{"id":5071,"date":"2026-06-23T13:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5071"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:36:08","slug":"editorial-dont-let-partisanship-cloud-nations-250th-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5071","title":{"rendered":"Editorial: Don\u2019t let partisanship cloud nation\u2019s 250th celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the nation\u2019s 250th celebration approaches, many Americans don\u2019t feel much like celebrating.<\/p>\n

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We empathize. Unlike at previous landmark anniversaries of the country\u2019s founding, we have a president who wants to make the day more about him and his endless grievances than the enduring principles and ideals on which most Americans still agree.<\/p>\n

The spectacle of a series of Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts a week ago on the South Lawn of the White House, replete with a military flyover, surely was a thrill to many partisans of President Donald Trump. For those of us who harbor the quaint notion of the White House grounds as a unifying place where dignity should reign, the reaction not just to the event but to the divisive and inflammatory rhetoric spoken there was, frankly, one of sorrow.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s magnified by the state of other quarter-centennial observations Wednesday, the president will conduct a rally on the mall in Washington, D.C., featuring himself (naturally) \u2014 a pivot he decided to make after a series of musical performers such as the Commodores, Young MC and Martina McBride opted not to appear once it became clear to them the celebration would be a nakedly partisan affair.<\/p>\n

Many anti-Trump partisans snickered at the news of the musical celebration falling apart. We didn\u2019t. The performers may have been acting on principle but Americans deserved to have a celebration marked with the kind of musical tribute that has accompanied every solemn and celebratory affair from this nation\u2019s start.They are the ones being deprived and we wish both sides would remember that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,\u201d Trump grumbled on Truth Social. Yes, there will be more flyovers.<\/p>\n

And, just to reinforce the theme, Trump posted last week that he will hold yet another rally on the Fourth of July itself, again on the mall. That one, he wrote on Truth Social, will be \u201cthe most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all, a \u2018Tribute to America.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Which will it mostly be? A TRUMP RALLY? Or a Tribute to America? Surely the capitalization choice is a clue.<\/p>\n

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That Trump would make this event mainly about himself should come as a surprise to no one, of course. But there is an equally important burden on his many detractors: They should not allow their desire to denigrate the president overshadow their solemn pride and joyful reverence at this landmark annivesary.<\/p>\n

For those old enough to do so, think back to the nation\u2019s bicentennial in 1976. Gerald Ford was the president, having attained the office via the dramatic resignation two years earlier of Richard M. Nixon. Ford was running for election to the office in his own right at the time, but his remarks on July 4 of that year didn\u2019t reference the coming November contest. Instead, he offered a well-told history lesson on the American Revolution and spoke to how America had evolved.<\/p>\n

Never renowned as a speech giver, Ford rose to the occasion that day in front of Philadelphia\u2019s Independence Hall<\/p>\n

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