July 4, 2026 was not our nation's 250th birthday.

Our nation's official 250th birthday isn't for another 11 years. 

July 4, 1787, is the official date. 

We were still fighting a freakin' war for another 7 years when we yelled to a bunch of guys in wigs to get off our fucking porch. 

1776 was the year we said to George, "Look, we tried to be chill about this. but you're making us pay for your dumbass wars, and hitting us with a lot of tariffs."  So go back to your fancy palace because we're tired of your tripping, tired of your disrespect. 

But we still weren't totally free. Not yet. 

See, it's like a chick who is sick and tired of the creep she married.  He beats her up, spends her money on booze and other women. She says enough, packs a few things, and leaves in the middle of the night.

All she wants is her freedom.  She files for a separation and starts a new life. 

But none of it is legal until the divorce is final.

She isn't free until the court says so.

Thirteen states signed off on the Constitution in 1787, finally making us a free nation.
Yeah, so we are technically 11 years away from celebrating that moment.

What happened to spoil the party this year?

Along comes July 4, 2026, and none of us are feeling the fireworks.

What a crazy shitshow we are living through. 

Long ago, Lincoln said that there's no nation, country, continent that can beat us. Nobody.

If we ever go down, it'll be sabotaged from inside. A straight-up suicide.

And that's what we're seeing right now. 

The pendulum has swung too far this time.  

It needs to swing back to center and kick some serious butt out the door. 

This game is too close to call. This time we could lose it all.

Nothing made this hit home harder for me than watching the World Cup visitors experiencing America for the first time this summer.  It was a master class in grass roots global diplomacy. It's what happens when regular dudes act right.

Even if we were on different teams, we all ended up singing the same anthem. Just like that old Pepsi commercial, except this time it was for real. 

Yeah, for one crazy hot summer we were all chillin' in unison. The home crowd opened their hearts to the visitors, sharing our crazy culture and our home. 

The Disney-esque landscapes of the Grand Canyon and the California coastline.

The size of the aisles and parking lots at Buc-ee's and the fat guy yelling "brisket on the board" over the loudspeaker. The mile-high stack of waffles we all inhaled at 2 am at the IHOP. 

We shook hands and helped one another out. Telling stories to total strangers and making history at the same time.

It took a bunch of crazy soccer fans to show me how much I love America. 

What we have at stake here. What we are getting dangerously close to losing forever.

And I figure, we got a few years to fix this. To stop a suicide that is being planned by the minute.

So listen up. July 4, 2026 was just a "dress rehearsal"—a warm-up 250-year celebration.

We have to make sure that when the real one rolls around, we're still standing. 
We can do this. We gotta do this.