Happy (yes, happy) Fourth!

But first, two things making me sad right now

I have some very exciting book news to share with all of you - but I promised we’d go back to regular posts after publication week, and I’m a man of my word. So I’ll wait till Monday.

That said, it’s peak beach-read season, so if you haven’t yet picked up It’s Only Drowning, you can get a copy from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local independent bookstore at Bookshop.org in time to finish it over the long weekend.

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I spent all day yesterday trying to write a post about Zohran Mamdani and what it means for Democrats’ big tent. Maybe one day I’ll get around to it. But I’ll be honest, I was totally exhausted.

Partly, of course, because of my ongoing book tour. Also because of the relentless rough news, culminating the Trump’s big ugly bill passing yesterday.

There have also been two specific moments that made me more concerned - and that’s saying something - than I’ve been in a long time.

The first took place on Tuesday, when I was a panelist on a BBC Show called The Context about American politics. My co-panelist was a lawyer who’d worked for the George W. Bush administration and ran for congress in 2016. I’m not going to name her, because that part’s not important. What matters is that this is a smart lawyer with a J.D. from a highly selective law school and a clear desire to be part of the mainstream of the Republican Party.

During the show, we were asked about ICE’s new prison camp in the Florida Everglades. I expected to her to say, basically, that concerns about safety and conditions at the camp were overblown and that this was a cost-saving measure and liberals were trying to make it seem like people would die there.

Instead, she said the opposite. She talked about “Alligator Alcatraz” as a “deterrent.” She argued, live on television, that the fear of being thrown into a camp where you’ll subjected to cruel and inhumane conditions - possibly even death - is a valuable policy tool to keep people from coming here illegally. (I pointed out that a lot of people being thrown in ICE detention came here legally, but she chose to ignore that part.)

What terrifies me is that a huge part of this person’s public identity is her Christian faith. I’m Jewish - I don’t claim to be a Christianity expert - but when people who claim to be guided by their faith seem to adopt as their motto, “What’s the Opposite of What Jesus Would Do?” We’re in real trouble.

The second thing that deeply concerned me was an email my dad forwarded met his morning, from the Social Security Administration. I assume every American over 65 received it? It was packed with outright lies claiming that this bill will help seniors. The government advocates for policy all the time - think about the signs on the road saying, “This project paid for by the American Rescue Plan.” But this is different. It’s like if the Biden Administration had put up a “this project paid for by the American Rescue Plan” sign next to a project that it hadn’t actually paid for.

Watching the entire apparatus of government - not just communications, but policymakers as well - be transformed into a propaganda machine is horrifying. Not just because of what they’re doing. But because it means that so many people are willing, and in fact eager, to do it.

And yet, on the Fourth, I think it’s not just acceptable but important to go out and celebrate this country. Because while the American experiment is on shakier ground than any of us can remember, it’s still ongoing. And it’s a remarkable thing. The central idea laid out in the Declaration of Independence - that our shared humanity could be not a just a theological concept but a model for self-governance - is, as we’re seeing, just as radical today as it was back then. Lots of people just don’t believe in it. But it is still, no matter who the president is, or who hits send on a mass email to seniors, the guiding principle of this country. That’s vanishingly rare in human history. It’s special.

Plus, I don’t know where you are, but here in Asbury Park it’s a perfect beach day. That’s special, too.

Also, while I was stunned by how casually my fellow BBC panelist dismissed the idea that We, the People, might want things like freedom or the rule of law, I think most Americans still don’t feel that way. If you want to be a Republican in good standing, you have to bow to Trump - which is why he was able to pass this deeply unpopular bill. But the bill is deeply unpopular!

Also, in the week and a half since It’s Only Drowning came out, I’ve done interviews with people on all but the MAGA-iest parts of the political spectrum. I have no interest in both sides-ing this. Our country faces an existential threat, and some people are making that threat worse and other people are doing everything they can to fight back against it. But what I’ve noticed is that what continues to unite a clear majority of Americans is the same stubborn independent streak that King George III found so vexing.

We don’t like being pushed around. We don’t like being told what to do. We still, even now, have no interest in being ruled by a mad king.

That doesn’t mean that we’re going to get through this. I think we will, I hope we will, I don’t know for sure. But it means that today remains the birthday of an exceptional country - a country worth celebrating, even when its leaders should be roundly condemned for everything they’re trying to do to it.

In other words, we get to be part of the United States of America. We get to fight to save something worth saving. We get to belong to a country whose ideals make it worth loving, even when its leaders betray those ideals. And we get to celebrate all of that with hot dogs and hamburgers and fireworks and, if you’re very lucky, taking your dog to the dog beach.

So, happy Fourth! Hope you enjoy the holiday and come back recharged for everything that comes next.

P.S. I’ve been loving the comments from everyone who’s read It’s Only Drowning, so if you’ve started the book and have thoughts/reviews/questions, leave them below!