Postcards from America
The Fourth of July is a celebration of America’s independence, but this year the celebrations were tempered with trepidation.
We ate ribs and watermelon with family on 4 July, the nation’s birthday. We swam in the pool, drank a beer or three, watched the fireworks. A perfect midsummer dollop of Americana.
We have long teased our British friends about celebrating America’s Declaration of Independence and our casting off the yoke of tyranny from you know who back in 1776.
But the holiday felt heavier this year, when the US democratic enterprise feels so fragile and millions of Americans are distraught about their choices in the upcoming November election.
President Biden stumbles and mumbles and seems so old and confused that his supporters are freaking out.
The New York Times calls for Biden to step aside for the good of democracy, warning that his exit from the race would be “the best chance to protect the soul of the nation” from the “malign warping” of former President Donald Trump’s authoritarian tendencies.
Then the US Supreme Court – where three of the nine justices were appointed by Trump – rules that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for almost anything they do as part of their official actions.
In a furious dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, appointed by Barack Obama, expresses the slack-jawed shock of non-Trump America: What if a president orders the Navy’s famed Seal Team Six to assassinate his political rival? If he organises a military coup to hold onto power? If he accepts bribes?
“Immune. Immune, immune, immune,” she writes, adding that “the president is now a king above the law.”
America’s last king was George III. It wasn’t a good fit. The Declaration of Independence was like a “Dear John” letter to him. It’s not you, it’s us.
“With fear for our democracy, I dissent,” Sotomayor concludes.
Those words that will surely soon be emblazoned on t-shirts capture the fears of many Americans who see Trump as an imperial figure and a clear and present danger to what we fought for in 1776.
This is the guy who once boasted he could shoot somebody in the
middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose any votes. He built his re-election campaign on the lie that he actually won the 2020 election. He is a convicted felon at ease with casual criminality. He still faces trial on multiple indictments on a variety of charges.
The US Constitution limits presidents to two four-year terms. But if Trump wins, his critics don’t expect him to leave office in 2028 without some wackadoodle challenge to one of our foundational laws.
Trump somehow has managed to build support despite his personal behaviour and public record. He is the master of the “Gish gallop” a debating technique in which someone unleashes a barrage of falsehoods, overwhelming the opponent and leaving them without time to rebut all the lies – and to the dismay of millions, it works.
His supporters are promoting an agenda called Project 2025, a 1,000-page blueprint that calls for a vast government overhaul, including removing protections for the LGBTQ community and officially infusing Christianity into government functions.
He courts ultraconservatives by aligning with extreme positions on immigration, abortion and other issues, and then when challenged, dances, dodges, and distances himself from those positions.
Kevin Roberts, head of the conservative Heritage Foundation, which is driving Project 2025, said: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
Happy Birthday, America!
Sure, it’s been worse. During the Civil War in the mid-19th century, 600,000 were killed. In the1960s, JFK, RFK and MLK were assassinated and the Vietnam war convulsed the country.
So far, we’re not there. But people are worried. Trump has warned of a “blood bath” if things don’t go his way. That’s made some people not feel like celebrating. One friend of ours said when people said, “happy Fourth!” to her, she replied, “really?”
Behind the scenes, Democratic donors and leaders are trying to see if there is still time to field a stronger and younger candidate than 81 year-old Biden, perhaps Vice President Kamala Harris, 59.
We flew a couple of American flags in front of our house on 4 July. We are not usually overt flag-wavers, but Independence Day seemed especially important this year.
The Yankee Doodle Dandy stuff can all be a bit much for our British friends, who are amused, if not confused, by the American habit of flying US flags, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in schools and singing the national anthem before sports games.
Yet even the US flag has become hyper-politicised in the Trump era. As he talks about wanting to “make America great again” (MAGA) and his supporters wrap themselves in the flag, it has taken on a super-conservative connotation. If you see someone flying a flag from the back of their car or truck, the immediate assumption is that they are conservative—or probably Trumpy.
You can feel the pushback this year from people who say the flag belongs to all Americans and not shying away from flying the nation’s colours.
We went to Mary’s sister’s home in Annapolis, Maryland, to celebrate the Fourth.
The neighbourhood celebrated with a parade – golf carts decked out in red, white and blue streamers, kids rode bikes and scooters decorated in the colours of the country, a golden retriever even wore a red, white and blue top hat.
At the parade there were people who intended to vote for Trump and those who would vote for anyone else, greeting one another, even if just out of reflexive politeness, with: “Happy Fourth!”