The summer of 1976, the bicentennial offered a sense of hope. July 4th.

It's America's 250th anniversary today. This weekend too, marks a significant birthday for me, I was born July 2nd 1966,. three years after The Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. I grew up in the shadow of the bomb, the Iron curtain, the Berlin wall, The Cold War.

I can remember 50 years ago, the summer of 1976. We watched on our TVs, listened to the radio stations across the Atlantic, the 4th of July celebrations. How the whole world that glorious endless summer felt a sense of hope and a turning point. A distant relative in Washington posted out the commemorative dollar coins to us. (in the days when you could safely send money through the snail mail.)

You felt anything was possible - Nixon and Kissinger were gone, disgraced. President's Ford & then Carter steering the way (like the tall ships with fluttering pennants that became the nation's symbols). Tipp O'Neill was Leader of the House and you felt the steady authority they held. You felt even as a 10 year old that somehow the world was still safe and balanced.

Now in less than a lifetime, the polar opposite sits in The White House, an idiot, a rich idiot lacking a shred of common decency or geopolitical nous leads the nation into this anniversary with the world laughing up its sleeve.

Driven solely by hatred and greed and Donal J Trump's mental instability nudges the nuclear clock forwards to midnight. A fool, a clown a grasping vainglorious toddler, a misogynist and felon, unchallenged and surrounded by the chum bucket Z- list of The Apprentice wannabies.

I came across a wonderful quote about the American Revolution in 1776

“I lament the want of a liberal education. I feel the mist of ignorance to surround me." - Nathanael Greene

America today this 4th of July 2026 is heading unchecked towards the very thing the rebels rose against: entitlement, wealth, authoritarianism and the ramblings of a distant mad king.

The summer of 1976, the bicentennial, like the hopeful stamps on postcards and letters, is a faded reminder of how fragile democracy is.

And whether it survies....