As millions of Americans celebrated the country’s 246th anniversary on Monday, major media outlets and prominent liberals used the holiday to denigrate the US.
While contrarian humiliations of the land of the free are second nature to the disaffected on social media, even NPR and ESPN sprang into action this year — with the country’s government-funded broadcaster scrapping a reading of the Declaration of Independence and the self-proclaimed “global leader in sports” who devotes prominent space on his website to a column lamenting how America is “tearing itself apart”.
For 33 consecutive years, longtime NPR “Morning Edition” host Steve Inskeep celebrated July 4 by reading America’s founding document. That ritual came to an unceremonious end this year.
“This July 4th, we’re breaking with tradition,” Co-host of “Morning Edition” announced Leila Fadel on Twitter Monday. “Instead of reading the Declaration of Independence, @NPRinskeep explores in this document what equality means and has meant. Important segment about our past and our future.”
“A lot of our debates on July 4 are about what equality means. Which voting rules really give equal access to the ballot box? Do abortion laws give a woman equal control over her body? At what point is a fetus entitled to equal rights?” asked Inskeep during the 11-minute segment.
The June 24 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that guaranteed women the right to abortion across the country, sparked many anti-America statements and gestures — such as the double-birds carried by the Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain were flipped.
“Happy ‘Independence Day’ from me and my reproductive rights,” Chastain wrote on Twitter, adding a photo of her with both middle fingers to the camera.
Other A-listers expressed similar sentiments about honoring the holiday in the wake of Roe v. Wade. Both Kim Kardashian and mom Kris Jenner shared a post on their Instagram stories that read, “July 4th has been canceled due to a lack of independence. Best regards, Women.”
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) claimed on Twitter that this July Fourth is “overshadowed by the dark reality of the Supreme Court decision making half of America less equal.”
“Instead of parties and barbecues, many are choosing to do the most American thing they can do today: protest peacefully,” she added.
in that spirit,Claudia Conway, the daughter of former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway and political pundit George Conway, marched in a protest against abortion rights in New Jersey, questioning why Americans should buy into “July 4th propaganda.”
”We are not free. Why should we celebrate independence if we don’t all have independence? And that’s why we’re here fighting for our reproductive rights and challenging the Supreme Court’s overthrow of Roe v. Wade,” she said.
ESPN Writer Howard Bryant wrote his thoughts on the holiday in a column headlined “Baseball, BBQ, and Losing Freedom on the 4th of July.”
“It’s Independence Day in America with independence under the current and relentless onslaught,” Bryant wrote. “From Miranda rights to the environment, to the separation of church and state, to guns – so many guns – people falter. The U.S. Supreme Court is chaining through what two generations of Americans had known as the legal basis of their lives.”
Tens of millions of women today do not feel freedom and certainly do not celebrate independence. The people of childbearing potential who feel celebratory to the Court may do so from the victory of their position, but it nevertheless remains true that the power of choice – and the right to privacy – has been stripped from all of them,” he said. . .
The city of Orlando spent the holiday weekend cleaning up its own mess after it released a newsletter Friday about its planned July 4th celebrations setting off a different kind of fireworks.
“A lot of people probably don’t want to celebrate our nation right now, and we can’t blame them. When there’s so much division, hatred and unrest, why on earth would you want to throw a party?
The city continued: “But in all seriousness, you know in your heart, fireworks on the 4th of July are amazing, especially when you’re standing in a 90° heat, 100% humidity, next to 100,000 of your closest friends. At that point, something takes over and we all become united in an inexplicable bond. Yes, America is at war right now, but you know what… we’ve already bought the fireworks.
Orlando Officials returned Sunday after a deluge of criticism, including from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“We understand that these words offended some of our residents, which was not our intention,” the city said.
“We value the freedoms we have in this country and are grateful to the men and women who have fought and continue to fight for them,” the statement said. “We are proud to celebrate the 4th of July to express our gratitude to those men and women and to honor the country in which we live.”