NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.
The celebration's official logo
Instead, the man chosen by the people -- or, perhaps, by Vladimir Putin and Elon Musk -- to be the country's head of state, and its head of government, chose to make it a day to celebrate himself, and his views, which are diametrically opposed to the visions of America's greatness.
Three major Northeastern cities would be the focal point of the celebrations: New York, the nation's largest city, and its capital of news, finance and popular culture; Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were both written and approved, making it the nation's "birthplace"; and Washington, the nation's political capital.
But, unlike for the Centennial in 1876, and the Bicentennial in 1976, the weather forecast was troublesome: Rain, and possibly even thunderstorms, were predicted. And the 4th was the 4th and last day of a heat wave that would end up claiming 44 lives. It's almost as if God were mad at America for electing a man they knew was a traitor, a rapist, and a fraud on multiple levels: Election fraud, tax fraud, business fraud.
Heather Delaney Reese is a digital content creator and a political commentator. She and her husband run It's A Lovely Life, a luxury family travel and lifestyle platform. Of that day, she wrote:
Trump's America was on full display in a different and more dangerous way. While so many of us were celebrating its 250th birthday, with days at the beach, family cookouts, parades, and coming together for parties all over the country, roughly 400 masked men marched through the streets of the nation's capital carrying Confederate flags and chanting "Reclaim America."
They wore matching uniforms of navy blue shirts, khaki pants, and white face coverings to hide their identities. They carried shields and drums and marched in military formation through Capitol Hill neighborhoods, past Union Station, and toward the U.S. Capitol. They called for the removal of immigrants...
They are a white nationalist, white supremacist organization founded after the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, where a white nationalist drove his car into a crowd of people and killed a woman named Heather Heyer. They call themselves Patriot Front.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League, and George Washington University’s Program on Extremism all classify them as a hate group. Their logo is modeled after the fasces, the bundled sticks and axe that served as the symbol of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party in Italy. Their manifesto says "democracy has failed this once great nation," and calls for a "hard reset" to return to the traditions of their forefathers, whom they identify exclusively as European settlers...
A former counterterrorism official from the Department of Homeland Security even went so far as to say: "The fact that they feel empowered to engage in public demonstrations during Independence Day provides a stark illustration of the issues this country is dealing with at this time as it relates to white supremacy."
One photograph from Reuters has been circulating all day. It shows a Black woman sitting alone on the D.C. Metro, surrounded by masked Patriot Front members filling the train car around her. It is a photograph that captures two competing visions of America: one rooted in intimidation and racial supremacy, the other in the simple courage of existing without surrendering to fear. It is difficult to imagine a more haunting image to emerge from America's 250th birthday. This is Donald Trump's America.
The fact that they covered their faces shows the cowardice in their movement. They hide their faces because they know what they are doing is wrong. They know it goes against everything this country was built on. They know that if their neighbors, employers, and their families saw them marching through the streets carrying Confederate flags and demanding a white ethnostate, there would be consequences. So they cover their faces.
The founders of this country signed the Declaration of Independence with their real names, knowing it could cost them their lives. That is what courage in service of a belief looks like. Fascist movements have always hidden behind anonymity to do their ugliest work. The Klan wore hoods for the same reason. The cowardice is not incidental to the ideology. It stands in direct contrast to every single one of us who is out here every day, using our real names, showing our real faces, and saying what we believe regardless of the cost.
That is the America Donald Trump is building. Not the one he described in his speech.
at roughly the same point on this subway car
as Rosa Parks' seat in the photo
on the Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955.
Trump had already done so much damage to America and its Presidency that he figured he could damage the White House itself. He literally had the East Wing of the building torn down, to build the "big, beautiful ballroom" that only he seems to think the White House needs. And he tore up Jacqueline Kennedy's Rose Garden to build an Ultimate Fighting Championship ring and seating for it, to use one time. Trump's taste isn't as bad as his behavior, but it's disgustingly bad.
The storm held off long enough for New York and Philadelphia to have their celebrations carried out in full, and both cities had impressive fireworks displays. In particular, New York's included fireworks launched from the Brooklyn Bridge. If Paris can do it from the Eiffel Tower, which was built in 1889, New York could do it from the Brooklyn Bridge, which was built in 1883. Of course, a small fire ended up being started on the Bridge, but it was quickly put out, with no injuries.
But in D.C., the weather was still threatening. Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier that he would deliver his intended speech, no matter what. Baier said there might not be anyone left in the audience. Trump, typically, said, "I don't care. It’s America 250. If they can storm the beaches on D-Day, I can deliver a speech, and we can keep this program going." It wasn't the first time Trump, the draft-dodging coward, compared himself to actual fighting men with actual courage, and it won't be the last.
At 11:15 PM, after hours of delays, Trump finally started talking. He kept going for 38 minutes -- not a long speech by Presidential standards, let alone his -- but he talked more about himself than about the country, which a President should never do.
He placed July 4, 2026, alongside July 4, 1776: "Big dates. That's big dates. Two big ones." He said, "This is bigger... I think, in its own way, it's more beautiful." On the anniversary of a document written in rejection of monarchy and concentrated power, he once again teased the possibility of an unconstitutional 3rd term: "Actually, I should say third term, but I won't do that, because I don't want any controversy." (The hell he doesn't.)
He said, "We are one people. We are one family. With one flag." Tell that to the guys with Confederate Flags, and Gadsden Flags with their snake and their "Don't tread on me" slogan. As Mrs. Reese said, "He never condemned these anti-American thugs. He never acknowledged that one of the country'’s most prominent white supremacist organizations chose the 250th birthday of the United States as the culmination of a years-long recruitment campaign. His silence was his approval."
Then he accused his opponents of being Communists, as if it was early 1954 and Edward R. Murrow and Joseph N. Welch hadn't yet put Senator Joseph McCarthy in his place.
Indeed, McCarthyism was one of the things that America has survived. We have survived our Revolution and the war to which it was a response. We survived the War of 1812, when, given a 2nd chance, Britain almost took us back. We survived slavery and the Civil War it caused. We survived labor strife and the Great Depression and the threat of the Nazis and, yes, the threat of Communism that was very real, but external rather than internal like the McCarthyists wanted us to believe.
We survived the pandemics of the 1918 Spanish Flu, the 1980s AIDS crisis, and the 2020-21 COVID crisis. We survived natural disasters like the Dust Bowl of the 1930s; the Blizzards of 1888, 1947 and 1996; the floods in Pennsylvania in 1889, the Mississippi Valley in 1927 and 1993, and the Ohio Valley in 1937; the earthquakes that hit California in 1906, 1989 and 1994, and Alaska in 1964; and the hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast in 1900, 2005 and 2017, Florida in 1935 and 1992, and the Northeast in 1955, 1972 and 2012.
We survived the struggles to establish rights for women, for nonwhite Americans, for non-Protestant Americans, for LGBT Americans. We survived the divisions caused by the Vietnam War and Watergate. We survived 9/11 and the stupidities that followed both abroad and at home.
As Mrs. Reese put it: "Every one of those chapters left a wound on this country that has never fully healed. But in every one of those chapters, the American spirit was not found in the powerful. It was found in the people who were treated the worst... Those are the people who carried this country for 250 years. Not the man behind the bulletproof glass. Not the men hiding behind masks." Masks they wouldn't wear to protect themselves, let alone others, during COVID.
Since he began his 1st campaign for President in 2015, Trump has used the theme "Make America Great Again," or "MAGA." Saying that it needs to be made great "again" implies that it no longer is, but used to be. He has never come out and said when that was. Hillary Clinton challenged him to say so during one of their 2016 debates, but, like the coward that he is, he didn't answer.
In his 1941 book The Kingdom of God and the American Dream, Sherwood Eddy, a Protestant missionary and teacher, wrote, "America is great because America is good, and if she ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." (The line has been incorrectly attributed to French diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville, in his 1833 book Democracy in America.)
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: It's bad enough that Trump did the opposite of what he promised: He made America no longer great, because he rendered America no longer good. But now, he wants to remake America in his image.
America must not let him. We need to make America good again. And then we can get back to work on what John F. Kennedy said in one of his 1960 debates with Richard Nixon: "This is a great country. But I believe it can be an even greater country."
It is highly unlikely that I will still be alive on the 300th Anniversary of American independence, on July 4, 2076. I hope that America herself will still be alive. If she is, it will be because we, as a people, survived yet again -- in no small part because we survived Donald Trump.
*
July 4, 2026 was a Saturday. The World Cup was underway, and 2 games of the Round of 16 were played. France beat Paraguay, 1-0 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. And Morocco beat Canada, 3-0 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
The NFL, the NBA and the NHL were out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 11-4 at Yankee Stadium. Yankee manager Aaron Boone went with a "bullpen game," and it spectacularly failed. Brendan Beck didn't get out of the 4th inning. The Twins hit 6 home runs, including 2 by Josh Bell, who went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs; and 1 by Kody Clemens, Roger's son.
* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 14-3 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia. Chris Sale outpitched Sean Manaea. The Braves got home runs from Eli White, Mauricio Dubón, Mike Yastrzemski (Carl's grandson), Austin Riley and Michael Harris II. The Mets got them from Tyrone Taylor and Mark Vientos. Juan Soto went 1-for-4.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals, 7-1 at Nationals Park in Washington.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians, 3-1 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-5 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 3-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Kyle Leahy pitched 5 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and 4 relievers completed a 5-hit shutout.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The Phils got home runs from J.T. Realmuto, Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Alec Bohm. Kyle Schwarber did not hit a home run, but did go 3-for-4 with a walk.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 3-0 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jack Flaherty allowed 3 hits over 5 2/3rds innings. Tyler Holton got the last out of the 6th. And Kelder Montero went the last 3 innings to finish the 3-hit shutout.
* The Houston Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 10-8 at Daikin Park in Houston.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, striking out 10. Three relievers completed a 4-hit shutout.
* The Miami Marlins beat the Sacramento Athletics, 7-2 at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, California.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-0 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. The only baserunner that Seattle pitching allowed was a single by Yohendrick Pinango in the 5th. Logan Gilbert went 7 1/3rd innings, and Cole Wilcox went the rest of the way to preserve the 1-hit shutout. Randy Arozarena went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs, and Cal Raleigh went 1-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
