The Patriot Post® · Playing Politics With America's Semiquincentennial

Like many of you, this writer is old enough to remember all the hoopla when America celebrated its 200th birthday back in 1976. Whether it was an extra-large barrage of fireworks, a good old-fashioned Sunday doubleheader, tall ships in New York’s harbor, or the Bicentennial Minute on television every evening for a couple of years leading up to the event, we were a united nation in commemorating a momentous occasion. Indeed, we showed the world that we were still a great nation because we were still a good nation.

Fifty years later, however, our nation has changed. Certainly, there are still many of us who believe we’re a good nation. But bubbling just below the surface is the induced perception that America’s time is past, and our history is stained by slavery, institutional racism, and sexism. And while a Semiquincentennial Commission has been empaneled for eight years to plan our celebration, there are concerns that it’s going off the rails.

As The Washington Post recently described it, “Congress created the Semiquincentennial Commission at a time in American history that feels both very close and extremely far away. It was the summer of 2016, when half the country believed the first Black president would be followed by the first woman in that job. There was major agita in America — Donald Trump had just won the Republican nomination by sneering at political norms and snarling at Washington — but many clung to a sense of unalienable optimism for the nation’s future.” (Hey, it wouldn’t be the WaPo without identity politics and the gratuitous swipe at Donald Trump.)

But the commission has run into several problems: Infighting and lawsuits have plagued it, with allegations of a “lack of fiscal transparency.” That’s very important considering Congress has allocated nearly $50 million to the commission, an amount certain to increase as the date draws closer.

It’s led one member of Congress to demand an accounting. As Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee notes in a letter to the commission, “As a member of the Congressional America250 Caucus, it has been brought to my attention that the Commission is serving as a taxpayer-funded vehicle to advance and promote radical ideologies that undermine the principles found in our Declaration.”

These actions include having a vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion who “is simultaneously working for an organization that has a total lack of respect for (our) founding documents,” as well as celebrating Pride Month by featuring a black transvestite who once told an interviewer he would “like to see a gay revolution get started.” Toss in some questionable grants the organization has doled out, and it’s no wonder Lee is concerned. “I am not, to say the least, ‘enthusiastic’ about the prospect of providing the Commission with additional financial support in light of the serious issues raised in this letter,” added Lee.

There’s an alternative vision floating around out there, though. Early in his 2024 campaign, Trump revealed his vision for the semiquincentennial, which included four overarching ideas for a celebration beginning on Memorial Day of 2025 and lasting through July 4, 2026.

One would be the Great American State Fair, a one-time event held in Iowa and featuring pavilions from all 50 states. At the same time, the Trump vision would include the Patriot Games, an Olympic-style event featuring high school athletes. Back in Washington, the commemoration would resurrect a Trump idea nixed by Joe Biden: that of the Garden of American Heroes, featuring 100 statues of great Americans. Next, Trump would encourage tourists from around the world to come to America to join in the celebration.

But he saved the best for last. “Finally, and most importantly, I will ask America’s great religious communities to pray for our nation and our people as we prepare for this momentous occasion. From the very beginning America has been a country sustained and strengthened by prayer and by our communities of Faith. As we chart a course toward the next 250 years let us come together and rededicate ourselves as one nation under God.”

One can argue about the appropriateness of these specific events, especially as they would benefit one state, Iowa, above all others. But notice that Trump would celebrate what makes America great as opposed to what gives it grievance.

Our 250-year-old American experiment deserves a spectacular bash — not an airing of grievances. Considering the momentous event occurs on a Saturday — meaning that we working stiffs get Friday off as the holiday observance — we even get to enjoy it as a three-day weekend with a perfect opportunity for a National Day of Prayer on that Sunday.

Those of us who were alive to experience the bicentennial would surely love one more awesome shindig to remind us of what is good and great about our country. Now if we can only put aside our petty differences and get it done.