{"id":3733,"date":"2026-07-04T15:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T15:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3733"},"modified":"2026-07-04T15:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T15:36:11","slug":"crisp-lets-remember-what-were-celebrating-on-july-4th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3733","title":{"rendered":"Crisp: Let\u2019s remember what we\u2019re celebrating on July 4th"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Happy 250th birthday to America and to all my fellow citizens. Let\u2019s celebrate!<\/p>\n

But first, let\u2019s reflect for a moment on the state of our republic.<\/p>\n

(If you read my columns regularly, you might assume that I\u2019ll begin by unleashing my Trump Derangement Syndrome on our president. You\u2019re mistaken; I\u2019ll save that until the end.)<\/p>\n

Read more Leubsdorf: From Ford to Trump \u2014 A contrast in anniversary celebrations<\/a><\/p>\n

The United States is, indeed, a nation worth celebrating, a great nation and, really, an exceptional one. Still, I cringe a little when I hear someone bragging about American exceptionalism or boasting that the U.S. is the greatest nation that God ever deigned to bestow upon our globe.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the same people assert that we\u2019re a Christian nation, as well, forgetting that Proverbs 27:2 says, \u201cLet someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, we have a lot to celebrate this July 4, even if it would be better if we let someone else do the bragging.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s beyond the scope of this column to enumerate all our nation\u2019s virtues, so I\u2019ll mention just one of my favorites:<\/p>\n

We are truly a free nation. We can still, pretty much, say and do whatever we want. For example, I\u2019m proud of the fact that desecrating our flag and other national symbols is seen as a legitimate \u2014 if unseemly \u2014 form of protest in our country.<\/p>\n

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If we object to national policies, the Supreme Court has held that we can express our objection by burning the flag. We can also use it for a doormat, turn it into a swimsuit or patch our jeans with a scrap of the flag.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the case everywhere, even in countries considered liberal democracies such as ours. In France, an offender can be fined up to 7,500 euros. In Germany, a flag-burner can be imprisoned for three years. In Mexico, it\u2019s four years.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I\u2019ve thought that the most patriotic act a citizen could perform on July 4 is to incinerate a flag on his backyard fire pit. I\u2019d never do that \u2014 neither should you \u2014 but I\u2019m proud of a nation that has the courage and self-confidence to permit such speech acts. Now, that\u2019s exceptional!<\/p>\n

Certainly, our nation has its problems: We\u2019ve never sufficiently resolved the issue of race; our wealth gap is unhealthy for a democracy; we eat too much; we may be developing a gambling problem; we\u2019re not taking climate change seriously; we\u2019re largely ignoring the threat of artificial intelligence; we should take better care of every citizen\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

Read more Did the milk expire? California bans \u2018sell by\u2019 food labels to cut food waste<\/a><\/p>\n

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But, as our 250th anniversary approaches, I\u2019d rather live here than anywhere; I\u2019m guessing that you would, too.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a problem with this year\u2019s celebration: Our president.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump likes to compare himself to other presidents, usually to their detriment. In 2024, he said that he is \u201cbetter than Lincoln, better than Washington.\u201d He\u2019s compared himself favorably to William McKinley and negatively to Herbert Hoover.<\/p>\n

But maybe he\u2019s most like Teddy Roosevelt. Here\u2019s what his daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, said about T.R.: \u201cMy father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening.\u201d<\/p>\n

And D.J.T. wants to be the star of our nation\u2019s celebration of its nativity.<\/p>\n

When several performers bowed out of the planned national birthday bash, Trump said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Evidently, Trump has never heard of Proverbs 27:2.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also evident that Trump is not well. If you lived next door to him, you wouldn\u2019t invite him to your backyard July 4th party. You wouldn\u2019t let him near your hot tub; look what he did to the reflecting pool.<\/p>\n

Our national challenge is to celebrate the birth of our worthy nation without celebrating Trump.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m certain we can do it. Happy Birthday, America!<\/p>\n

John M. Crisp is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. \u00a92026 Tribune Content Agency.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Word Game: July 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the republic marks its 250th birthday, citizens must prioritize honoring shared values over massive egos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nCrisp: Let\u2019s remember what we\u2019re celebrating on July 4th - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3733\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crisp: Let\u2019s remember what we\u2019re celebrating on July 4th - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the republic marks its 250th birthday, citizens must prioritize honoring shared values over massive egos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3733\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T15:36:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3733#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3733\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Crisp: Let\u2019s remember what we\u2019re celebrating on July 4th\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T15:36:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3733\"},\"wordCount\":772,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3733#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/cd1adac37eba5005d504a48ae0cac484.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3733#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3733\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3733\",\"name\":\"Crisp: Let\u2019s remember what we\u2019re celebrating on July 4th - 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