Oh Garrison, I’m sitting here crying for the country I didn’t know I loved so much. True, I, now 79, will not be around in 2050 to see what this country has become, but my dear daughter and beloved grandchildren will. I weep for them. I used to say how glad I was to be born when I was, in 1946, to see such changes, such progress. But now I think I have lived too long; I had no idea that all that hard won progress could be crumpled, thrown away, dismissed as if it had never happened. At least there is you. Thank you for being. My husband and I look forward to seeing you in Tarrytown.
I am an American too, Like a number of people who have been snatched from the streets that ARE legal citizens of our belove country. I also will not see the cooing of the new Jerusalem in 2050. Nor (I hope) will I meet the orange buffoon in the under world, where I am sure they have a special room waiting for him. It took me awhile to compose this re-ly because my eyes kept clouding from the moisture that kept occuring. Bless you Garrison and have a Happy Fourth, everyone!
And now I am crying too. I stopped reading and checked the current status of a couple of high schoolers from the 60s. Thought about the 58,000 lost in Vietnam. Thought about once returning to the USA to find the culture shock of DISCO. But still believing that we were ok and finally breaking through. Remembered a middle eastern friend in the 2000s telling me all the things different countries gave the world. And when I asked about America he said without flinching"F-16s." And I realize now that we are not OK. I hope, however, that there is a younger generation coming that will fix it. It wasn't in my generation's capabilities.
All of which is why we cannot be the indifferent masses of which you write. We must stand up. We must shout from the rooftops. Remember Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who? Only the elephant Horton with his huge ears can hear the village of Whos that live on the dust speck Horton is protecting. They are about to be boiled alive if they can't prove their existence. All the Whos are shouting at the top of their lungs but still can't be heard. The Mayor speeds through the village to see if everyone is shouting. He finds one small boy silently playing with his yo-yo. The Mayor scoops him up, carries him to the top of a tower and tells him to shout. "Yop!" says the boy. And that one added sound makes the difference. They are heard. They are saved. Every voice counts.
As a young radical-wannabe, I loved Horton and story with all my heard. Yes, more "yops" are our best hopes. The mid terms may not get us our third and finally effective impeachment. Millions in the streets may not be heard, but we have no other alternatives. Violence will not work. Boycotts are too damn hard to organize. Persistent yopping and electoral politics are our best hopes now. Wake up, neighbors! The British are coming!
Impeachment attempts will only give him the attention he needs to survive, and thrive. Please consider looking past that and focusing instead on the new platform that will win elections.
Oh my. You think elections are won by platforms? Dream on, dear friend. Elections are won by the guy who looks most like the president on TV. It's a popularity contest. Our current dunderhead just convinced enough voters that he hates the same people they hate.
It is the hardest 4th I’ve ever experienced - and I’m always torn with nagging angst on this ‘holiday’. Even though *I* did not vote for this President or this Congress; the country elected them to be our voices. The voters re- elected a twice impeached, adjudicated rapist and convicted felon. AFTER he staged a coup of domestic terrorism against his own government including his own Vice President (whom he dumped for his re-election efforts). What he and his Fox reality TV cos-play Cabinet have done to this country - and done to the world is unconscionable and every American flag tank top and ‘USA’ baseball cap I see breaks me up a little bit further. So I agree, I am not spending this holiday looking ahead. And looking back right now makes me shudder. So I will do my best to stay planted in the now and focused on keeping my side of the street clean, honest and compassionate. ☮️
The beginning of the end of “the experiment” was the inflection point where Americans started getting their information from algorithms rather than honest news sources. 🫡🫣
I remember seeing a cartoon of God taking the earth out of the oven, and it sinking like a souffle. The caption says, "I think this thing is half-baked." Doesn't that just say it all?
The "under God" part wasn't added to the Pledge until 1954. What we need is to follow the Constitution, which calls for the separation of church and state.
Thanks. I guess we have Sen. Joe McCarthy and his enablers to thank (?) for that addition. I think its purpose might have been to distinguish us from the "godless communists"? And, of course, to pander to the Big Guy.
This is a great 4th of July almost as great as 1776 or 1863 when the forefathers of MAGA declared their independence from the Tyrannical Government of elite liberals in London or the men of the 20th Maine who out of Ammo fixed bayonets and followed their leader down the rocky slope of little round top breaking the confederate attack or the midwesterners of Grants army that finally freed old man river forever saving the Union. These brave men have way more in common with the Men and Women of MAGA then the folks who believed that kings should be able to rule over you or that you can kill the unborn up until they are born without any consequences or the belief that men can be a women just because he wears a dress and acts like a fool. America is the greatest country on the earth because of the people who think America is great and there is nothing wrong with it being the greatest country. TAW.
Sure, there is "nothing wrong" with America being the greatest IF ONLY it were. America IS indeed the greatest country on the earth -> for gun sales, gun deaths, clinical depression, the cost of healthcare, # of billionaires, obesity, self-righteousness, and the willingness to elect a tax cheating, wife-cheating, bank-cheating, constitution-shredding, con-man, trust-fund-baby ignoramus, who is also a draft-dodging, financial-felon and rapist. USA Number 1!
A reminder to the Friends of Garrison Keillor: "reality speaks" is the conspiracy theorist who in these pages has told us that (1) he's seen video evidence of Haitians eating our cats and dogs, (2) he knows that the Chinese also eat cats because he used to have a "side gig" selling cats to them and (3) RFK Jr. is the only politician willing to tell us the truth. Also, his comments often center on his apparent belief that he should have the final say on everyone's gender identity. Nevertheless, he's quick to label you "unkind" should you call attention to his frequent grammatical and spelling errors and lapses in logic.
Amidst the turmoil, I take solace in the little things that punctuate the day. Had a lawn guy come over to give us an estimate and discovered we had mutual friendships in our respective families dating back 40+ years ago. I don’t know if we accomplished our mission but we sure enjoyed the conversation. Talked to a UPS delivery guy who was clearly struggling in the Virginia summer heat but, somehow, within 30 seconds, we were both laughing and said goodbye as if we were long lost friends. Took an older cousin, newly moved into an assisted living apartment, out to a Chinese dinner, enjoying a delicious dinner and hopefully reminding her there is plenty of family around to help whenever, wherever, it’s needed. Got some new pics of our two grandsons who are, undoubtedly, the most adorable little ones in the entire world. Marveled at how my wife, after 34 years, is more beautiful than ever. Revisited speeches from JFK, reminding me of what could have been. “For in the final analysis, our most common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breath the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
Molly Jong-Fast in a recent Here and Now interview talked about engaged humanity and doing all we can for those around us. She had me whooping and hollering with joy. Yes, Trump and his maga drones have put the country in the toilet, but ordinary people doing all we can for those around us will make this country its best again. Thank you for this reminder.
Personally, I had no idea that our democracy was so fragile, and Americans would sell it out to a two-bit con artist. Truly shocking to me. I never thought that I would live to see this. Breaks my heart.
Keep your heart open. There are tens of millions who share the best within you. Remember that Trump's "landslide" was made up of more people voting against him than for him. The votes for Greens, other independents and Kamala Harris were greater than those for Trump. Just as in 2016, he only "won" through our strange electoral system.
Trump, an insurrectionist and a traitor, should not even have been allowed to be on the ballot. The country is in trouble when the majorities in Congress and on the Supreme Court are determined to enable a criminal president and undo our democratic traditions. Hence our ongoing Constitutional crisis, or rather our Constitutional failure.
A refresh of our history is a look at what might have been if certain people had not had to courage to change. Thank goodness for them. Now our 4th of July looks like a dictatorship type of country. Threats being made to anyone who tries to uphold the constitution. I feel like some are going along with the pres. bc of fear that they will lose thier livelihood if they disagree. Isn't that how Putin runs Russia? Power and money corrupts. Will this madness ever turn around? Will our alies ever fogive the US for all the greedy tariffs imposed? Wages haven't gone up but the price of food and everything else keeps going up. Who voted for this?
I can’t see the humorist in you behind the pessimism, Garrison. I do understand the point of this piece, but it just doesn’t work for me.
I woke up this morning oddly disjointed mentally, thinking that T💩p will think all the celebrating will be for him, personally, and not for this benighted country we are in peril of losing to fascism.
“The 58,000 Nathan Hales who died in Vietnam are invisible and forgotten” is a heartbreaking thought. Abraham Lincoln had this to say about those who gave all (from Dr. Heather Cox Richardson’s substack today):
Lincoln reminded Civil War Americans of those sacrifices when he urged the people of his era to “take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Oh Garrison, I’m sitting here crying for the country I didn’t know I loved so much. True, I, now 79, will not be around in 2050 to see what this country has become, but my dear daughter and beloved grandchildren will. I weep for them. I used to say how glad I was to be born when I was, in 1946, to see such changes, such progress. But now I think I have lived too long; I had no idea that all that hard won progress could be crumpled, thrown away, dismissed as if it had never happened. At least there is you. Thank you for being. My husband and I look forward to seeing you in Tarrytown.
I'm crying too, and I'm not even American!
We can all cry, that's for sure. You don't have to be an American to do that.
We need voices like yours from overseas. Please, criticize us and boycott us for as long as we deserve it.
I am an American too, Like a number of people who have been snatched from the streets that ARE legal citizens of our belove country. I also will not see the cooing of the new Jerusalem in 2050. Nor (I hope) will I meet the orange buffoon in the under world, where I am sure they have a special room waiting for him. It took me awhile to compose this re-ly because my eyes kept clouding from the moisture that kept occuring. Bless you Garrison and have a Happy Fourth, everyone!
Thank you for expressing so well the turbulent emotions I’m feeling at this point in my life!
And now I am crying too. I stopped reading and checked the current status of a couple of high schoolers from the 60s. Thought about the 58,000 lost in Vietnam. Thought about once returning to the USA to find the culture shock of DISCO. But still believing that we were ok and finally breaking through. Remembered a middle eastern friend in the 2000s telling me all the things different countries gave the world. And when I asked about America he said without flinching"F-16s." And I realize now that we are not OK. I hope, however, that there is a younger generation coming that will fix it. It wasn't in my generation's capabilities.
All of which is why we cannot be the indifferent masses of which you write. We must stand up. We must shout from the rooftops. Remember Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who? Only the elephant Horton with his huge ears can hear the village of Whos that live on the dust speck Horton is protecting. They are about to be boiled alive if they can't prove their existence. All the Whos are shouting at the top of their lungs but still can't be heard. The Mayor speeds through the village to see if everyone is shouting. He finds one small boy silently playing with his yo-yo. The Mayor scoops him up, carries him to the top of a tower and tells him to shout. "Yop!" says the boy. And that one added sound makes the difference. They are heard. They are saved. Every voice counts.
As a young radical-wannabe, I loved Horton and story with all my heard. Yes, more "yops" are our best hopes. The mid terms may not get us our third and finally effective impeachment. Millions in the streets may not be heard, but we have no other alternatives. Violence will not work. Boycotts are too damn hard to organize. Persistent yopping and electoral politics are our best hopes now. Wake up, neighbors! The British are coming!
Impeachment attempts will only give him the attention he needs to survive, and thrive. Please consider looking past that and focusing instead on the new platform that will win elections.
Oh my. You think elections are won by platforms? Dream on, dear friend. Elections are won by the guy who looks most like the president on TV. It's a popularity contest. Our current dunderhead just convinced enough voters that he hates the same people they hate.
You also helped him survive and thrive, Lawrence, with the things you were writing ahead of the election. You were promoting him, in effect.
My thoughts exactly. I wish we could find that one small boy.
YOP!
Yop! Yop! Yop! Yop! Yop! Yop! Yop!
It is the hardest 4th I’ve ever experienced - and I’m always torn with nagging angst on this ‘holiday’. Even though *I* did not vote for this President or this Congress; the country elected them to be our voices. The voters re- elected a twice impeached, adjudicated rapist and convicted felon. AFTER he staged a coup of domestic terrorism against his own government including his own Vice President (whom he dumped for his re-election efforts). What he and his Fox reality TV cos-play Cabinet have done to this country - and done to the world is unconscionable and every American flag tank top and ‘USA’ baseball cap I see breaks me up a little bit further. So I agree, I am not spending this holiday looking ahead. And looking back right now makes me shudder. So I will do my best to stay planted in the now and focused on keeping my side of the street clean, honest and compassionate. ☮️
This ☝️
The beginning of the end of “the experiment” was the inflection point where Americans started getting their information from algorithms rather than honest news sources. 🫡🫣
who knows what the future might bring?but you present a plausible,frightening possibility
What a sad, sad Fourth.
"We’ll still be loyal to the old indivisible nation with justice for all."
You forgot the "under God" part. I'm beginning to worry that God might have forgotten that part, too!
I remember seeing a cartoon of God taking the earth out of the oven, and it sinking like a souffle. The caption says, "I think this thing is half-baked." Doesn't that just say it all?
The "under God" part wasn't added to the Pledge until 1954. What we need is to follow the Constitution, which calls for the separation of church and state.
Thanks. I guess we have Sen. Joe McCarthy and his enablers to thank (?) for that addition. I think its purpose might have been to distinguish us from the "godless communists"? And, of course, to pander to the Big Guy.
That's very much along the lines of what I was thinking. And your observation that "God might have forgotten that part, too" is so apt right now!
This is a great 4th of July almost as great as 1776 or 1863 when the forefathers of MAGA declared their independence from the Tyrannical Government of elite liberals in London or the men of the 20th Maine who out of Ammo fixed bayonets and followed their leader down the rocky slope of little round top breaking the confederate attack or the midwesterners of Grants army that finally freed old man river forever saving the Union. These brave men have way more in common with the Men and Women of MAGA then the folks who believed that kings should be able to rule over you or that you can kill the unborn up until they are born without any consequences or the belief that men can be a women just because he wears a dress and acts like a fool. America is the greatest country on the earth because of the people who think America is great and there is nothing wrong with it being the greatest country. TAW.
This is quality satire!
Jesus would have thrown trump out of the temple.
Along with most democrats and all of the liberal leftists
explain yourself
Sure, there is "nothing wrong" with America being the greatest IF ONLY it were. America IS indeed the greatest country on the earth -> for gun sales, gun deaths, clinical depression, the cost of healthcare, # of billionaires, obesity, self-righteousness, and the willingness to elect a tax cheating, wife-cheating, bank-cheating, constitution-shredding, con-man, trust-fund-baby ignoramus, who is also a draft-dodging, financial-felon and rapist. USA Number 1!
A reminder to the Friends of Garrison Keillor: "reality speaks" is the conspiracy theorist who in these pages has told us that (1) he's seen video evidence of Haitians eating our cats and dogs, (2) he knows that the Chinese also eat cats because he used to have a "side gig" selling cats to them and (3) RFK Jr. is the only politician willing to tell us the truth. Also, his comments often center on his apparent belief that he should have the final say on everyone's gender identity. Nevertheless, he's quick to label you "unkind" should you call attention to his frequent grammatical and spelling errors and lapses in logic.
You know facts are not conspiracies. Hope your day is going well. So nice being a full time resident in your mind.
You flatter yourself. I only remember what you've said before when your silly comments pop up here.
Amidst the turmoil, I take solace in the little things that punctuate the day. Had a lawn guy come over to give us an estimate and discovered we had mutual friendships in our respective families dating back 40+ years ago. I don’t know if we accomplished our mission but we sure enjoyed the conversation. Talked to a UPS delivery guy who was clearly struggling in the Virginia summer heat but, somehow, within 30 seconds, we were both laughing and said goodbye as if we were long lost friends. Took an older cousin, newly moved into an assisted living apartment, out to a Chinese dinner, enjoying a delicious dinner and hopefully reminding her there is plenty of family around to help whenever, wherever, it’s needed. Got some new pics of our two grandsons who are, undoubtedly, the most adorable little ones in the entire world. Marveled at how my wife, after 34 years, is more beautiful than ever. Revisited speeches from JFK, reminding me of what could have been. “For in the final analysis, our most common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breath the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
Molly Jong-Fast in a recent Here and Now interview talked about engaged humanity and doing all we can for those around us. She had me whooping and hollering with joy. Yes, Trump and his maga drones have put the country in the toilet, but ordinary people doing all we can for those around us will make this country its best again. Thank you for this reminder.
Personally, I had no idea that our democracy was so fragile, and Americans would sell it out to a two-bit con artist. Truly shocking to me. I never thought that I would live to see this. Breaks my heart.
Keep your heart open. There are tens of millions who share the best within you. Remember that Trump's "landslide" was made up of more people voting against him than for him. The votes for Greens, other independents and Kamala Harris were greater than those for Trump. Just as in 2016, he only "won" through our strange electoral system.
Then who should have won the election? Did anyone get more votes?
Trump, an insurrectionist and a traitor, should not even have been allowed to be on the ballot. The country is in trouble when the majorities in Congress and on the Supreme Court are determined to enable a criminal president and undo our democratic traditions. Hence our ongoing Constitutional crisis, or rather our Constitutional failure.
That's the flaw of democracy. A whole lot of fools can overcome a small group of intelligent people.
A refresh of our history is a look at what might have been if certain people had not had to courage to change. Thank goodness for them. Now our 4th of July looks like a dictatorship type of country. Threats being made to anyone who tries to uphold the constitution. I feel like some are going along with the pres. bc of fear that they will lose thier livelihood if they disagree. Isn't that how Putin runs Russia? Power and money corrupts. Will this madness ever turn around? Will our alies ever fogive the US for all the greedy tariffs imposed? Wages haven't gone up but the price of food and everything else keeps going up. Who voted for this?
Unalienable?
That's how Jefferson wrote it.
This was intended as a terse indictment of the effort to deny birthright citizenship. Obviously a few words short. Mea culpa.
As I recall, "Inalienable"! Slightly different meaning.
Not different at all, but the original document did say "unalienable."
This country has ALWAYS been great! Garrison just told us WHY. Some people can’t handle the truth.
It is on the slippery slope downward since the orange wanna be king came to town, again!
He’s trying to be King of the World & destroy our great country in the process.
I can’t see the humorist in you behind the pessimism, Garrison. I do understand the point of this piece, but it just doesn’t work for me.
I woke up this morning oddly disjointed mentally, thinking that T💩p will think all the celebrating will be for him, personally, and not for this benighted country we are in peril of losing to fascism.
Resist. Regroup. Repair.
Not feeling joyous or celebratory right now. Just sad, but ready to fight in any way I can.
“The 58,000 Nathan Hales who died in Vietnam are invisible and forgotten” is a heartbreaking thought. Abraham Lincoln had this to say about those who gave all (from Dr. Heather Cox Richardson’s substack today):
Lincoln reminded Civil War Americans of those sacrifices when he urged the people of his era to “take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Words to live by in 2025.