Donald Trump's Fourth of July Plans :)
- fionacsweet
- Jul 3, 2020
- 3 min read
The President unfortunately does not read my blog posts, otherwise he would know that I would caution him to stay home for the Fourth of July. :( Instead, he has decided to take the actual opposite approach. (Yes, I wish I was making this up.)
So here is some background on how the virus is progressing in the United States. According the New York Times, "new cases reported have increased 90% in the United States in the last two weeks." In addition to this, three states reported their highest amount of single-day cases today: Alabama, North Carolina, and Kansas. The vast majority of July 4th firework displays in big and small cities have been canceled, and many politicians (including Joe Biden) are choosing to stay at home instead of taking part in the festivities.
President Trump obviously did not get the memo, just like he didn't apparently get the memo about how Russians were placing a bounty on American soldiers' heads :). He believes that this bombastic, glittery firework show must go on by any means necessary. He has decided to travel to South Dakota tonight for a massive fireworks display at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. He has been trying to revive this display for years. There have been no fireworks at Mount Rushmore since 2009 because people were worried they would set off forest fires and contaminate groundwater. Like seriously??
In addition to this, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota said that there are no plans to enforce social distancing during Mr. Trump's open-air address before a live audience of about 7500 people.
If this was not bad enough, Native American leaders have spoken out in opposition to Trump's Mount Rushmore plans. The presidents on Mount Rushmore have all had very controversial pasts that cause many American citizens to be concerned about the message it carries. I believe that Chairman Harold Frazier of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe says it best. “Nothing stands as a greater reminder to the Great Sioux Nation of a country that cannot keep a promise or treaty then the faces carved into our sacred land on what the United States called Mount Rushmore. We are now being forced to witness the lashing of our land with pomp, arrogance and fire hoping our sacred lands will survive.”
Trump is then following up that trip with a "Salute to America" celebration the next day on the South Lawn at the White House. This will include a military flyover and a massive fireworks display on the National Mall that Washington's mayor, Muriel Bowser, has even warned violates local health guidelines.
So that is how our President is celebrating. Please do not follow his example. He is not invincible, and neither are you. So in addition to him ignoring the rising coronavirus cases, the place he has decided he needs a firework show at could lead to serious environmental problems. We in California know the dangers of forest fires, trust me, and contaminating groundwater just sounds like negligence to the environment. According to the EPA, this contamination can lead to "poor drinking water quality, loss of water supply, degraded surface water systems, high cleanup costs, high costs for alternative water supplies, and/or potential health problems." Maybe he decided to ignore all of these environmental problems because it's not his land and he doesn't have to worry about it :).
The state of our nation will soon look like this if we continue carrying on this way. (This is an accurate representation of my facial expression when I read that New York Times article this morning.)
Have a good holiday weekend and stay safe!
*Please realize that my smiley faces are not me actually being supportive and happy for Trump but actually just sarcastic emoticons!*
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