The Real Meaning of July 4, 2026
Friends,
On this July 4 — the 250th anniversary of the start of this country — many people, including the current occupant of the Oval Office, believe that celebrating America means waving the flag or standing for the national anthem or shouting, “America First.”
That’s not what real patriotism is.
Real patriotism means sacrificing to keep America going.
It means paying taxes proportional to your wealth. I’m talking to you, Donald Trump, and you, Jeff Bezos, and you, Elon Musk.
It means paying your workers a living wage so they can thrive. I’m talking to you, John Furner, CEO of Walmart, and you, Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonald’s.
It means fully reckoning with how racial oppression and white supremacy have shaped this nation, not whitewashing our history and ignoring racism’s continuing legacy. I’m talking to you, Ron DeSantis, and other lawmakers trying to prevent students from learning the roles slavery and genocide have played in our history.
Real patriotism means protecting American democracy and our form of government, not trying to overturn an election that was upheld by 60 federal courts and the Supreme Court, or lying about election fraud when it barely exists, or seeking to suppress the voting rights of people of color.
I’m talking to you, Trump, along with traitorous members of Congress who refused to certify the 2020 election, and you, state legislators who have advanced nearly 400 voter suppression bills, and you, Supreme Court justices who have gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Real patriotism means not flooding our politics with big money, so the voices of the people can be heard. I’m talking to you again, Elon, as well as Charles Koch, Timothy Mellon, Miriam Adelson, and Michael Bloomberg.
And it means putting the interests of our country over partisanship. Do you hear me, Mike Johnson and John Thune?
Finally, real patriotism means using your position of power in the media to inform and educate the public rather than weaponize lies and promote extremism to get more clicks. I’m talking to you, Mark Zuckerberg, and you, David Ellison, and you, Rupert Murdoch, and, once again, you, Elon.
On this July 4, the 250th anniversary of America, we must recommit ourselves to real patriotism — the hard work necessary to make American democracy survive.
I hope there is a purpose to all of this chaos. Perhaps it's to motivate us to reevaluate how much we want a good democratic republic. Patriotism is easy when times are good. But it's more difficult when we have to work for it. And we appreciate it more. Can we work for it? Will we work for it?
This week, a friend said that all my political efforts are worthless. I should be helping poor people. But I believe that affecting legislation goes a lot farther than donating to a food bank. (I also do that, by the way...) If we really want things to get better, we have to do the work to get the legislation passed. That's the really effective way to improve our situation.
Once again you are absolutely correct Robert, but once again Trump, Republicans and millions of Americans have no idea what you are talking about or are deliberating ignoring what you are saying - as a result, our country is in serious danger of total failure.