America is a smoldering pile of rubble this July 4 — and this absurd law is to blame

Hooray, we're free! Screw you, England!

Now what?

When Benjamin Franklin emerged from the Constitutional Convention and said we'd been given "a republic, if you can keep it," is there any doubt he was talking about 2026 America?

Taking stock of where we are—on our nation's 250th birthday—we're not exactly knocking it out of the park.

The Supreme Court appears well on its way to anointing the first American king: a man who has seemingly escaped accountability for everything under the sun, including fomenting an insurrection, then pardoning many of those involved. Meanwhile, Congress appears to have thrown in the towel years ago.

Our FBI is run by a frat bro. Our Justice Department seems hell-bent on prosecuting anyone who creates an offensive array of sea shells, while overseeing what looks to be one of the most blatant cover-ups of a sexual predator in modern history.

Legions of poorly trained "Brute Squads" roam our streets, disappearing people on their way to work, asking for proof of citizenship, even killing American citizens in broad daylight, with zero consequences.

Business-wise, we've helped create the world's first trillionaire. Surprise—it happens to be the same guy who recently oversaw the dismantling of foreign aid programs that fed some of the world's poorest children.

Our tech oligarchs have gone into full capitulation mode, cozying up to power, settling frivolous lawsuits, and swallowing media companies whole, decimating decades of journalistic independence and public trust in the process.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans are on the verge of losing healthcare coverage and Social Security benefits. Thanks to our kowtowing Congress allowing a president to start a war for no discernible reason beyond placating his fragile ego, oil companies are once again enjoying record profits.

Not to mention, cage fighting on the lawn of the White House, crypto grabs, billion-dollar ballrooms, abandoning clean energy, throwing protected lands open to drilling, election tampering, gutting cancer research, and a Health Secretary calling for an end to vaccines.

Oh—and the small matter of judges handing out near-life sentences for exercising the right to protest your government.

It's as though we've opened the Ghostbusters containment tank and the demons are running wild through Times Square, while the people who should be stopping them have decided it's easier—and infinitely more profitable—to switch sides. Along with the Zuckerbergs and Bezoses of the world, they've concluded that courage is expensive. Character even more so. Both are in desperately short supply in 2026 America.

Especially in an America where our highest court can acknowledge that a president committed sexual abuse with one breath, then proceed to hand the guy even more power with the next.

The situation has become so beyond absurd, even the country we fought a revolution to escape is openly wondering why Americans suddenly seem so eager to crown a king. A king who just boasted about making more than $2 billion during his first year back in office. A king who demonstrates daily that the word "honor" may as well be a four-letter one.

Given all this, would it really have been so terrible to just pay the damn tea tax and move on?

I mean... could it honestly have turned out any worse?

We're the teenagers entrusted to watch the house while their parents are away, only for them to return home to a smoldering pile of rubble.

One of the many reasons we find ourselves in this predicament: The Electoral College.

This anti-democratic relic was created to give states with smaller populations an equal say, but instead, allows the few to govern the many.

Until this archaic, obsolete law is vanquished, digging ourselves out of this hole will remain nearly impossible. As long as we continue to give states that routinely rank near the bottom in every meaningful category, i.e., education, healthcare, economic opportunity, the ability to decide the future of our entire nation, we're going to keep reliving this Orwellian nightmare for generations to come.

Having said all that, before you climb the tallest building and start screaming, "THIS GUY HATES AMERICA!!"

Consider how tragic it is that we've reached a point where standing up for the rule of law, the Constitution, and basic accountability requires the ones doing it to have to repeatedly reassure those listening that they love their country.

For what it's worth, I do.

I loved America before the Mad King took the reins. I loved it when the Supreme Court effectively decided a presidential election over a hanging chad. I loved it when a president lied about an affair with an intern. I loved it when a president’s entire Cabinet lied about weapons of mass destruction. And I loved it when a president wore a tan suit.

Call me crazy, but I love the America that practices what it preaches. Or, at least, used to preach.

The one that welcomes people with open arms. The one that believes everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue happiness. The one that believes helping those less fortunate is more important, and much more rewarding, than adding another zero to your bank account. The one that values compassion. Ethics. Tolerance. Decency. And Character and Accountability over Hate and Lies and Bigotry and Misogyny.

However, as dim as the future looks, we’re not done yet. In a few short months, it'll once again be up to us to decide whether we want to continue living under the hand of an unhinged wannabe autocrat who can barely spell ‘c-a-t’ without assistance—or whether "We the People" still possess the courage, and the desire, to reclaim what has been taken from us.

Because the alternative isn't patriotism.

It's demanding everyone look like you, think like you, worship like you, and obey like you—or they don't belong.

And that's not America. That's a cult.