died. To spent the day with their family.
Their wish was all Americans could enjoy that day !
That was why they kept fighting So those on the front lines could kill those tanks !
Those of you who commenting here want to celebrate with food and family, no uniforms, should do that, without guilt.
I am in my twilight days. Please do not make a mockery of my father‘s bravery. It was his dearest wish: the pursuit of happiness.
The uniformed Americans need your support: they too bleed and weep at a felt tip pen slashing our government while the reflecting pool reeks.
They are standing on the wall for us — angry, afraid, in their grief as they may be ! Live to fight tomorrow.
The 4th of July has always been a day to spend time with family and to be grateful that we live in a democracy. This year I will spend time with family and be hopeful that we will still have a democracy when the corrupt regime currently in power is finally out of power. As a 65 year old, I am sad at what we have allowed to happen, and I hope its not too late to turn things around.
If we are completely honest, this descent into indecency and depravity has been occurring for way more than 10 years, but has gained enormous steam in the last 10 years. Trump’s arrival and ascendency literally split the nation in two. And at that turning point in 2024 there were a substantial number of Americans who just could not bring themselves to vote for an eminently, qualified woman of color. And so, this is what we have voted for. If we are brutally, honest, there are many of us who didn’t mind the behavior in the politics of a Trump as long as his vileness and invective did not touch them; but when it began to impact everyone who wasn’t rich and self-sufficient, then we heard the outcry, “I didn’t vote for this.” But yeah, you did. The way we have tolerated our fellow Americans, even members of our family declaring that too many immigrants were achieving too much tacitly gave rise to this pervasive “crisis of conscience” that many now express. I truly believe that we can and must do better— but first we must be brutally honest with how our complacency and inaction have let us to where we are right now.
Very well said...but I would take it further. People in the US have been un-aware, or complicit in the mistreatment of Native Americans for longer than we've been a country. the US government has not fully honored 1 treaty. everything has been corrupted, or interpreted in favor of the government when it suited.
I can't celebrate the USA at this time. I plan to spend a quiet day, unplugged from all media, ignoring all holiday sales and most especially avoiding any fireworks.
July 4th to me means a continued struggle knowing that the day itself is not what’s important but how we can come together as a society and live in the moment, happily, as in a Ray Bradbury novel about celebrating a magical summertime in a small midwestern town as in “Dandelion Wine” (which has to be one of my all time favorites).
I have an English friend is wondering how I will celebrate this momentous July 4th. I had to honestly say that I don’t feel like celebrating at all this year. Maybe next year.
I've decided not to celebrate our anniversary. Because we're not a democracy anymore. I'll celebrate when we become a democracy again and MAGA sits on the garbage heap of history.
Seeing this piece brings a huge amount of sadness to my heart. Although, I am a Black American woman, this the place that I call home. I was born here and die here and having experienced segregation and discrimination and racism. I have never been paid for my worth or abilities. In spite of all this, this my home. I know no other. I remember when I cast my first ballot at the age of 18 and have been voting ever since. No matter where I lived the first two things I did were to register to register to vote and get a library card. The day DJT was selected broke me in a place where I cannot heal. The second selection has placed me in state of mind that I cannot heal. So consequently on this 4th of July. I have a feeling of forbidding not hope. Our family will celebrate subdued and uncertain. Waiting for the other shoe to fall.
Mary, I am sorry that this has become part of our current American life. Thank you for your efforts to support our Democracy for all of these years, through your votes, your contributions to your community and family, even the efforts to vote and use your library card. I have hope, I do support our military and country in spite of the horrid administration and those who strive to end our Democracy that we have worked hard to nurture. We will not celebrate the holiday as in past years, however, we will celebrate those who have grown our country in an ethical, honest way and our military members who also do support our lives and our history. I cannot say that abuot our current administration AT ALL. However, I will be celebrating the birthday's of 2 nieces, one who has recently moved abroad with husband serving in the military, with their young son. They have and continue to work hard to support our country and will continue to do so going forward.
I will celebrate this big birthday the same way I celebrated my big birthdays as the years piled up and the numbers disgusted me because they meant it was close to over. As it became harder to celebrate I became more creative how I did it.
I will do this celebration knowing 250 should have been a good thing as a country doesn’t need to die but pretending it’s the same thing as 80 was for me.
And for this celebration I plan to be on my computer finishing my new website WhiteChalkCrime.com that’s going to be so much better than my current one at explaining why we lost our democracy. Keep checking. I wish I could launch the replacement on July 4, but I will be on the computer that day preparing a belated present for this significant birthday.
As a proud AND patriotic Democrat at my summer "camp" in Maine, I and my family will begin by going to the fireworks celebration over our lake in our boat on July 3rd. It's always amazing, best fireworks I've ever seen and that includes New York City and Washington DC! Then on the 4th, we can take in the boat parade in the morning followed by a visit to friends in another small town for their parade which always includes expressions of freedom, including anti-Trump messages. I will not let Trump and his cronies ruin my celebration of what is great about America and rededicating my support for our highest ideals.🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Steven I am at a real cross roads of hoping that my family and friends have finally come to the table and fully realized the moment we are in. We have gone from Memorial Day to Juneteenth and now to the 4th of July in a type of dystopia. It is hard to know how to continue properly. I hope that you and yours have a great holiday however you choose to celebrate.
I haven’t been able to truly celebrate our Independence Day since 2017…since this malignancy first occupied The People’s House, fondled and kissed a flag he has not respect, no loyalty to. We used to have a BBQ with friends & family, walk to a nearby park to watch fireworks, we hung the Betsy Ross flag and celebrated our country…no more. This year we will instead gather to simply celebrate our granddaughters and their birthdays…no flag waving, family not country!
Neo:"I can't go back can I?"
Morpheus:"No. But if you could would you want to?"
"What is the MATRIX? control."
https://youtu.be/dGnqHj6w5Z4?t=2600
Some can be rescued from the "MAGA Matrix" Of "Make America Great Again"
Will we take the Red Pill inoculation as prescribed by the Democratic White House:"Do one thing everyday that scares you."--Eleanor Roosevelt after her husband, FDR and UN.org promised FREEDOM FROM FEAR as a universal human right and scientists found the only way to protect us from the 60% of us that are cured by placebo is to scare ourselves routinely just as routine exercise is medically indicated.
Their Make America Great Again is BS, but our Stay Safe is even more unrealistic because there is no absolute safety to go back to or to cling on to. Threats happen and if we are inoculated we are less likely to panic or worse turn to a placebo of anger to cure our anxiety.
https://youtu.be/7B_DMsyROMQ?is=ly8SfDdwSVFZ0sU5
Vonnegut:
"Where's my old gang done gone?' I heard a sad man say,
I whispered in that sad man's ear:"Your gang done gone away."
Your grammar makes this unintelligible... typically I've heard the red pill ascribed to "Melissa Red Pill", who is a magat and evangelical cultist. What are you trying to say?
What the Fourth of July meant to me as I was growing up is vastly different to what it means today. While we make brave efforts to celebrate its original meaning, independence from a monarchy, we are now at the point where we must begin to admit that we are a nation of masochists. We gobble up the daily onslaught of disastrous news with a certain ravenous hunger for more because in our addiction to media input, we have lost the distinction between what constitutes news and what defines entertainment. And in my opinion, that is exactly why we are unable to take the positive actions that would free our minds of the malignant forces that are consuming us. We are hiding behind the laws of decency and due process in a vain effort to excise the wealthy and powerful evildoers whose only goal is to control and enslave us.
Steven, as an historian, you surely know that regime change in a fractured society has rarely, if ever, taken place peacefully. And much as we would wish otherwise, we cannot afford to wait for the November elections that may never happen if we truly want to rescue our democracy and peace of mind. Our enemies among us have been very patient at playing the long game in their goal of nomination, but we must understand now that it is time to flip the board off the table because this is a game that we will surely lose if we do not.
I agree. I just can't see celebrating the worst thing to happen to our country in generations. I'd like to go hide somewhere.
A celebration? More like a funeral.
I'm afraid that the hoopla surrounding the 250th will overshadow the dire straits that this country finds itself in in Year 2026.
We're all witnesses to what's happening: the collapse of the very infrastructure of our Republic Democracy, the mass wave of indifference, and frankly, stupidity that has washed over We the People, and the concurrent rise of authoritarianism, systemic racism, and white christian nationalism.
The current POTUS is a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, serial liar and ring leader of the three plagues detailed above. A failure throughout his miserable life, the Con has morphed back into his "developer/master builder" scam having displayed absolutely no discernable ability to govern. His ham-fisted work now on display throughout the nation's Capital.
The current SCOTUS is stacked with barely qualified radical right-wing idealogues who brazenly betray the very words chisled above the entrance to their court.
The Speaker of the House is now running a protection racket - and bragging about it.
No, there's no celebrating the 250th anniversary of a document that most Americans - including the POTUS - have little to no idea what's in it or what it means.
RIP, USA.
I am thankful to have been born in this country. My family and I have been blessed. I’m grateful for all the men and women who, for the past 250 years, have fought to preserve the liberty we have enjoyed. Not all of us, but still despair has not deterred the efforts to ensure we as citizens are treated as equals worthy of respect.
I cannot celebrate what Trump, his corrupt cronies and his mindless sycophants are doing to our country. I cannot celebrate his interpretation of this 4th of July. I won’t decorate or participate in any events this year except to support my family.
I’ll keep a small Statue of Liberty over my kitchen sink to remind me of what our principles are supposed to be.
I don’t say these things with pride, but with anger and sadness.
No Happy 4th of July this year.
agreed
Family time. That’s it. No red white and blue for us.
when my father was in North Africa fighting the Nazi tanks (see a book on WW 2) his job was to lead a bunch of misfits who kept questioning while
they sent supplies to the army Air Force on the front line. They guarded the bodies that came back. The put them on a stack of pallets letting the hot air make them into mummies. They were running out of food, at least 50 pounds per person of lost weight. Like many veterans of that era they made a pact: if any survived on the Fourth of July, they should eat a special meal for those who had died. To spent the day with their family.
Their wish was all Americans could enjoy that day !
That was why they kept fighting So those on the front lines could kill those tanks !
Those of you who commenting here want to celebrate with food and family, no uniforms, should do that, without guilt.
I am in my twilight days. Please do not make a mockery of my father‘s bravery. It was his dearest wish: the pursuit of happiness.
The uniformed Americans need your support: they too bleed and weep at a felt tip pen slashing our government while the reflecting pool reeks.
They are standing on the wall for us — angry, afraid, in their grief as they may be ! Live to fight tomorrow.
The 4th of July has always been a day to spend time with family and to be grateful that we live in a democracy. This year I will spend time with family and be hopeful that we will still have a democracy when the corrupt regime currently in power is finally out of power. As a 65 year old, I am sad at what we have allowed to happen, and I hope its not too late to turn things around.
If we are completely honest, this descent into indecency and depravity has been occurring for way more than 10 years, but has gained enormous steam in the last 10 years. Trump’s arrival and ascendency literally split the nation in two. And at that turning point in 2024 there were a substantial number of Americans who just could not bring themselves to vote for an eminently, qualified woman of color. And so, this is what we have voted for. If we are brutally, honest, there are many of us who didn’t mind the behavior in the politics of a Trump as long as his vileness and invective did not touch them; but when it began to impact everyone who wasn’t rich and self-sufficient, then we heard the outcry, “I didn’t vote for this.” But yeah, you did. The way we have tolerated our fellow Americans, even members of our family declaring that too many immigrants were achieving too much tacitly gave rise to this pervasive “crisis of conscience” that many now express. I truly believe that we can and must do better— but first we must be brutally honest with how our complacency and inaction have let us to where we are right now.
Very well said...but I would take it further. People in the US have been un-aware, or complicit in the mistreatment of Native Americans for longer than we've been a country. the US government has not fully honored 1 treaty. everything has been corrupted, or interpreted in favor of the government when it suited.
Because of trump, I will not celebrate our nation’s 250th.
It is my late father’s birthday. I will celebrate that instead.
Ugh! Same as above comments! No patriotic decorations for us this year. No watching fireworks nor listening to Souza marches.
I can't celebrate the USA at this time. I plan to spend a quiet day, unplugged from all media, ignoring all holiday sales and most especially avoiding any fireworks.
July 4th to me means a continued struggle knowing that the day itself is not what’s important but how we can come together as a society and live in the moment, happily, as in a Ray Bradbury novel about celebrating a magical summertime in a small midwestern town as in “Dandelion Wine” (which has to be one of my all time favorites).
I was a high school senior in 1976 and we celebrated all year. It was a time of celebration and pride for our country.
The 250 only stands for pain and the end of democracy. The end of our “experiment” and a time of great sadness for what our country has become.
Don’t give up so easily!!! Our ancestors fought for our rights
and our country. We have to be
strong, vote the scum and corruption
out of Washington, and work to
repair the damage that’s been done.
To do anything less would be an
insult to our great country and the
courageous people who built our
democracy. Let’s use this July 4
to reflect upon our great democracy
and vow to do whatever it takes to
keep it going.
Very well said, Gay!
I have an English friend is wondering how I will celebrate this momentous July 4th. I had to honestly say that I don’t feel like celebrating at all this year. Maybe next year.
I've decided not to celebrate our anniversary. Because we're not a democracy anymore. I'll celebrate when we become a democracy again and MAGA sits on the garbage heap of history.
Seeing endless reels of a green pond in DC.
Seeing this piece brings a huge amount of sadness to my heart. Although, I am a Black American woman, this the place that I call home. I was born here and die here and having experienced segregation and discrimination and racism. I have never been paid for my worth or abilities. In spite of all this, this my home. I know no other. I remember when I cast my first ballot at the age of 18 and have been voting ever since. No matter where I lived the first two things I did were to register to register to vote and get a library card. The day DJT was selected broke me in a place where I cannot heal. The second selection has placed me in state of mind that I cannot heal. So consequently on this 4th of July. I have a feeling of forbidding not hope. Our family will celebrate subdued and uncertain. Waiting for the other shoe to fall.
Mary, I am sorry that this has become part of our current American life. Thank you for your efforts to support our Democracy for all of these years, through your votes, your contributions to your community and family, even the efforts to vote and use your library card. I have hope, I do support our military and country in spite of the horrid administration and those who strive to end our Democracy that we have worked hard to nurture. We will not celebrate the holiday as in past years, however, we will celebrate those who have grown our country in an ethical, honest way and our military members who also do support our lives and our history. I cannot say that abuot our current administration AT ALL. However, I will be celebrating the birthday's of 2 nieces, one who has recently moved abroad with husband serving in the military, with their young son. They have and continue to work hard to support our country and will continue to do so going forward.
I will celebrate this big birthday the same way I celebrated my big birthdays as the years piled up and the numbers disgusted me because they meant it was close to over. As it became harder to celebrate I became more creative how I did it.
I will do this celebration knowing 250 should have been a good thing as a country doesn’t need to die but pretending it’s the same thing as 80 was for me.
And for this celebration I plan to be on my computer finishing my new website WhiteChalkCrime.com that’s going to be so much better than my current one at explaining why we lost our democracy. Keep checking. I wish I could launch the replacement on July 4, but I will be on the computer that day preparing a belated present for this significant birthday.
As a proud AND patriotic Democrat at my summer "camp" in Maine, I and my family will begin by going to the fireworks celebration over our lake in our boat on July 3rd. It's always amazing, best fireworks I've ever seen and that includes New York City and Washington DC! Then on the 4th, we can take in the boat parade in the morning followed by a visit to friends in another small town for their parade which always includes expressions of freedom, including anti-Trump messages. I will not let Trump and his cronies ruin my celebration of what is great about America and rededicating my support for our highest ideals.🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Steven I am at a real cross roads of hoping that my family and friends have finally come to the table and fully realized the moment we are in. We have gone from Memorial Day to Juneteenth and now to the 4th of July in a type of dystopia. It is hard to know how to continue properly. I hope that you and yours have a great holiday however you choose to celebrate.