America values honesty, fair play, integrity. As a pathological liar and con man, Trump has never been able to command the ‘respect,’ power, and regal status he craves. He now feels these to be within his reach.
Trump is not out to make America great again. He’s out to make America grovel at his feet.
Americans need to know this. America needs to understand that this is the end game so that America can stop him.
My friend DJ does burgers, dogs, and fireworks at his place near Frederick Maryland so that’s what I did. Random people coming and going all day. More dogs than kids. Good hang.
I spent most of the 4th reading about the ancestry of the founding fathers. TRIVIA: George Washington's 3rd great grandfather was an Anglican priest who was an important office holder at Oxford University. He was a royalist and supporter of King Charles I in the English Civil War. When Cromwell and the Parliament won the war and executed the King, George's ancestor was punished and reduced to poverty and died in 1654. George's great grandfather moved to Virginia in 1654 as did many Royalist supporters possibly to get out from under the Puritan regime. Their intention was to set up a new landed gentry in the colonies loyal to the King and faithful to the Anglican Church.
It was their grandchildren who would come to lead the Revolution and give us our Constitution!
On the Fourth of July I started my day reading the Declaration of Independence, then I went to the Red Cross to donate platelets. In platelet donations both arms are used and it takes two to three hours. So NO doom scrolling and NO Politics, just lots of laughter. I donate every two weeks, but this time felt special. It's essential in these most inhumane of times that we remember our own humanity.
Thank you, Jim and the entire Bulwark team. You are all national treasures, and the work you do is critical in these difficult times. I cannot thank you enough.
Jim this is unrelated to this newsletter but I wish Andrew or JVL would cover the damage Trumps’s cuts to the National Weather Service are causing. The NWS is no longer sufficiently staffed and has had fundamental resources stripped away (for example on 6/30 DOD stopped providing weather information collected by 3 weather satellites to the NWS). They can no longer provide accurate weather forecasts to communities in danger zones. The flooding tragedy unfolding in Texas right now is directly related to the inability to accurately predict the amount of rainfall communities should have expected. These communities would have had more accurate predictions and warnings prior to the Trump cuts to weather infrastructure. And these cuts are continuing and ramping up. All this is happening while hurricane season is in full swing. Please talk to experts that can discuss what is happening with weather prediction accuracy.
Predictions have not been good or accurate in the past. But it was better than decades ago. It's bound to get worse now. I think at some point in the future this satellite information will only be available with a subscription fees paid to private companies who will own the satellites. Elon Musk, maybe?
I think they are undermining the NWS to justify privatizing it and charge for it in some fashion. Trump wanted to do that his first term. Like everything else he’s learned he just has to break the current system, criticize it, then substitute what he wanted all along.
Would have perhaps been in a bit more of a positive mood about the 4th this year a' la Mona Charen's "Despite It All" had it not been for Trump getting to sign his ignominious bill yesterday right on time amid all of his and the GOP's faux patriotic hoopla, which had the following (among other less polite things) repeating itself in my head over and over again for most of the day...
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave... o're the land of the powerful and tax-free rich, and the home of the powerless and poor, who'll now need to brave life with even less...
To be sure, I'm not personally ashamed to be an American today, because although much of what my country is doing at the moment is beyond shameful, I stand foursquare against it all. But I sure don't feel much pride in being an American right now either.
And as for those in the nation's halls of power who really should be ashamed of themselves, all I can say is that a stars and stripes lapel pin does not a patriot make.
Those that loudly proclaim this country doesn't need or want "other's " need some introspection. We're all from families of immigrants and that's what makes their actions so shameful. I too don't feel much pride in their actions.
Jim, because this past week was the 162 nd anniversary of The Battle of Gettysburg( I spent four days @ GNMP the preceding week), I have been enjoying the many you tube videos and podcasts on the battle. I admit to being a "Gettysnerd". Incredible how much content is available for novice to expert.
I’m lucky enough to live in an apartment with a view of fireworks displays in four different municipalities—just barely. A new high-rise under construction has scaffolding now level with my sightline to the river. If they haven’t topped out yet, this may be the last Fourth I can stay home and still see fireworks.
My husband spent the day in an all-day board-gaming marathon over Zoom, so I rewatched the fantastic HBO miniseries “The Plot Against America,” created by David Simon and based on Philip Roth’s alternate-history novel. It’s even more prescient than the book (unsurprising, since Roth wrote it in 2004, while Simon’s version aired in 2020, with the hindsight of Trumpism already underway).
The story imagines an America slipping into authoritarianism under an aloof “America First” president: Charles Lindbergh, who defeats FDR’s bid for a third term in 1940 on an antiwar isolationist platform. While he keeps the U.S. officially neutral, Lindbergh’s administration effectively aligns the country with the Axis powers.
The cast is phenomenal. In Roth’s novel, the central family is his own; in the miniseries, Simon changes their surnames only to the Levins (saying he didn’t feel right fictionalizing someone else’s family the way Roth did his own).
Morgan Spector plays Herman Levin, father to 10-year-old Philip—an assimilated American Jew constitutionally unable to comprehend how his country could take such a turn. He clings to the belief that the “America First” bubble will burst, even as years pass and things only worsen. He listens to Walter Winchell on the radio and haunts the newsreel cinema the way liberals now tune into Rachel Maddow and MSNBC.
Zoe Kazan is outstanding as Bess Levin, Philip’s mother—a woman with the strength and clarity to see what’s happening as it really is. Anthony Boyle plays Alvin, Herman’s orphaned nephew, whose rebellious streak hardens into a furious mission to punish the Nazis. (Boyle’s acting is excellent, but his 1940s Newark accent is *astonishing*. David Simon said Boyle didn’t drop it until the wrap party, where his Irish brogue shocked crew members who hadn’t realized he wasn’t American.)
Two standout star performances round out the cast: Winona Ryder as Bess’s sister, Evelyn Finkel—a lonely social climber whose ambitions lead her into a relationship with John Turturro’s Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf, a Charleston-born assimilationist who supports Lindbergh’s Republicans against FDR. Bengelsdorf ends up collaborating with anti-Semites like Henry Ford to “Americanize” Jews in the coastal cities as cover for breaking their political power as a bloc. (Incredibly, this was Turturro’s first time playing a rabbi.)
The show is superb. So is the novel—but Simon’s adaptation makes it far more effective at exploring how prewar America First-ism foreshadowed MAGA, without ever becoming too on-the-nose.
Remember when MAGA-world lost its mind over NPR tweeting the Declaration of Independence line by line on the Fourth during Trump’s first term? They thought it was a new anti-Trump screed—because they didn’t recognize the text. The same happened with the trailer for “The Plot Against America”. The use of “America First” and period footage set them off, totally unaware it was drawn directly from real history—unedited.
If you haven’t watched it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. And if you have time between episodes, check out the official episode-by-episode podcast, with David Simon interviewed by NPR’s Peter Sagal. It’s one of the best behind-the-scenes companion podcasts I’ve heard, getting into the real nitty-gritty of show-running an HBO prestige project, and adds a great deal of political and historical context—especially around the parallels to Trumpism.¹
—
¹ Pro tip: The HBO Max app includes the podcast episodes, but they’re also on HBO’s YouTube channel—where you can speed them up and get human-transcribed captions.
Thanks Jim, great to learn about the darker side of our very own American Hand Mirror of History. Aaron Parnas just woke me up to The Old Glory Club (OGC) and I started to wonder how many of their members are direct descendants of 'Virginia's patriot assembly'.
Our neighbors gathered for a bbq. Jazz, bouncy house, 100 people who live within 4 blocks. Created community! Although my flag is still hanging upside down.
I read some of the comments here and they are lovely, they celebrate our diversity as did Nordlinger's article which I wish I had not read. Does Maggie understand that the next time she wants an avocado her Mexican grocer could very well not be there anymore. All I could think about yesterday were things like Alligator Auschwitz, the secret police formally known as ICE, marines in the streets of Los Angeles, weapons that should be in Ukraine sitting in a warehouse, Senator Murkowski selling out her country because she was scared, gleeful republicans with blood on their hands already spinning the lies about this bill. And you know what since America will see few of the effects until after the 2026 election the republicans will win simply because a lie is much easier to sell than explaining the truth. The economy is already unraveling because of trump's antics, people are losing their jobs, and kids in third world countries are losing their lives because of USAID destruction, farmers in the midwest are sitting on the edge of bankruptcy with the sunk expense of a crop in the ground with no sure place to sell it because of tariffs. I am sorry but I just can't get passed the hopelessness.
Long answer, I lived in Central America for a while, have a very clear-eyed idea of the political/economic landscape of the region, and my family is sick of hearing me compare Trump to Daniel Ortega. After living in a small town in Appalachia for several years, I am now blessed to live 3 minutes for an Asian grocery store, 5 from a Mexican grocery store, and 10 from a Middle Eastern (I'd rather support the small businesses than the chains). ICE was here about three weeks ago. Other then detaining someone caught drunk driving, I don't think they made any headway. It seems that local law enforcement declined to enthusiastically collaborate. Also people noticed the big custom made land rovers with federal plates, especially after they went through the car wash (subtle!). People battened down the hatches pretty quick. I'll keep shopping at the llittle immigrant stores. The food is better.
I don’t normally do much on the fourth but felt compelled to take back the flag so to speak. My friend just restored her classic caddy so when I told her about our small town car show she jumped at the chance and we even ended up in the parade. Well, the fucking parade was PACKED. My town only has 25,000 so it’s normally a fairly small event. Not this year, the city counselors were freaking out running around to make room for parade entries! So many people had ‘we’re not letting them take our country’ energy. We had a blast
I took my son to see our local minor league baseball team lose (but they put up a good fight!) There were fireworks after the game, and they let the kids run around bases and get free ice cream afterwards.
We also picked up guacamole ingredients at our local Mexican grocery store, where the avocados are always perfectly ripe. There's a sign in Spanish that says "Don't squeeze the avocados!" so buying an avocado is a leap of faith for this gringa, acustomed to at least poking the avocados at chain grocery stores. But this faith has never been misplaced. It made me happy to live in the culinary melting pot of the world.
I wasn't feeling up to the whole parade and party thing. So we took the kids to Portsmouth NH, grabbed lunch and wandered around strawbery Banke. While proudly wearing my Bulwark No Kings shirt
After the Big Ugly Bill passed, I was not feeling patriotic. Why celebrate on the day that Trump signed the Big Ugly Bill, taking away health care and food from people who so need it?
However, two things happened.
1) A local food writer published a paean to the hot dog, offering a national survey of the ways it is served all over the country. Many of those recipes reflect how international our food and our country are. My two favorites: New England's Fenway Franks served on a split top bun and Nathan's Famous, the hot dog featured every July 4th in the Coney Island eating contest. So, we decided to have hot dogs for dinner. Amazingly, we found a frozen package of Nathan's Famous in the freezer. They were delicious.
2) One of the people at risk of losing Medicaid is our 46-year-old son who loves the fireworks on July 4th. Although intellectually and developmentally disabled, he can count, and he loves to count fireworks. So we grabbed our lawn chairs and headed to a local shopping center where we knew we would have a great view. The local fireworks team did not disappoint. Our son told us there were 465! It was worth the hour it took us to get out of the parking lot.
Did it change the fact that the Big Ugly Bill will now become law? No, but it reminded me and everyone else why it was worth continuing to protest everything this administration does so that perhaps on July 4th, 2029, we will feel like celebrating.
My day started and ended with "Why celebrate on the day that Trump signed the Big Ugly Bill, taking away health care and food from people who so need it?"
So I would like to thank you for reminding me, and hopefully others, that there is more we can do make things better in the future.
Thanks for writing Mark. Yes, yesterday was July 4th, the day the big ugly bill became law. Today is July 5th when we begin yet again doing everything we can to defeat the horrible people who voted for it and the guy that signed it. I am not at all a religious person, but this situation calls forth something well known in Psalms: "Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning". It's our job to make sure that morning dawns soon.
Donald Trump just really, really hates America.
America values honesty, fair play, integrity. As a pathological liar and con man, Trump has never been able to command the ‘respect,’ power, and regal status he craves. He now feels these to be within his reach.
Trump is not out to make America great again. He’s out to make America grovel at his feet.
Americans need to know this. America needs to understand that this is the end game so that America can stop him.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jonthinks/p/donald-trump-hates-america?r=mrvx1&utm_medium=ios
My friend DJ does burgers, dogs, and fireworks at his place near Frederick Maryland so that’s what I did. Random people coming and going all day. More dogs than kids. Good hang.
I spent most of the 4th reading about the ancestry of the founding fathers. TRIVIA: George Washington's 3rd great grandfather was an Anglican priest who was an important office holder at Oxford University. He was a royalist and supporter of King Charles I in the English Civil War. When Cromwell and the Parliament won the war and executed the King, George's ancestor was punished and reduced to poverty and died in 1654. George's great grandfather moved to Virginia in 1654 as did many Royalist supporters possibly to get out from under the Puritan regime. Their intention was to set up a new landed gentry in the colonies loyal to the King and faithful to the Anglican Church.
It was their grandchildren who would come to lead the Revolution and give us our Constitution!
On the Fourth of July I started my day reading the Declaration of Independence, then I went to the Red Cross to donate platelets. In platelet donations both arms are used and it takes two to three hours. So NO doom scrolling and NO Politics, just lots of laughter. I donate every two weeks, but this time felt special. It's essential in these most inhumane of times that we remember our own humanity.
Thank you, Jim and the entire Bulwark team. You are all national treasures, and the work you do is critical in these difficult times. I cannot thank you enough.
Jim this is unrelated to this newsletter but I wish Andrew or JVL would cover the damage Trumps’s cuts to the National Weather Service are causing. The NWS is no longer sufficiently staffed and has had fundamental resources stripped away (for example on 6/30 DOD stopped providing weather information collected by 3 weather satellites to the NWS). They can no longer provide accurate weather forecasts to communities in danger zones. The flooding tragedy unfolding in Texas right now is directly related to the inability to accurately predict the amount of rainfall communities should have expected. These communities would have had more accurate predictions and warnings prior to the Trump cuts to weather infrastructure. And these cuts are continuing and ramping up. All this is happening while hurricane season is in full swing. Please talk to experts that can discuss what is happening with weather prediction accuracy.
Predictions have not been good or accurate in the past. But it was better than decades ago. It's bound to get worse now. I think at some point in the future this satellite information will only be available with a subscription fees paid to private companies who will own the satellites. Elon Musk, maybe?
I think they are undermining the NWS to justify privatizing it and charge for it in some fashion. Trump wanted to do that his first term. Like everything else he’s learned he just has to break the current system, criticize it, then substitute what he wanted all along.
Would have perhaps been in a bit more of a positive mood about the 4th this year a' la Mona Charen's "Despite It All" had it not been for Trump getting to sign his ignominious bill yesterday right on time amid all of his and the GOP's faux patriotic hoopla, which had the following (among other less polite things) repeating itself in my head over and over again for most of the day...
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave... o're the land of the powerful and tax-free rich, and the home of the powerless and poor, who'll now need to brave life with even less...
To be sure, I'm not personally ashamed to be an American today, because although much of what my country is doing at the moment is beyond shameful, I stand foursquare against it all. But I sure don't feel much pride in being an American right now either.
And as for those in the nation's halls of power who really should be ashamed of themselves, all I can say is that a stars and stripes lapel pin does not a patriot make.
Those that loudly proclaim this country doesn't need or want "other's " need some introspection. We're all from families of immigrants and that's what makes their actions so shameful. I too don't feel much pride in their actions.
Jim, because this past week was the 162 nd anniversary of The Battle of Gettysburg( I spent four days @ GNMP the preceding week), I have been enjoying the many you tube videos and podcasts on the battle. I admit to being a "Gettysnerd". Incredible how much content is available for novice to expert.
I’m lucky enough to live in an apartment with a view of fireworks displays in four different municipalities—just barely. A new high-rise under construction has scaffolding now level with my sightline to the river. If they haven’t topped out yet, this may be the last Fourth I can stay home and still see fireworks.
My husband spent the day in an all-day board-gaming marathon over Zoom, so I rewatched the fantastic HBO miniseries “The Plot Against America,” created by David Simon and based on Philip Roth’s alternate-history novel. It’s even more prescient than the book (unsurprising, since Roth wrote it in 2004, while Simon’s version aired in 2020, with the hindsight of Trumpism already underway).
The story imagines an America slipping into authoritarianism under an aloof “America First” president: Charles Lindbergh, who defeats FDR’s bid for a third term in 1940 on an antiwar isolationist platform. While he keeps the U.S. officially neutral, Lindbergh’s administration effectively aligns the country with the Axis powers.
The cast is phenomenal. In Roth’s novel, the central family is his own; in the miniseries, Simon changes their surnames only to the Levins (saying he didn’t feel right fictionalizing someone else’s family the way Roth did his own).
Morgan Spector plays Herman Levin, father to 10-year-old Philip—an assimilated American Jew constitutionally unable to comprehend how his country could take such a turn. He clings to the belief that the “America First” bubble will burst, even as years pass and things only worsen. He listens to Walter Winchell on the radio and haunts the newsreel cinema the way liberals now tune into Rachel Maddow and MSNBC.
Zoe Kazan is outstanding as Bess Levin, Philip’s mother—a woman with the strength and clarity to see what’s happening as it really is. Anthony Boyle plays Alvin, Herman’s orphaned nephew, whose rebellious streak hardens into a furious mission to punish the Nazis. (Boyle’s acting is excellent, but his 1940s Newark accent is *astonishing*. David Simon said Boyle didn’t drop it until the wrap party, where his Irish brogue shocked crew members who hadn’t realized he wasn’t American.)
Two standout star performances round out the cast: Winona Ryder as Bess’s sister, Evelyn Finkel—a lonely social climber whose ambitions lead her into a relationship with John Turturro’s Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf, a Charleston-born assimilationist who supports Lindbergh’s Republicans against FDR. Bengelsdorf ends up collaborating with anti-Semites like Henry Ford to “Americanize” Jews in the coastal cities as cover for breaking their political power as a bloc. (Incredibly, this was Turturro’s first time playing a rabbi.)
The show is superb. So is the novel—but Simon’s adaptation makes it far more effective at exploring how prewar America First-ism foreshadowed MAGA, without ever becoming too on-the-nose.
Remember when MAGA-world lost its mind over NPR tweeting the Declaration of Independence line by line on the Fourth during Trump’s first term? They thought it was a new anti-Trump screed—because they didn’t recognize the text. The same happened with the trailer for “The Plot Against America”. The use of “America First” and period footage set them off, totally unaware it was drawn directly from real history—unedited.
If you haven’t watched it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. And if you have time between episodes, check out the official episode-by-episode podcast, with David Simon interviewed by NPR’s Peter Sagal. It’s one of the best behind-the-scenes companion podcasts I’ve heard, getting into the real nitty-gritty of show-running an HBO prestige project, and adds a great deal of political and historical context—especially around the parallels to Trumpism.¹
—
¹ Pro tip: The HBO Max app includes the podcast episodes, but they’re also on HBO’s YouTube channel—where you can speed them up and get human-transcribed captions.
Thanks Jim, great to learn about the darker side of our very own American Hand Mirror of History. Aaron Parnas just woke me up to The Old Glory Club (OGC) and I started to wonder how many of their members are direct descendants of 'Virginia's patriot assembly'.
Our neighbors gathered for a bbq. Jazz, bouncy house, 100 people who live within 4 blocks. Created community! Although my flag is still hanging upside down.
I read some of the comments here and they are lovely, they celebrate our diversity as did Nordlinger's article which I wish I had not read. Does Maggie understand that the next time she wants an avocado her Mexican grocer could very well not be there anymore. All I could think about yesterday were things like Alligator Auschwitz, the secret police formally known as ICE, marines in the streets of Los Angeles, weapons that should be in Ukraine sitting in a warehouse, Senator Murkowski selling out her country because she was scared, gleeful republicans with blood on their hands already spinning the lies about this bill. And you know what since America will see few of the effects until after the 2026 election the republicans will win simply because a lie is much easier to sell than explaining the truth. The economy is already unraveling because of trump's antics, people are losing their jobs, and kids in third world countries are losing their lives because of USAID destruction, farmers in the midwest are sitting on the edge of bankruptcy with the sunk expense of a crop in the ground with no sure place to sell it because of tariffs. I am sorry but I just can't get passed the hopelessness.
Short answer, yes.
Long answer, I lived in Central America for a while, have a very clear-eyed idea of the political/economic landscape of the region, and my family is sick of hearing me compare Trump to Daniel Ortega. After living in a small town in Appalachia for several years, I am now blessed to live 3 minutes for an Asian grocery store, 5 from a Mexican grocery store, and 10 from a Middle Eastern (I'd rather support the small businesses than the chains). ICE was here about three weeks ago. Other then detaining someone caught drunk driving, I don't think they made any headway. It seems that local law enforcement declined to enthusiastically collaborate. Also people noticed the big custom made land rovers with federal plates, especially after they went through the car wash (subtle!). People battened down the hatches pretty quick. I'll keep shopping at the llittle immigrant stores. The food is better.
I promise that everyone reading this is aware of the danger our Hispanic communities are in.
I don’t normally do much on the fourth but felt compelled to take back the flag so to speak. My friend just restored her classic caddy so when I told her about our small town car show she jumped at the chance and we even ended up in the parade. Well, the fucking parade was PACKED. My town only has 25,000 so it’s normally a fairly small event. Not this year, the city counselors were freaking out running around to make room for parade entries! So many people had ‘we’re not letting them take our country’ energy. We had a blast
I took my son to see our local minor league baseball team lose (but they put up a good fight!) There were fireworks after the game, and they let the kids run around bases and get free ice cream afterwards.
We also picked up guacamole ingredients at our local Mexican grocery store, where the avocados are always perfectly ripe. There's a sign in Spanish that says "Don't squeeze the avocados!" so buying an avocado is a leap of faith for this gringa, acustomed to at least poking the avocados at chain grocery stores. But this faith has never been misplaced. It made me happy to live in the culinary melting pot of the world.
I wasn't feeling up to the whole parade and party thing. So we took the kids to Portsmouth NH, grabbed lunch and wandered around strawbery Banke. While proudly wearing my Bulwark No Kings shirt
After the Big Ugly Bill passed, I was not feeling patriotic. Why celebrate on the day that Trump signed the Big Ugly Bill, taking away health care and food from people who so need it?
However, two things happened.
1) A local food writer published a paean to the hot dog, offering a national survey of the ways it is served all over the country. Many of those recipes reflect how international our food and our country are. My two favorites: New England's Fenway Franks served on a split top bun and Nathan's Famous, the hot dog featured every July 4th in the Coney Island eating contest. So, we decided to have hot dogs for dinner. Amazingly, we found a frozen package of Nathan's Famous in the freezer. They were delicious.
2) One of the people at risk of losing Medicaid is our 46-year-old son who loves the fireworks on July 4th. Although intellectually and developmentally disabled, he can count, and he loves to count fireworks. So we grabbed our lawn chairs and headed to a local shopping center where we knew we would have a great view. The local fireworks team did not disappoint. Our son told us there were 465! It was worth the hour it took us to get out of the parking lot.
Did it change the fact that the Big Ugly Bill will now become law? No, but it reminded me and everyone else why it was worth continuing to protest everything this administration does so that perhaps on July 4th, 2029, we will feel like celebrating.
My day started and ended with "Why celebrate on the day that Trump signed the Big Ugly Bill, taking away health care and food from people who so need it?"
So I would like to thank you for reminding me, and hopefully others, that there is more we can do make things better in the future.
Thanks for writing Mark. Yes, yesterday was July 4th, the day the big ugly bill became law. Today is July 5th when we begin yet again doing everything we can to defeat the horrible people who voted for it and the guy that signed it. I am not at all a religious person, but this situation calls forth something well known in Psalms: "Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning". It's our job to make sure that morning dawns soon.