Set aside for a moment the special occasion of our semiquincentennial and ask yourself: who doesn’t like a three-day weekend smack dab in the middle of summer? The luck of the calendar dictated that the 250th birthday of our nation fell on a Saturday, and, given the common custom of observing Saturday federal holidays on a Friday, most of us will have a nice little rest day before the real celebration begins.

At least that consolation awaits those who aren’t proud to be Americans and won’t be in a celebratory mood.

As Guy Benson notes at the Washington Examiner, “A new Reuters-Ipsos poll measures how Americans conceive of the Fourth of July itself. The pollster asked whether the holiday is rooted in celebrating America or is more about spending time with friends and family. Two-thirds of Republicans chose the former option. Less than a quarter, 24%, of Democrats did the same, with a large plurality cutting America out of America’s birthday.”

Furthermore, only 27% of Democrats even plan to fly the flag on the holiday. CBS News also joined in on the polling act, and while the network had some lighthearted questions about things such as the food that best represents America (hamburgers won, with the traditional answer of hot dogs — to go along with baseball, apple pie, and Chevrolet, of course — running a distant fourth, right behind the aforementioned apple pie), they also reported the sad fact that just 52% of all Americans polled are either very or somewhat excited about the celebration. Just 48% plan to fly the flag at home on that day.

And they’re not the only party poopers. Historian Bridget Riley marvels at the lack of patriotic movies commemorating our founding.

As America celebrates its big birthday this summer — writing from across the pond to wish you “happy Semiquincentennial,” I must say you look remarkably good for your age — it is worth taking a moment to consider that such a milestone anniversary is being ignored by this summer’s crop of blockbuster movies. Aside from the “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” three-day limited release of Hillsdale’s documentary “Revolutionary America,” and the Revolutionary War-adjacent “Young Washington,” which depicts the nation’s first president learning his soldiering as a British subject in the French and Indian War, our movie theaters this summer will be free of tricorn hats and flintlock pistols. Which is rather a shame when you think about it, given the significance of this year.

Also missing out on a potentially valuable history lesson is the Hispanic Society in New York. Brian T. Allen takes to the pages of National Review to criticize their latest exhibit as a “crazy oppression theme.” Instead, he writes, there was a compelling story of how Spain aided the colonies on the downlow: “Spain opened its colonial ports to the Patriots, no questions asked. Colonial Spain wasn’t poor. Havana alone was richer than New York, Philadelphia, and Boston combined. Wartime access to markets in Latin America helped keep Patriot businesses solvent.” Bearing in mind that it’s the Hispanic Society, Allen further opines, “A good look at the Hispanic Society’s own collection and what other New York museums have would uncover lots of treasures, enough for a show and more gripping than model helicopters and a stick-figure drawing of Alligator Alcatraz.”

But enough of that three-day weekend, nattering nabob of negativism crowd. I think most of my readers here will be slathered in the red, white, and blue enough to make up for it.

It’s also been cheerful to read how our European friends have marveled at our great nation as they traveled around to watch the World Cup — a fortuitous bit of scheduling if there ever was one.

Personally speaking, I may not be totally enamored with the government we have and how it seems to ignore many parts of our founding documents, yet I’m thankful that I was blessed enough to be born in this nation and to have had a lifetime of enjoying the freedoms found therein. I was 11 years old for the Bicentennial, so I realize this is probably my last shot at such an anniversary — the Tricentennial is definitely going to be a loooong stretch for me to see it.

I marvel at the system we have wrought thanks to the vision of our Founders 250 years ago. It’s a system where I have the freedom to express my opinion in this forum, even as those who are my political opponents were in charge at times over the last 17 years. Meanwhile, it’s generated enough prosperity for people to invest in their dreams and help support my “real” full-time job as an architect.

In November, I will have the ability to cast my vote at the ballot box, and even though I probably won’t like who wins — after all, I live in Delaware, a state that’s as blue as its hens — that’s a right not everyone around the world enjoys. More importantly, on Sunday, the day after we celebrate our 250th, I’ll be able to go to my church to worship my Lord and Savior freely and without fear. People tend to forget the blessings bestowed upon us — for a long time in my life, I was just as guilty, but now I am saved.

In that vein, I’m going to close by citing a wonderful piece by Hot Air’s David Strom.

Unlike others, Strom contends that Abraham Lincoln should be considered an equal to our Founding Fathers, despite living nearly a century later, simply because of his leadership during the War Between the States. In his piece, Strom concludes:

“Freedom” is an abstraction to many unless it is tied to something more than just “doing what you want.” Man’s lot is not just to be free from constraint, but free to aspire to become something nobler than a smarter ape.

We are made in the image of God. True freedom is living up to that calling, not just enjoying what you do while you are here.

Lincoln understood that; in his eyes, that justified the terrible war that secured America’s place as the most blessed country on Earth, and thus ensured that America would stand astride the world as a Colossus and beacon of freedom 250 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed.

We may not have the same uniformity of support for our national experiment anymore, but there are still enough Patriots to keep this nation going. The rest will come around sooner or later.