As a 12-year-old in 1976 on the Fourth of July, I stood along the curb watching our local parade roll by. I remember collecting everything I could to mark the nation’s bicentennial. I hoarded ’76 bumper stickers and decals, and proudly stacked a stash of special bicentennial quarters.
I vividly recall watching President Gerald Ford’s bicentennial address from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. There was so much joy in the air. It felt like the whole country shared a sense of hope and unity.
But as I reflect nearly 50 years later, I feel deep unease about the next July 4, 2026, America’s 250th birthday. The national mood feels fractured beyond recognition. Over the past six months, we’ve been put through a chain saw of destruction, our Constitution included.
Instead of fireworks celebrating democracy, I fear we’ll be standing under the explosive impulses of a demonic authoritarian. So much has already been destroyed that I shudder to imagine what things will look like a year from now.
Where to even begin? The list of what Donald Trump has wrought is long and growing. Every day brings new damage. Every week drags us closer to the point of no return.
Some thought it would be harder to flip a nation upside down. But that was naïve. On January 20, 2025, a playbook, Project 2025, was waiting, ready to be unleashed with the help of a compliant Congress, a crooked Supreme Court, and something even more sinister: DOGE. With those pieces in place, the plan clicked into motion.
This slow-moving demolition of American freedom stars a who’s who of D-list destroyers: Elon Musk, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, RFK Jr., Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (what a bust he turned out to be), the god-awful Lindsey Graham, and on and on.
And don’t forget the Supremes: Clarence, Samuel, Neil, Brett, Amy, and John. They don’t seem like they’re from another era. They’re from another planet. A gruesome one.
Add Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski to the list. She secured pork for her state to become the swing vote Republicans needed to pass Trump’s horrific “big beautiful bill.” When questioned about supporting a deeply unpopular measure, she looked like she’d stuck her finger in an electrical socket. Then claimed the bill would hurt people. If she truly cared about the greater good, she would have voted no.
But Trump steamrolls people with fear. Even Murkowski admitted that earlier this year.
Trump has even called his 2020 loss “providential.” “God did that,” he said, implying that divine intervention cleared the way for him to reign over America’s 250th birthday. According to Trump, God wants him to emcee the semiquincentennial.
But everything Trump touches turns to smoke. If he’s planning next year’s Foutth, then we’re doomed. He’s the errant child who won’t listen when his mom says, “Don’t play with fireworks.” He lights them anyway, and everything blows up in his hands.
So what will the Fourth look like in 2026? Expect a supercharged spectacle from a runaway dictator. A militarized D.C. is all but guaranteed. Remember the ridiculous birthday parade he held last month that even Fox panned? Next year will be worse, including an over-the-top military show of force on the National Mall.
And just wait for the merch. If you thought the cologne and crypto schemes were shameless, you haven’t seen how he’ll commercialize the presidency around July 4, 2026.
That day, we may find ourselves looking north to the Mall, where military bands play and combat boots march past tourists. Fireworks may still explode overhead, but what if the freedoms they once symbolized are extinguished? The richest among us will cheer. The rest will be left to suffer under authoritarian rule, crushed by medical bills, silenced in classrooms, and stripped of rights.
I remember the bicentennial as a moment of innocent belief. It was a time when democracy still felt like something we could renew, something still worth believing in. In 1976, fireworks meant possibility. But in 2026, the sky might not light up with promise. It may instead be thick with smoke, and that smoke will be smoldering from a nation under siege.
This isn’t just a reflection. It’s a warning.
There’s still time. July 4, 2026, could offer celebration, because America’s spirit isn’t entirely extinguished. But if we fail to push back. If journalists are silenced, protesters jailed, Pride parades canceled, classrooms scrubbed of truth, and tanks patrolling our streets, then what future is left?
If July 4, 2026 is to be a true celebration, we must become more vigilant than ever. Because if we don’t challenge a dictator’s metaphorical fire,works now, this Fourth of July could very well be our last under a functioning democracy.
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This article originally appeared on Advocate: How dark will our skies be on July 4, 2026?