Historic celebrations are taking place across the United States this Fourth of July as Americans mark 250 years of independence.
Washington, D.C‘s Independence Day parade was canceled due to the extreme heat, but the capital will still host military flyovers, remarks by President Trump and a fireworks show billed as the largest in history.
Presidents use state visits as an occasion to showcase the best of American culture â and, in this case, perhaps, subtly highlight the resilience of a people who, 250 years ago, rose up and wrested themselves from a kingâs control.
The shooting over the weekend at the White House correspondentsâ dinner has featured the darker side of the United States at a time when Mr. Trump is supposed to be showcasing Americaâs 250th birthday for the British royalty. For a moment over the weekend, it was unclear if King Charles would travel to Washington at all, before he reassessed and ultimately committed to his plans for a four-day visit to Washington, New York and Virginia.
(July 4, 1776)
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
Mr. Haass recently published a book called âThe Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens,â outlining ways Americans can help heal their own society, like âBe Informed,â âRemain Civil,â âPut Country Firstâ â all admittedly bromides and yet somehow often elusive these days. (…)
Putting his foreign policy hat aside for now, he said he wants to expand the message from his book and help refocus the country on the core values embodied in the Declaration of Independence as the 250th anniversary of the document approaches three years from now.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu feted the United States as Israelâs âirreplaceable and indispensable allyâ at an event ahead of Americaâs Independence Day, even as his administration plans a trip to US rival China, amid frustration over the White Houseâs stance toward Jerusalem.
Batch Geo map of all Parades in America that the Kennedy Team has indexed.
âActually right in the middle of that sentence, it went out,â Trump said when asked about the comment. âAnd thatâs not a good feeling, when youâre standing in front of millions and millions of people on television.â
Trumpâs speech was part of his July 4th âSalute to America,â which critics blasted as an attempt to politicize a nonpartisan holiday.
Other observant listeners picked up on a second historical error in the speech. Trumpâs reference to Fort McHenry and ârocketsâ red glareâââthe Battle of Baltimore at which the words to the âStar-Spangled Bannerâ were writtenââtook place during the War of 1812, not the Revolutionary War.
From marching bands and parade floats to military tanks and flyovers, Washington D.C. is host to Independence Day events, including a military-style display hosted by President Trump at 6:30pmET.