America is a great country on its way to being greater.
America is a broken country on its way to despair.
As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary - there are two distinct views of this country that are as different as the two groups that create the great divide.
What I find tragically sad about this Fourth of July celebration is that we are so divided as a country that we can’t even come together and celebrate as Americans first - and Democrats and Republicans second.
President Trump has a history of lying about crowd size from the crowd at his first inauguration. This is when MAGA supporters come in with something like, “Yea, well how many people attended Joe Biden’s rallies during the campaign?” Biden did not attract large crowds at his campaign rallies compared to Trump - but the media and Biden never lied and exaggerated the size of the crowds.
When it comes to the size of crowds and President Trump - he seems to assume that Americans are so stupid that they will believe anything he says even if video and photographs tell a quite different story. People can lie - photos (obviously the ones not altered) do not lie and represent the truth. Even if you are a MAGA supporter - you should be honest enough to admit that there has been deception when it comes to crowd size and any Trump speech or event. And that brings us to Trump[s Great American State Fair.
On opening night of The Great American State Fair - President Trump estimated the crowd for his speech at 45,000 - independent estimates said the crowd was more like 1,000.
Fox News has bent over backwards to present The Great American State Fair as a highly-attended event - but as hosts and reporters speak the words about large crowds - the scenes behind them show wide open spaces and few people attending.
The weather in the nation’s capitol this time of year might have some impact on a very light turnout. D.C. is HOT AF this time of year and it’s extremely muggy and has been hit by a heatwave that has been punishing much of the nation - including the Northeast. Rain also made an appearance at the Great State Fair.
Coverage of The Great American State Fair has been politically-motivated. Fox News has been deceptive about the crowds to help the president save face from embarrassment and CNN and MS Now are celebrating the low turnout. Both are wrong.
It’s sad that this country is celebrating with a Great State Fair and crowds are sparse. As a nation - we should hope that such an event would attract throngs of Americans who are thrilled about coming together and celebrating America’s 250th anniversary. While one side lies about crowd size - the other side is exuberant with its coverage of small crowds.
But this is all too reflective of the America we live in. On my talk show on WWL Radio in New Orleans and on podcasts posted on WWL.com - I have talked about hope. The hope that America survives the deepening challenges it is facing. I have been on the air for a long time and - even during my music radio days - I talked about presidents and their impact on the country and society. I have never seen a president challenge the spirit and foundation of America the way this president is challenging our spirit and foundation.
The overt attacks on freedom of speech and freedom of the media should send chills up the spine of every American. But that’s another problem. Many of the people who think they are great, patriotic Americans are not a positive contributing factor in this country. They support the challenges to fundamental rights and believe that “freedom of speech” means that any speech they disagree with should be shut down - even if it is media coverage that questions the White House. That is exactly what the 1st Amendment is about. That group is quick to pull out The Constitution when anyone talks about gun control and read them the 2nd Amendment - but they fail to support the 1st Amendment when it comes to Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and The View.
This week - Justice Amy Coney Barrett pissed off many conservatives and Republicans who bashed her for daring to rule with liberals on the Supreme Court on the issues of mail-in ballots and birthright citizenship. President Trump was livid over the Court delivering two loses to his agenda and considered Justice Barrett part of the problem.
As I wrote in a blog and talked about on the show - Justice Barrett exposed the new reality that there is the expectation that the Supreme Court is politically based and not free to make decisions based on the law and legal precedent. Justice Barrett ruled the way she did - as a Supreme Court Justice - and not as a conservative. The expectation was that President Trump appointed conservative justices he and conservatives believed would always vote for his agenda and Justice Barrett shoved that notion in their faces.
I want to believe that any justice appointed to the Supreme Court - whether conservative or liberal - will assume the mindset of a justice void of political motivation. But that’s not what many Americans want. They want and expect justices to always follow the ideology of the president.
Further proving that Americans don’t really understand civics and the role of the Supreme Court - President Trump was outraged and said Congress should pass legislation to undo a ruling. Congress is the legislative branch of government - the president is the executive branch. But Congress cannot pass legislation that is unconstitutional and if it does then the legislation is wasted. The president can sign all the executive orders he wants to - but he can’t sign executive orders that are unconstitutional. Too many Americans act like proud Americans but they seem to know nothing about basic civics.
The simplistic disappointment to the aforementioned Supreme Court rulings and the role Justice Barrett played in the disappointing reaction illustrates how divided we are as a country.
Having differing political opinions has been part of America since the beginning - but never before has the demand to push politics over what is right in this country been so severe.
And Then There’s The Socialist Democrats winning!
While the recent victories of socialist Democrats shock the political right into fear and loathing - something positive may come of this. I have said for about a year now that there is a collective change brewing in America. Of course, there are those who will not see what they don’t want to see - but the mostly silent change that is growing is definitely there and waiting to be manifested. Socialist Democrats beating moderate and incumbent Democrats is a surprising development that might be part of the growing sense of change. Will the election of Socialist Democrats become a definite trend - or are more frustrated voters desiring extreme changes more likely to go to the polls and vote? We don’t yet know the answers. Also - candidates with extreme views can win in primaries if there is low voter turnout and the more extreme voters show up to vote - but this doesn’t mean that those extreme candidates will beat their Republican opponents in November.
I’m not sure this country is ready for Socialist Democrats to be in power - but there is a change in the political winds and we don’t know where those winds are blowing yet. With President Trump’s ratings at historic lows - there are obviously many Americans who are not satisfied with his performance - regardless of how much he believes he is overwhelmingly loved and revered.
And yet - I have HOPE for America. We have been through turbulent times before and survived and we will get through this turbulent time. As a nation - we tend to go to extremes - but the extremes never last forever. So, as we celebrate this 250th anniversary of America - let have HOPE that America not only survives - but thrives.
We are a very young country relative to the world and no country has tried this experiment before. The idea of welcoming everyone in from the beginning was bound to lead to conflicts and challenges. We still have those problems but we have made much progress. And so on this special Fourth of July - I have HOPE for America!
God Bless America!
