Semiquincentennial Blues
July 7, 2026 at 04:30PMOn the occasion of the United States’ 250th birthday, Mychal Denzel Smith looks back at the bicentennial. In 1976, the government worked overtime to sell myths of inclusivity, equality, and progress to Americans. But in 2026, the regime in power isn’t interested in myths:
Nothing about the second Trump regime feels surreal. We have passed the point at which the absurdity appears as aberration.
The Monster Energy and Crypto.com sponsorships for the evening: very real. The female quotient including no women fighters, only the “Octagon girls” in sequined hotpants and velvet bodices: also real. The United States Marine Band playing a rendition of “The Boys Are Back in Town”: too real. A fighter operating under the moniker Black Beast: painfully real. The Black Beast losing to someone who took his victory speech as an occasion to announce, “Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right, America?”: still real.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2026/07/07/semiquincentennial-blues/
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