A Tale of Two Countries

So here we are: July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For the last several weeks, a crescendo of celebratory events has been building: fireworks without end, day-long flyovers of military aircraft, speeches, parties, and conferences galore. Nor have the celebrations been confined to America. All across the world, spectacular light shows, fireworks, and other red, white, and blue extravaganzas have rung out their grateful and congratulatory chorus. And quite right, too. For the Declaration marked the opening foray of what would become the greatest country the world had ever seen.

At least, that is how a large portion of the world’s population sees it.

Others were more astringent in their reaction. On Friday, July 3, Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s smiling Uganda-born mayor, sat in front of  George Washington’s desk in the mayor’s office at City Hall and delivered a dark admonition. Flanked by 10 rather grim-looking newly naturalized immigrants, each of whom clutched a tiny American flag,  he folded his hands and dispensed  a 1619 Project-style sermon to America on the occasion of its first quarter-millennium.

Centuries ago, Mamdani intoned, ships made their way into New York Harbor. And then what? “They saw land lush and teeming with life. They saw men waiting at the docks to take them into bondage. They saw tenements rife with squalor. . . .”