in #OnThisDay, Politics, Racism & Bigotry, US History 1,204 Words

A 4th of July like no other

Tomorrow marks the 249th birthday of the United States of America. It was on July 4, 1776 that our national Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.

Photo of dark clouds over the dome of the US Capitol Building
Photo by Kyle Mills on Unsplash

This has been a tough year so far. In the months leading up to July 4, I wasn’t sure how festive this year’s celebration would or could be. Many of us are embarrassed by the actions and words of the current US President, the US Congress, and the US Supreme Court.

Many of us are worried about the future of our country and its standing in the world. Many of us are worried about our financial security as individuals. Many of us are grieving for the rights and benefits we and the poorest of the poor in the world have lost at the hands of the Turmp Administration. People are starving and dying unnecessary of preventable diseases because the aid that the United States had funded and promised has been halted in the name of efficiency, waste, fraud, and diversity.

What should I blog about just hours before Independence Day?

A week or so ago, I decided to mark this Independence Day by posting “A Light and Lively Look at Independence Day in America.” I had the whole post written, illustrated, and scheduled for 5 a.m., July 4, 2025.

I included links to comedian Nate Bargatze’s skits on the iconic TV show, “Saturday Night Live” or “SNL.” Both skits featured Bargatze as General George Washington and four regular SNL cast members (Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, Kenan Thompson, and James Austin Johnson) as American soldiers under his command in 1776 and 1777.

Bargatze’s trademark deadpan delivery made the skits hilarious. I thought sharing links to video recordings of the skits would be a good way to remind Americans that we need to laugh at ourselves. We shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously.

But as the days went by this week, I had a nagging feeling that I could not in good conscience go forward with that post tomorrow. It didn’t feel right. We have nothing to laugh about on this Independence Day.

Our country is in a precarious place. Our democracy and everything we thought we knew about our country are crumbling in front of our eyes.

This is my 73rd Independence Day. Until this year, it has always been a happy day – a day to be proud of my country, a day to pick wild blackberries, a night to hold a sparkler with close adult supervision when I was a young child, a day to go to a parade, a day to eat hotdogs and hamburgers, a day to watch a fireworks display, a day to sing patriotic songs, a day to wave the flag, a day to celebrate our freedoms.

Not this year. Now, none of that feels right. Oh, we still have some freedoms, but the current U.S. President and his minions have them in a vice grip. They are tightening the screws more each day. Those freedoms are being crushed and trampled on.

The last straw for me was seeing “Alligator Alcatraz” on TV and hearing some Republicans in high places of power making jokes about it. They’re making jokes about how the alligators and pythons will keep the detainees in line.

They joke about how the human beings detained there — and yes, although they are here illegally, they are human beings – will have to learn to run in a zigzag fashion while being chased by alligators. They joke about how security will be a small expense because the alligators and pythons work for free. They are human beings with names and families and very few of them are criminals. Coming into the United States without the proper paperwork is not a felony. It is a misdemeanor.

Even with all that “free” security provided by wildlife, we are told that “Alligator Alcatraz” will cost the American taxpayers $450 million-a-year. Florida will pay that upfront and then be reimbursed by FEMA. Personally, I don’t think that was why the Federal Emergency Management Administration was intended for. Even so, the cost in money is beside the point.

This “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center looks like a concentration camp. The human beings will be kept in cages – just like the first Trump Administration kept detainees in the first time. The wire cages are inside tents, and the Trump Administration claims these tents can survive a category 2 hurricane. We might find out over the next five months if that claim is valid.

While in Florida to visit “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades, Trump was asked by a reporter how long individuals would be held there. He gave a long and typically incoherent response that did not address the question at all. He talked about how he lives in Florida and will spend “a lot of time here…” and how he has redecorated the Oval Office. It was a bizarre response to a simple question, but in its bizarre-ness it was one of his typical nonsensical “weaves”

Where are the people who called President Joe Biden incompetent? Where are they now that we have a U.S. President who is incapable of forming a complete sentence or staying on topic?

But that is not my main point.

My thoughts today and each day this week as I anticipated the 4th of July are… disbelief and horror. I am horrified that the United States of America is constructing a concentration camp – just as it did during World War II. Then the camps were built to restrict the movement of people of Japanese descent. In 2025, they are for anyone with brown skin or a Spanish accent.

The photographs of the masked ICE agents are horrifying. They look exactly like the masked Boko Haram self-proclaimed jihadist militant group in Nigeria, except those thugs were black and most of the ICE agents are white. What they have in common in addition to their face coverings is a penchant for terrorizing people, including little children. What they appear to have in common is hate and a personal delight in inflicting pain and terror.

Police officers in the United States don’t wear face masks. People who are ashamed of what they are doing wear face masks. People who don’t want to be caught or recognized wear face masks. Have the dark face coverings of ICE agents in 2025 replaced the white hoods of the Ku Klux Klan? The sight of the masked ICE agents triggers that comparison in my mind, and the first word that comes to mind is “cowardice.”

What kind of person – mostly men – takes a job as an ICE agent? Who takes a job in which they have to trade their souls for a mask and a pair of handcuffs or wad of zip ties? Are they so filled with hate and racism that they enjoy terrorizing families and children?

And those ICE agents? They will, no doubt, say they were just following orders. If that lame excuse rings a bell, it is because that’s what Hitler’s henchmen cried at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 and 1946.

I don’t recognize this America. I don’t understand this America. I cannot celebrate this America.

Janet

25 thoughts on “A 4th of July like no other”

  1. Words fail me, Janet all I can do is send you a big virtual hug and know that I sympathise from afar small comfort I know but none of us have the power to stop this train…I can only think of one solution and it surprises me that I even contemplate that option-sigh xx

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  2. Carol, Thank you. I just realized I failed to include something at the end of that blog I posted a few minutes ago. Let me do that and then look at it again. There’s a famous quote I meant to include. I think I know the solution you are referencing. I have thought that it is the only solution, too. Like you, I can’t believe such a thought even crossed my mind. But even that “solution” will not solve this mess because I don’t think it is possible to un-brainwash millions of people who support what is happening.

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  4. Yes, unbelievably sad, Carol. And today the US House of Representatives approved Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill.” He will sign it into law tomorrow. It takes healthcare coverage away from millions of Americans, gives the savings to the richest people, and adds $3 trillion to our national debt for future generations to pay. He and his supporters say it will make America great and wealthy again. Where do these people get off saying America wasn’t already great… and the poorest Americans are richer than millions of people in the world. It all defies the facts and common sense. On this Independence Day Eve, I’m on the verge of tears. I needed that virtual hug from you. Thank you!

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  6. Yes, it’s no longer the America I grew up admiring. It’s end-stage capitalism where the rich have taken over at the expense of the citizens. The outlook is bleak.

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  7. Janet, not sure how I missed this yesterday. You have laid out everything that I have been dreading about today. When Taco and ICE Barbie toured the facility, bragging about teaching detainees how to outrun 🐊 I was horrified. The military who gave their lives for this country are losers. Will we even celebrate July 4th next year or skip it for Flag Day or as he prefers it TRUMP’S 80th birthday?

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  11. It certainly is, Chris. Amazing how quickly a democracy can fail while 77 million of its voters keep cheering their Dear Leader. I’m beginning to wish my ancestors from Scotland had landed in Canada or Australia… or stayed in Scotland. Never thought I would feel this way. Never thought the 4th of July would be such a sad day.

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  12. I didn’t publish yesterday’s blog post until around 8:30 last night, so that’s why it didn’t show up on your feed all day. I had a sleepless night Wednesday night thinking about what I’d written for today, then an eye exam and the resulting dilated eyes. So yesterday was a challenge, but I was determined to get something posted last night and one for today. I have never been so depressed about our country or so depressed on the 4th of July. The pictures from Alligator Alcatraz made something snap in me. Their jokes about the alligators and pythons…. And the daily pictures of the ICE thugs…. We had such a nice experiment in democracy for 248 years minus the four of his first term. I have just ignored the fact all day that this is July 4th. You’re right… what in the world will he do for his 80th birthday? Which countries will we bomb in his honor? Maybe by then Russia will be our only ally and we can help them finish off Ukraine. Nothing would surprise me. If Trump can figure out how to make himself a dollar, he’ll do it… or order someone else to do it.

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  13. It certainly has been a day of mourning for me today, Liz. The highlight was watching the Carole King and James Taylor concert at The Troubadour that I’d recorded on PBS. When it got to the end, I just started it all over again. Brought some smiles to my face. Very nice diversion, but I can’t watch that all day and all night. Back to just being so sad now.

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  16. We don’t have a chance between Trump, RFKjr, and Dr. Oz! I saw a meme on FB last night: If Trump were the only person in a room, he still wouldn’t be the smartest person in the room.

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  20. Yes, Alligator Alcatraz is a new low even for this regime. You’re not alone in thinking about concentration camps. It’s the dehumanisation that’s the problem. I’d imagine that there’s a fairly substantial majority of people who, if asked, would say that they would like illegal immigration to be brought under control. But I’d also imagine that this is not the solution that they would have had in mind.

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  22. You’re right. I think everyone knows our immigration system needs to be improved. I just don’t know how the ones who voted for Trump thought he was going to do it. He people in cages and separated children from their parents during his first term. Why would they think he had turned into Mr. Nice Guy since then? I’m afraid they knew what they were voting for. He has used the old fascist ploy of convincing his audience that every immigrant with brown skin or a Spanish accent is a murderer or rapist. He has “othered” them like Hitler “othered” the Jews. And “if Trump says it, it must be true.” Coming up on six months into these horror show, I’m getting very depressed. Even when Trump is gone, his supporters will still be all around me. I’ve been thinking about you as I’ve seen pictures and reports about the wildfires in Scotland. Dreadful! I hope rain will come soon and put an end to the drought there. I can’t imagine a dry Scotland! I hope you, and all your friends and family are out of harm’s way.

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  24. Thanks – we’re all far away from the fires, thankfully. It has been exceptionally dry here so far this summer. Not like Scotland at all!

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  25. Glad you’re safe and not in danger. I do hope you get rain soon. Surely this has nothing to do with climate change. Perhaps I should ask Donald Trump what he thinks. LOL!

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