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| America's 250. |
The 250th Anniversary Of The United States Of America.
The United States is made of 50 states, five territories and one federal district.
Population is 345 million.
The largest populated state is California.
The largest populated city is New York City.
The largest populated state capital is Phoenix, Arizona.
The largest metropolitan area is New York City, New York. It has areas that include New Jersey, Connecticut and some of Pennsylvania.
The largest metropolitan area in a state is Los Angeles, California.
The largest U.S. territory is Puerto Rico.
The easiest things I know about the U.S.A.
Very bad news for the tone deaf curmudgeon.
AMERICANS are definitely split between whether they love or hate this country.
Gas prices, grocery prices, insurance premiums, shipping costs and medical debt are driving people to put off things. Overworked and exhausted of their jobs. More Americans are uncomfortable with their jobs but too afraid to find another. Watching elites carry on like its normal is a recipe for disaster.
Less than 1,000 days of the curmudgeon President Donald J. Trump. We are quickly declining under this chaotic second term.
Days of decline are ahead.
Examples of democratic backsliding include:
- Free and fair elections are degraded;
- Liberal rights of freedom of speech, press and association decline, impairing the ability of the political opposition to challenge the government, hold it to account, and propose alternatives to the current regime;
- The rule of law (i.e., judicial and bureaucratic restraints on the government) is weakened, such as when the independence of the judiciary is threatened, or when civil service tenure protections are weakened or eliminated.
- An over-emphasis on national security as response to acts of terrorism or perceived antagonists.
- Politicians can't agree on funding essential needs and services which trigger spiteful pain on the citizens.
FREE PALESTINE🇵🇸!
If you wanted "Death to America," remind yourself that Trump supporters tried to violently overturn a peaceful transfer of power. They violently broke into the U.S. Capitol and tried to kill Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence. Republicans refuse to hold President Donald J. Trump accountable for his actions. They are more upset over protected speech than a foreign country committing war crimes and an active genocide.
Fuck the hypocrisy of President Donald J. Trump, Republicans, the far right, Zionists, former president Joe Biden, Democrats, Israel and the junk food media.
Israel and its propaganda is not working this time around. Too many folks around the world see how the United States, Russia and Israel operate. The world wants it to stop. The U.S. is the only country still backing this evil regime of Israel.
But an eye for an eye is coming.
FOR THE TIME IN POLLING, THE SYMPATHY FOR PALESTINIANS IS GREATER THAN ISRAELIS. THAT MEANS MORE AMERICANS ARE GETTING TIRED OF OUR POLITICIANS PUTTING ISRAEL'S INTERESTS AHEAD OF THE UNITED STATES.
When young Americans are seeing children being blown up, Israeli Defense Soliders wearing the clothes of their victims, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lecturing Americans on what is justified opinionated concerns, the AIPAC lobby trying to deflect by painting critics as being bought by foreign influence, the ADL trying push censorship campaigns on social media, the deflections to blame Muslims, the calls to deport critics because they oppose Israel, calling people "antisemitic" and a "terrorist" to stifle critics is seriously backfiring.
Americans Are Tired Of The Status Quo.
Are you proud or ashamed?
Let's first start by saying that white privilege is real.
Did you know thousands of U.S. citizens are leaving the country for safer nations?
They are mostly white people. They have the means to move to Israel, China, Russia, Ireland, Argentina, Great Britain, Czechia, Phillipines and Japan.
White people have more wealth than non white Americans. The Asian Americans come in a distant second and Blacks remain in the back.
The founding of the United States Of America was not a peaceful event. It was a violent colonialism which genocided indigenous people, enslaved Africans, enslaved Asians and stood democracy only at the hands of white men.
Uneducated men founded the country. Some of the founders never showered, had bad breathe, had no interest in engaging in conversations with people.
The first U.S. president, George Washington was a slaveholder. There were 12 presidents who owned slaves. Eight were in term. Four before their terms.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence owned slaves and maintained them until the end of his life. He would denounce slavery in his later life after meeting a group of intelligent Black students of a Philadelphia school.
Thomas Jefferson was a sexual predator. Besides Sally Hemmings, he allegedly sexually assaulted his daughters.
Thomas Jefferson, John Tyler, William Harry Harrison, Warren G. Harding, Grover Cleveland, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and Donald J. Trump faced sex scandals.
Donald J. Trump and Grover Cleveland have two titles as president. Trump is currently the 45th and 47th president. Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president.
Trump and Cleveland are judged as the most chaotic and controversial.
As he celebrates the U.S. anniversary, Trump does what he does best, be a divider and gaslighting old curmudgeon.
Trump ushered in the 250th anniversary of American independence on Friday with soaring rhetoric about American exceptionalism before veering into a darkly political speech with warnings about a sinister threat of communism that evoked one of the country’s ugliest chapters.
“Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty,” he said from Mount Rushmore. “It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor or even 9/11.”
While the language was similar to several other speeches Trump has given in recent days, it was notable for being delivered in a national park that commemorates some of America’s most prominent presidents. And it swerved from the typically apolitical, unifying speeches past presidents like Gerald Ford or Ronald Reagan have delivered during earlier high-profile Independence Day celebrations.
Indeed, Trump’s language evoked the Red Scare of the 1950s, when alleged communists were persecuted and blacklisted from jobs across America, from Washington to Hollywood.
In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, delivered his own address that cast America as a nation of contradictions “working each day towards the perfection in which it was conceived.”
The president’s speech capped an Independence Day eve that was otherwise most notable for a brutal heat wave the gripped much of the eastern portion of the country. Officials have warned those celebrating the holiday to stay hydrated and take air-conditioned breaks as needed.
Philadelphia canceled its Salute to Independence parade Friday. The Great American State Fair in Washington shut down in the early afternoon before reopening at 5 p.m. The Capitol Fourth concert, a mainstay of the holiday in Washington, opened its gates a little later than normal but ultimately moved forward with appearances from Patti LaBelle, Trace Adkins, members of the Artemis II space mission and fireworks over George Washington’s Mount Vernon. An Independence Day parade scheduled for Saturday in Washington was canceled.
Looking for a place to cool off
By early afternoon Friday in Washington, hundreds of people were roaming the grounds of the National Mall, home to The Great American State Fair. They snapped photos of the flyovers and tried to cool off inside tents that offered $9 lemonades and $23 turkey legs. Many were dressed in patriotic colors, their faces glistening with sweat.
Glenn Brooks, who was pardoned by Trump for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said he was “thankful to be participating in this grand event.”
The activity culminates in the main event Saturday, when fireworks will erupt in communities across the U.S., along with backyard cookouts and block parties. Trump will deliver another speech at the National Mall in Washington before what is being billed as a historically massive fireworks show.
As the rest of the country struggled under stifling heat, the Pacific Northwest enjoyed temperatures in the 60s with even a few light showers.
World Cup soccer fans in Seattle were staying cool Friday as they got psyched up for Monday’s big game between the U.S. and Belgium. In the nearby suburb of Issaquah, Megan Kurowski, 31, brought her two dogs to the dog park so they could get some exercise before she went to work.
Kurowski said she was feeling positive about America’s 250th anniversary and was planning a possible paddleboard to watch the fireworks.
“Everyone’s just, from what it seems, been pretty excited about celebrating 250 years,” she said.
The holiday is unfolding at a unique time in the U.S. The anniversary has served as an opportunity for the country to reflect on its history while also reminding it of the political polarization of the moment.
On a holiday of unity, there is an undercurrent of division
In New York, Mamdani, a Democrat, did not mention Trump by name, but parts of his speech appeared aimed at the president’s divisive rhetoric.
“For generation after generation, we have been told that when the world has sent its people to our shores, it has not sent its best,” Mamdani said in an apparent reference to a common criticism from Trump. “Those ideals upon which our nation was built — they are strong enough to endure any authoritarian regime, but only if we reach for them.”
Freedom 250, an organization aligned with the White House, has come to rival America250, a bipartisan group founded by Congress a decade ago. Freedom 250 has organized much of the activity in Washington, including the Great American State Fair. America250 is behind the ball drops unfolding in many cities, including New York, and will host a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.
About 4 in 10 U.S. adults feel “proud” about the country’s 250th anniversary, according to an April survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly 3 in 10 said “excited” describes their emotions.
Ahead of the holiday, auto technician Joe Fuqua-Bejarano in Topeka, Kansas, sized up “what makes us awesome” as a people. It is clearly not the politics, in his view, but rather resilience.
“We’ve just all got to find unity somewhere, whether that’s in laughter or perseverance, and keep everybody cool,” he said from the fireworks stand where he is doing a booming business as a side hustle.
Christina Zhou, a 25-year-old research assistant from Cambridge, Massachusetts, said she would aim to “think about just things that are happening locally.”
“It feels a little bit more like within our own personal control,” she said.
Jerry Chin of Newcastle, Washington, said he wasn’t aware that the U.S. was celebrating its 250th anniversary and planned to stay low-key around the holiday. He and his wife generally skip the fireworks and instead stay home with their fearful dogs to keep them calm.
“America’s a great place, but there are some concerns,” he said. Chin, 55, and his wife worry about healthcare and issues around staying healthy, but they also stress about politics.
“We’re Democrats, so kind of given up hope,” he said. “Just feel that it is the way it is. I don’t know if there could be change.”
At the National Archives in Washington, visitors made their way through the Rotunda to look at the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights -- and to escape the heat outside.
Michael Dresdner, 60, traveled from West Orange, New Jersey, with his wife, Cindi, 57, and about two dozen other people to be part of the America 250 celebrations. He said their group of travelers included people on both sides of the political aisle -- and that is what gave him hope for the future of American democracy.
“We are all here, and we all love America,” he said.
