“Good Night, and Good Luck.”—the classic sign-off of renowned broadcast journalist Edgar R. Murrow as he addressed an anxious world.

Happy belated Birthday, America.  I was travelling back from your western states the other day and didn’t have time to send my wishes. 

By the way, your West is on fire.

Smoke is everywhere.  People are being evacuated.  Homes are being destroyed.  Firefighters are dying. 

And it sounds like most everyone else is struggling, too.  They’re either sweltering, burning, or hunkered down riding out storms.

But nope, they say.  It can’t be climate change.

You and I both know how ridiculous that sounds.  Why so many of your people actually believe it is a question neither of us can answer.

And in the midst of the smoke and fire, trash is piling up in your national parks, national forest sites have shut down their water supplies, and infrastructure is crumbling.  But hey, any park displays that might be considered “woke” are being torn down.  Plenty of money for that.

I’ve spent 74 years as your loyal supporter.  Recited the Pledge to the Flag at the start of every school day.  Sang the words to America—“My country tis of thee” more times than I can remember.  Memorized the names of your Presidents and Vice Presidents.  Even memorized and learned to correctly spell each state and its capital (“Montpelier,” now that was a good one.  I was just glad New Mexico chose Santa Fe, and not Albuquerque).  

And I’ve voted in every election since I turned 21.  Always paid my taxes on time, and never once cheated.

But I haven’t transferred my loyalty to you over to a lying grifter who seeks to destroy your principles.  That’s something that gives a lot of my fellow citizens heartburn.  Unfortunately, they don’t seem to understand the difference between proud patriotism and narcissistic nationalism.

It worries me that you keep spending yourself into oblivion.  You’ve been running up debt for decades, but now it’s gone off the rails.

Instead of spending to feed hungry children, provide health care, fight disease, and create opportunities for growth, it’s now slashing tax revenue from the rich, spending billions on an agency that puts children in prisons, paying off polluters, blowing billions on missiles to throw at countries half a world away (then walking off as if you’ve actually accomplished something), along with blowing up fishing boats in the Caribbean.

Oh, and then there’s those tariffs.  Forget free trade.  Ignore failing farmers.  Just keep passing the costs off to consumers—and taxpayers.

But you sure know how to celebrate.  New ballrooms that try to replicate Florida resorts, arches, statues, turning perfectly good reflecting pools into scum petrie dishes—the money seems to be there for all of those.

You do have free speech, though.  At least when it suits you.  Neonazis can freely march through the streets of Washington.  Political leaders are free to lie without remorse.

But say anything critical of Israel, or express any sympathy for the children in Palestine?  You risk getting kicked out of school.  Or at least your school losing its scientific funding.

Speaking of science, that’s one area where you’ve saved a bundle (at least short term) by defunding important work.  You’ve slashed money for research and pretty much ceded the future of science to the Chinese.  In the meantime, they’re pulling even with us on Artificial Intelligence, and producing cars that make the ones your little buddy Elon makes look like tricycles.

Like I said, I’ve voted in every election since 1973.  But how much longer?  You’re busy implementing voting restrictions unlike anything seen in decades (sure, some states had poll taxes and literacy tests, but those were statewide).  But national voter ID?  Restrictions?  We haven’t needed those in 250 years.  Why now?

What happens when there’s suddenly some sort of “problem” with my ID?

I say these things sincerely, America.  I say these things as someone who loves you, as one of your children, as someone who wants you to survive, and thrive into the future.

I say this as a pragmatic patriot.  As a student of history.  As someone who’s seen nations who thought they were at the top of their game fail.

I say this as someone who understands that simply reciting the mantra “we have the greatest nation that’s ever existed, we’ve been chosen by God, and since we’ve made it 250 years, we’re destined to go on forever” guarantees us nothing more that self-aggrandizement and delusion.  Democracy isn’t indestructible.  It could very easily blow up in our faces.

America, you were built, defended, and nurtured, not by narcissistic nationalists, but by true patriots willing to confront reality and ask hard questions.  The ranks of the former are growing.  And the ranks of the latter?  How many of those remain?  I guess time will tell.

But one thing is certain.  Your future will likely be determined by how that question is answered.

So 250^th Happy Birthday, America.  And good luck.

Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind by Carl Sandburg – Poems | Academy of American Poets