I was ten during the Bicentennial celebrations. I was about to enter fifth grade. For at least a year or two before, America eagerly anticipated the event. (The actual preparations began a decade earlier.) I remember the TV documentaries, the American Freedom Train, and the Schoolhouse Rock! spots airing in between my favorite Saturday morning cartoons. My elementary school had its own celebration that summer, with the remains of red, white, and blue crepe bunting stuck on poles and roof eaves for at least the next year.
My family
watched the varied televised coverage of the Independence Day events. I particularly remember the image of the tall
ships sailing into New York harbor and, of course, the fireworks.
The climate of
celebration was surprising considering recent events. Watergate had ended Richard Nixon’s
presidency; Gerald Ford’s pardon of Nixon only deepened the public’s
bitterness. South Vietnam had fallen the
previous year. Inflation, high gas
prices, and factory closures weighed on national morale. So, the genuinely joyous embrace of the Bicentennial
afforded a weary nation a sense of continuity and revival.
Fast-forward
fifty years. Social and political
conditions in 2026 are arguably worse. The
past decade has been particularly rough.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the insanity of our national politics has
spilled over into the America 250 observances.
The last few
weeks have been a head spinning succession of batshit craziness and banal tackiness
even for this presidency. A temporary
MMA arena on the White House lawn that killed the grass. A wholly unnecessary “improvement” to the Lincoln
Memorial reflecting pool that rendered it algae choked mass contained by an
incompetently applied polyurea sealant. Temporary
cyclone fences and concrete barriers blocking access to popular attractions in
the capital.
Then again,
there’s occasion for schadenfreude.
The much-ballyhooed Great American State Fair has experienced laughably
low attendance since it opened. Several
states declined to contribute official exhibits. After all the major headliners dropped out of
the kickoff concert on June 24th, the president held a rally instead.
A key issue is
the usurpation of the official America250 planning body by the White House
aligned Freedom 250. Much funding for the latter comes from the interior
department and donations from pay-to-play million- and billionaires. A holiday that should bring everyone together
has become a cheap vanity project.
This year’s
holiday just doesn’t resonate, even the more traditional 4th of July
events. The America 250 celebration lacks
the anticipation and reverence and joy I remember from the Bicentennial. The paucity of gravitas has something to do
with it. The unseriousness of the
president’s minions and a chief executive who can’t leave well enough alone makes
it hard to take the festivities at the desired value. Forgive me for being less than enthusiastic.
© 2026 The Unassuming Scholar
