The heat is keeping me indoor by the AC this weekend, and I’ve given up even thinking of attending any local celebrations. So I’m sitting this one out, sadly. I hope you all at least enjoy some barbeque and maybe watch the young folks run around with sparklers, if young folks still do that.
The more I hear about the so called “Great America State Fair,” the worse it sounds. It obviously was put together by people who had no idea what a state fair is really like. They seem to have thought a state fair is something like an exhibit hall attached to a convention, but with a little rodeo and a Ferris wheel.
And what makes this even more of a bleeping shame is that Congress put together funds and a commission to plan for the 250th anniversary ten years ago. Among other things, they were going to help fund a lot of celebrations around the country. DOGE stripped them of a lot of funds last year, causing a lot of plans to be scaled back. Then Trump siphoned off more money and managed to fraudulently redirect donations to the official commission into his own plans. And the result is just awful. So we’ve been robbed of the 250th celebration we could have had.
Do read ‘I’m Mad at Trump’: Even Trumpers Can’t Stand How Shoddy the Great American State Fair Is by Josh Kovensky and Allegra Kirkland at TPM.
After the Freedom Truck, we spotted, visited, and avoided a Budweiser Truck ($12 Michelob, no thank you), and then moved on to a tent with a religious theme. A “Great Awakening” booth had books and DVDs on the essential fakeness of the COVID pandemic, the country’s Christian founding, and more. My friend and I stopped to speak with an attendant at the stall; she immediately began to try to convert us. She asked if we really knew what would happen once we died; I replied that I didn’t think anyone knew the answer to that question. Her eyes now burning, she told us that she knew, asked our names, and started to pray for us. Once she asked if we could repeat after her that Jesus Christ was our lord and savior, we walked away.
I believe I would have walked away a lot sooner.
Real state fairs are pretty amazing. Back in the early 1970s when I was a student at the University of Missouri school of journalism, I got a summer job working for the Missouri State Fair. It was a hoot. I even lived on the fairgrounds while the fair was open, so it was a 24/7 experience. Most of my job involved writing press releases of the livestock competitions, an assignment I got because I was the only college student they hired who knew what a steer was. But there were also stock car races and a big carnival with lots of rides and a real old-time sideshow. There were some decent entertainers, and Bob Hope was the headliner. I got to go to a Bob Hope press conference. I also vividly remember the Coon Dog Water Races and the Mule Show. The whole thing was a great experience; I still get a kick out of thinking about it. Too bad about whatever that thing is in D.C.
My Dad used to take us into every freak show.
The heaviest human. The giant steer. Sword swallowers.
But the one I’ll never forget was turtle boy. He had no arms or legs and his trick was opening a pack of cigarettes and striking a match and lighting up.
Thankfully those seem to have all gone away.
I honestly don't remember what any of the sideshow attractions were, although I don't think any of them were on the same level as Turtle Boy.
This is why fascism always fails. People don't actually *like* patriotic displays for the sake of patriotism. It might "own the libs" for Trump to appear to be ready to use the American flag as a masturbation device, but, no one thinks it's America-loving, or good, or, something you want to tell your children about, if they can't see it for themselves, which you hope they can't.
Trump did a fascism-command performance, of all the things he thinks is necessary to explain how great America is, so, he finds a state that can lay claim to Paul Bunyan, and they get axes, and paper mache giants, and the American Forest Raping Lobby will play John Phillips Sousa marches, and then, Trump can't think of anything interesting about Pennsylvania, so they get someone selling chocolate Liberty Bell replicas, and so forth.
Now, he wants to break the world record for fireworks displays, and it has all the planning that went into his artificial arch, which looks like a cheap, tacky, slapdash job, and, looks many times better than the actual arch *ever* will, and, for some reason, I'm remembering when I was in Philly, and they decided to drop *one* grenade, on *one* house, to blow *one* hole in the roof, and they burned down an entire neighborhood.
So I hope it blows up in his face in an embarrassing way that leaves DC mostly intact.
I grew up on the Great Lakes, Toronto was a four hour car ride away. We often went to the Canadian National Exhibition, kind of their annual state fair, but blown up to represent the whole country. One year, The Guess Who performed, and much earlier Bob Hope (for some reason) also headlined. I remember exhibit halls of things like sculptures done in butter. It happens at a permanent fairgrounds with permanent halls. Lots of brands of beer and cigarettes that you could, at the time only get in Canada.
Maybe that's what the Trumpers had in mind. If you're hosting a wrestling match on the White House lawn, then why not a low-brow state fair salted with evangelicals?
So much of the world is on a death watch of various kinds. In America, Mitch McConnell is barely alive, and Orange Mango is in a population of one, receiving unapproved experimental drugs from Lilly pharmaceuticals. In Russia, people are actually speaking out against Putin, as Zelinsky wages a war that will be studied for hundreds of years to come, bringing Russia to its knees. Netanyahu is facing an election this fall that he's not likely to survive. Three monsters very near the ends of their respective runs.
One of my recent finds, Erika the Sociologist, and Four Walls.
I am thrilled to report that I've been hearing far fewer fireworks this year. Across town in the wealthy, Republican part of town, they're hosting a "patriotic parade". It's as if they have to stipulate the word "patriot" – it's no longer a given that a July 4 parade will be patriotic. It's as if the Republican / Trumpster notion of "patriot" is fading away, you can hear it in the language. As it should.
I gather that Trump's 4th of July speech was a warning about communism. "You can be a communist, or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both."
"You do not have to be born here, but you do have to love what we have built, you must love our country,"
"Americans love freedom…We do not need anyone's permission to say what we think, and to live as we please, to worship as we choose, or to keep and bear arms."
Trump did not address who decides if a new citizen is showing enough of the right kind of love for "what we have built." What if a citizen hates the concentration camps Trump has built? What if their view of "our country" includes an objective view of the history of genocide and the theft of land from Native Americans or the opinion that black Americans deserve reparations?
A lot of the actions of the federal government suggest that you DO need permission to say what you think when it differs from the doctrine of the great leader. The Department of War recently revised the list of approved 'real' religions. I suspect we're eventually going to get an official list we can choose from to worship. If you think it's not the plan to pick and choose 'real' religions, watch Texas who has mandated teaching the bible in school. So if an after-school club wants to use public facilities to talk about Wicca, how will that go?
But I want to return to "communism." I suspect that's a veiled reference to Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani, and the New York DSA candidates who will almost certainly graduate to the US House, AND to the likely governor of CO who bumped the incumbent, as well as a House candidate, who bumped the AIPAC-friendly 'progressive' incumbent. There's no chance DSA candidates joining Sanders and AOC will become a majority. They might become a caucus with enough members in the House, depending on the size of the Democratic majority, with the power to hold up legislation that puts no limits on HOW Israel can use US weapons on civilians. It's only my opinion that as AIPAC's grip on Congress weakens, Netenyahu worries that the military gravy train may come to an end. Or there may be strings attached that go to Congressional committees instead of the Department of War.
I fret that there are too few liberal members of Congress with the values of Sanders and AOC. I'm heartened that the mood of voters is changing to give them some company. I'M really thrilled that Trump is sufficiently rattled that he made a core element of the 4th speech a rebuttal of (I interpret) domestic 'communism' which isn't a thing in the US – but DSA is. I hope it's costing Trump sleep.
"They were baked in one of the hottest summer days D.C. has experienced in a long time, and now, they're being evacuated because of a thunderstorm approaching the National Mall and scrambling to find shelter. Thousands of Trump supporters on the National Mall ordered to evacuate from the thunderstorm have sought shelter inside the National Museum of African American History and Culture."
(Charlotte Clymer)
I guess that's one way to get the MAGAts into the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
"writing press releases of the livestock competitions"
Sounds riveting! And here you are all these years later forced to right about the biggest pig in the land, diaper don! I have a neighbor that unfortunately has made the 4th something I sort of dread. He's a fireworks loon and here in redstate Indiana you can pretty much buy anything short of a howitzer shell. Of course this being the 250th his over compensating reached new levels of phony machismo, I really thought the bricks were going to come off the outside of my house. Thank god it's over!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRCLHBhZPQ4&list=RDsRCLHBhZPQ4&start_radio=1
Somebody else covered pigs. I covered cattle, sheep, mules, and horses. Mostly cattle, though. People went all out to make their cattle pretty. Sometimes horns were decorated with bells and ribbons, for example. Once when I was walking toward the cattle show area I passed a woman with a cigarette dangling out of her mouth doing something with the hooves of an enormous Angus bull, who was docilely standing there letting her do it. She was painting shoe polish on his hooves, I assume to make them black and shiny.
I had fortunately brought with me two pairs of canvas sneakers. After a day of covering the cattle shows, talking to owners and judges, I'd go back to my room, wash that day's shoes very thoroughly, and put them in a window sill to dry. And then I'd take the other pair that I'd washed the day before and put them on, and wear those the next day.
One judge kept giving blue ribbons to cows who, he said, showed "good femininity." I finally asked him what he meant. "It means she just goes out in the pasture and chews her cud and don't cause no trouble," he said.
The mule show was different. Mules were led around by halters to show them off, but to make them look attentive one person would lead the mule and another went through all kinds of antics to keep the mule's attention so that its head was held up and its ears were pricked forward.
"It means she just goes out in the pasture and chews her cud and don't cause no trouble,"
Now that their is a good woman (can you hear the drawl)!! Wonderful story, thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUl2P4fH5t8
Of course this being the 250th his over compensating reached new levels of phony machismo, I really thought the bricks were going to come off the outside of my house.
I had the same experience last night. My town had their annual fireworks (every year they get bigger and LOUDER) and okay, fine… but then about fifteen minutes after midnight we heard a loud whoosh! from the neighbor's yard followed by a loud BANG directly over our rooftop. About thirty seconds later another whoosh and another insanely loud BANG over our house. I mean, insanely loud. Our house shook.
It pissed me off, and I thought about getting the police involved, but the neighbors are national guard weekend warriors with a big flag on their porch. Police probably would have arrested me for complaining against these fine patriots.
I can't help but think it was deliberately aimed at our house because our politics is to the left of these white dudes and I suspect they were trying to send a message.
I got the Real Thing, the kind of awesome aerial Oooh-Ahhh humans experienced before the Chinese invented fireworks. A front passed through my neighborhood around 9:00 PM; Zeus and Thor put on a fine show! Unfortunately, they also knocked out power for most of my town, so, no A/C & no computer. Local Utility workers (modern heroes!) got things fixed up in about 4 hours, so not a big deal.
Speaking of mules, Trump's speech was delayed for two hours and the audience had to pass thru metal detectors a second time. I presume the second group was reduced in number but how many showed up, I have not read. Fireworks began after midnight and there are air quality warnings today. They shot off a record number and the DC air will be crap for a day.
White nationalists marched yesterday in DC, passing on the traditional cone head and veil for face masks and sunglasses. Otherwise, same-old.
Having achieved the dubious status of a crony capitalist nation, the U.S. has proceeded to try to fix the world cup outcome. A timely red card suspension reversal has international people smelling the work of he who always wins golf tournaments at his courses.
It is a sad time for the country.
This really stinks. It reeks of impropriety from the host country. It is totally Un-American.
I agree. I bet soccer fans around the world are livid.