Milestones

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 4^th 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