On Independence Day Weekend ...
It is what it is.
So I’m typing this on July 3, a cup o’ coffee to my right, a bin of pastries feet away. It’s Friday, and the weather is lovely, the scenery is gorgeous. I am alive and healthy and blessed with a great family, an enjoyable career, ample friends and all the Blind Melon music one needs.
And yet …
It’s a challenge to celebrate Independence Day the way I used to. Not all that long ago, this was a Top 5 holiday for me, behind Halloween (free candy, bruh) but way ahead of Christmas (I’m Jewish) and New Year’s Eve (I rarely drink). I just always loved the spirit of it all. The fireworks, the flags, the pride. Dating back to my grandparents’ arrival from Germany in 1939, this nation has done so much for me and my people. It has served, truly, as a land of hope, dreams, opportunity, glory. Has it been perfect? Hells, no. Far from it. But it’s home, and I always felt as if, deep down, we were striving for something better. Maybe that was naive, but it’s how I felt.
Well, the past decade has been a bear. Donald Trump is a toxin. His enablers are clowns. There is a jarring willingness to not merely look the other way, but embrace corruption; to enable cruelty; to support greed atop greed atop greed. A country that once personified the Neil Diamond anthem, “America” now identifies more with this little Dennis Leary classic. We have become intellectually lazy and emotionally indifferent. We’re far more comfortable staring at our phones than talking to a stranger on the bus. We have all the technology one could need, but use it mainly to watch inane videos about sports betting, poop shapes and Reece, the Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. There are so many problems we can solve, but … we don’t. We lack the bandwidth. The interest. The compassion. The attention span.
It is heartbreaking and exhausting. As my friend Ellie recently noted, modern happiness comes with a cap.
Our happiness is capped.
But!
But!
But!
Independence Day matters, and what it symbolizes matters even more. Democracy is not free and it’s not easy. We are a land of 330 million, many of whom (clearly) are easily susceptible to the conman blusterings of an orange cult leader.
But this is what dwelling in such a large and riveting land comes with. We are required, by patriotism, to fight. We are required to march forward. We are required to remind folks that, no, this is not normal and, no, this is not the way it should be. A president making more than $2 billion during his time in the White House is garbage. A president spewing racist, homophobic, sexist bullshit from his pulpit is garbage. A president with a life history of swindling the masses is garbage.
We cannot allow ourselves to permanently become this.
Seriously, we cannot.
So, to hell with it. Fire up the grille. Eat your burgers. Wear your stars and stripes. Be proud of who you are, where you live and what—historically—it means.
Then fight like a motherfucker to preserve America’s purpose.
It’s worth the effort.
Happy 4th.
— Jeff
Happy July 4th, Jeff. Yesterday, waiting at a Costco table for my tires to be installed, I had a 45 minute conversation with a MAGA who sat down to eat his hot dog. (I was reading a book until he interrupted). Wide ranging convo until he asked where I lived--Whittier. He responded it used to be nice when he grew up in Whittier but now "there are so many Mexicans." I said, Yeah, that is part of the appeal; why don't you like Mexicans?" Ranting. So, then I asked how he liked what the President is doing. Shrug. Said he used to like him but now trump only cares about making himself richer. I asked several more questions and determined that yes, this MAGA is not tuned into the news--at all. Pox on me for thinking this but I had an inkling that the State Fair extravaganza in D.C. would be the Jonestown of MAGAs. Judging from the size of crowds, I'm guessing the Costco MAGA is not alone in his disillusionment. Peace and cheers. This too shall pass.
Well said. Fight like hell, in big ways or small, to restore our democracy for all!