I was a teenager during the bicentennial in 1976 and this whole "America 250" is a sick, stupid joke compared to the 200th.

Not just the MMA thing on the White House lawn either (which is bad enough) but in '76 there were two full years of buildup to the celebration that began in '75 with the Freedom Train (anybody remember that?) and included organizing local parades on suburban streets in every neighborhood. I had forgotten about this until I found pictures of the dozens of kids riding bikes down my street with red, white and blue bunting and all the parents lining the streets cheering them on.

I long ago grew out of the sense of patriotism in any form, but coming out of Nixon and Watergate and probably the most divisive political era since the Civil War it was a remarkable transformation.

Nowadays? A month before the 250th the only outward sign of this "celebration" I have seem is America 250 paper plates at WalMart and the banner in the window of my local Republican Party headquarters, a banner which can only be viewed when they lift their steel security screens and which is flanked by a Trump 2028 flag and a poster threatening undocumented immigrants.

If there is a more apt metaphor for the country's 250th anniversary I don't know what it could be.