00:05:33.600The Great American State Fair will showcase the glory of every state in the Union,
00:05:39.180promote pride in our history, and put forth innovative visions for America's future.
00:05:46.220Now, Memorial Day 2025 has come and gone.
00:05:50.740And as you've probably noticed, the nationwide parades have not begun. Far from it.
00:05:56.720Instead, the administration's plan to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of this country, by any measure, has fallen apart in spectacular fashion.
00:06:08.060And has certainly fallen well short of that ambitious vision that he laid out that sounded really exciting.
00:06:15.040That would have been great if that could have happened, but none of it did.
00:06:17.960and you know i will freely admit that this is a failure that truly bothers me uh for a number
00:06:25.920of reasons and the more that i think about it and the closer we get to july 4th the more frustrated
00:06:31.780i become and the more depressing the whole situation is and uh you probably feel the
00:06:39.400same way if you don't you should because no matter what your political beliefs happen to be
00:06:44.220this is a story that has many ramifications, some obvious, some not so obvious, for the future of
00:06:49.680this country. As I'll explain in a minute, there has never been a failure of this type
00:06:54.760that is this embarrassing in the history of the United States. The total inability or interest
00:07:03.760in celebrating an event like this is unprecedented in American history. And the most troubling thing
00:07:11.640about this situation is what it says about the current state of our country. And that's why
00:07:15.860on cable television right now, foreigners are telling millions of Americans that they should0.99
00:07:20.660feel unease about honoring our country's history in the first place. Watch.1.00
00:07:26.700In one month, America will mark the 250th anniversary of its founding. Like previous
00:07:31.820anniversaries, there is a deep unease about this. I feel a deep unease about the celebrations to
00:07:38.780which I am invited to mark the 250th anniversary of our so-called democracy.
00:07:46.160Now, that MSNBC host, as you probably are not aware, is named Ali Velshi. He was,
00:07:53.400as you could tell, not born here. He was born in Kenya. He went to school in Canada.
00:08:00.640He was the guy who, during the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis in 2020, told everybody that the
00:08:05.900riot was not unruly, even as buildings went up in flames behind him. And you could see there.
00:08:13.220And now, as a proven liar, and as someone who isn't American, who has no loyalty or in love0.75
00:08:19.620for this country at all, he's going on national television and telling Americans they should feel0.76
00:08:23.940uneasy about celebrating their history. Now, something tells me that if I went to Kenya or
00:08:30.700to India, where his parents are from, and announced that they should be uneasy about celebrating their
00:08:36.600national holidays or commemorating their history, Ali Velshi would be the first in line to call me
00:08:43.020a racist and a colonizer, and yet he can come here and say that's us. Now, his goal could not be any
00:08:48.700more clear, and he's not alone. The rest of the corporate press is also running cover for leftists
00:08:53.680who want to terrorize America to 50 events and destroy the country also. Watch.
00:08:58.540Tonight, with preps already underway for an event celebrating America's 250th birthday on the National Mall, a new snag.
00:09:07.640This will be a time like you've never had in your lives, America to 50.
00:09:13.220Six musical artists originally announced as performers now dropping out, many citing political concerns.
00:09:20.640Country singer Martina McBride writing,
00:09:22.960I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event, but that turned out to be misleading.
00:09:28.540Rapper Young MC saying artists were never told about any political involvement and poison frontman Brett Michaels writing.
00:09:36.560It's evolved into something much more divisive than I agreed to be part of.
00:09:41.300The event is organized by Freedom 250, a public private partnership launched by President Trump.
00:09:50.020Now, what's interesting about that footage is that while they read an excerpt from Brett Michaels post,
00:09:56.780they conveniently left out the most important part. So here's what he wrote in its entirety.
00:10:01.160Quote, unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into
00:10:05.560something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of. Concerns have also been raised
00:10:10.500regarding the safety of my fans, band, crew, family, and myself, including threats that are
00:10:15.860completely unfounded and unforgivable. Because of that, I have made the difficult decision to step
00:10:20.800away from this performance. So NBC News omitted the fact that in pulling out of the event,
00:10:27.840Bret Michaels, the leader of the band Poison, which was popular for about 30 seconds in 1988,
00:10:34.180cited threats of domestic terrorism and political violence that would be committed, obviously, by
00:10:39.860leftists. Now, many of these artists, we can assume, have similar concerns, and those concerns
00:10:47.040are not unfounded. I mean, if we're being honest with ourselves, we all know there's a very real
00:10:51.200possibility that a leftist will attempt to murder people who try to celebrate the founding of
00:10:56.140America. This is, after all, a movement that openly cheered the assassination of a health
00:11:01.480insurance CEO, as well as Charlie Kirk. They've tried to murder Donald Trump more than any other
00:11:06.080president in American history that's had attempts on their life. And they have adopted the tactics
00:11:11.760of the Bolsheviks, who we'll discuss at length in an upcoming episode of Real History, by the way.
00:11:15.480And like the Bolsheviks, leftists in America seek to violently topple the established order and murder tens of millions of people in the process.
00:11:23.980That's why they're telling musicians that they'll be executed if they participate in an event that has anything to do with our country's history.
00:11:30.820And it's one of the reasons why many of these musicians are backing out.
00:11:34.640NBC News doesn't want to say that out loud, but it's true.
00:11:36.660And yet, all that being the case, I cannot absolve the administration of responsibility here because they have bungled this event as well.
00:11:49.380I mean, it's looking like we will not have anything close to the raucous, joyous, patriotic celebration that our nation's 250th deserves and that Trump promised.
00:12:00.560And the blame for that failure can be cast in many directions.
00:12:04.060and anyone who says that the Trump administration itself is entirely blameless
00:12:07.620is just being a partisan shill, which I refuse to be.
00:12:12.540I mean, the fact is that even before the artists started dropping out of Trump's planned concert in droves,
00:19:21.540Nobody's more patriotic in the rock and roll world than he is.
00:19:24.420Now, I'm going to cut it off there just because as much as I respect Kid Rock's patriotism, we can't have Kid Rock do everything. I mean, it's become a meme at this point. But as Burchett said, there are plenty of talented artists in Nashville who would jump at the opportunity to fly to D.C. and perform for a national audience.
00:19:40.940nobody said that you have to have famous musicians play i mean i would make the bold suggestion that
00:19:47.220it's better to have good musicians than famous ones if you have to choose between the two and
00:19:52.580maybe you do in this case but you can't convince me that there aren't hundreds of musical acts in
00:19:57.700nashville alone never mind the rest of the country who would leap at the chance to perform for an
00:20:02.760audience of millions um i mean you could have done like a you could have done a year-long
00:20:09.700almost American Idol-style tryout thing.
00:20:13.760Trump could have gone back to his reality TV roots
00:20:19.400I mean, he could have done a contest to be the act,
00:20:22.900to find five bands who can perform at this event.
00:20:26.800You'd have thousands of people signing up for that.
00:20:31.220Rather than trying to trade in on the meager fumes
00:20:34.560of whatever fame somebody like Bret Michaels still possesses,
00:20:37.980why not have a concert featuring non-famous artists and make them famous?
00:20:46.260That would be creating culture for a change, which is what we should be doing.
00:20:51.740It would take an extreme lack of creativity or laziness to conclude that there are no talented musicians anywhere who would perform at this event.
00:21:03.380but we do have to acknowledge and this does work in the administration's defense to some extent
00:21:08.960that nothing like this has ever happened in the country's history and i know that sounds like
00:21:14.240hyperbole but it's true the centennial in um 1876 took place just a decade after the end of the
00:21:22.140civil war and that was a conflict of course that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands
00:21:26.940of americans about two percent of the population of the country we lost more soldiers in the civil
00:21:31.600war than in all of our other wars put together. And to put those numbers in context, if a similar
00:21:37.300war happened today, it would mean the deaths of millions of people, wiping out the equivalent of
00:21:43.460the entire population of Los Angeles and Chicago combined. So we're talking about a massive
00:21:49.300conflict here, one in which many Americans in the North came to view their Southern neighbors as0.94
00:21:53.340irredeemable, demonically possessed savages. And guess what? Even with all of that recent history0.95
00:22:00.640in mind, the country could still hold a centennial in 1876. Eleven years after the end of the Civil
00:22:08.200War, several states celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
00:22:14.340Despite extraordinary resentment, entire families and cities that were destroyed,
00:22:18.960Americans still felt compelled to honor their country's history. In San Francisco, people
00:22:23.540gathered and staged a mock naval battle and held festivals in the street. We'll put some of those
00:22:30.620images on the screen. These are from July 3rd, 1876. The mock battle, which included some ships
00:22:38.180in the water nearby, was held in the Presidio area of San Francisco. And according to some
00:22:44.140estimates, more than 80,000 people showed up, including the governor, the National Guard,
00:22:48.100several regiments, and a cavalry group. Meanwhile, the president, Grant, sent the original copy of
00:22:54.760the declaration to Philadelphia, where it was put on display, in part because people noticed that
00:23:00.340the document was falling apart, the government eventually responded many years later by
00:23:03.960creating the National Archives to ensure that our historical records remain intact.
00:23:09.200The torch of the Statue of Liberty was also on display in Philadelphia in 1876. The full statue
00:23:15.660hadn't been completed yet, but people could check out the plans for the final statue. They could
00:23:22.140climb the torch, and if they were feeling generous, they could donate to a fund to construct
00:23:26.640the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, which would ultimately be completed 10 years later.
00:23:30.340The centennial events in Philadelphia continued for months. More than 10 million people showed up. Cutting edge technological inventions were displayed, including the giant steam engine. And you could see all the tiny people gathered around to give you an idea of the scale of the thing.
00:23:44.320As Yale University reports, quote, at the 1876 American Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, a mighty Corliss steam engine was ceremoniously unveiled on opening day by President Ulysses Grant and Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.
00:23:59.860The 1,400 horsepower engine powered all the other mechanical devices on display in the Grand Machinery Hall.
00:24:07.500That wasn't the only attraction at the 1876 Centennial.
00:24:10.600There were typewriters and calculators and bridge cables.
00:24:14.220There was also a booth where people could try out a hot new invention called the telephone.
00:24:18.340This is from the New York Times, quote,
00:24:20.040In the closing days of the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876,
00:24:23.300Dom Pedro, Brazil, stopped before Alexander Graham Bell's booth,
00:24:27.420put a telephone receiver to his ear, heard human speech, and gasped in awe,
00:24:34.400So again, all these people are optimistic.
00:24:37.560They're celebrating American ingenuity and brilliance.
00:24:39.760They're doing this in the immediate wake of a war where their fathers, brothers, uncles, and grandfathers slaughtered each other by the thousands, and yet even they could celebrate and feel proud of their country.
00:24:54.220Now, in the Deep South, as you might imagine, the enthusiasm was a bit more muted, but even there, amid Reconstruction and the aftermath of the conflict, there was still some participation in Centennial.
00:25:06.020In particular, Mississippi used the opportunity to promote their local industries and secure new business deals to boost their economy.
00:25:13.720According to the Gulfport Museum of History, quote,
00:25:16.500In 1868, Congress appointed war hero and Medal of Honor holder General Adelbert Ames, the provisional governor of Mississippi.
00:25:24.020In this position, he promoted the entry of both Mississippi and Arkansas in the 1876 centennial celebration by constructing exhibition buildings.
00:25:31.660The Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill making Ames head of the Centennial Committee with authority to appoint all the members.
00:25:38.900They decided that a modest log cabin constructed entirely for Mississippi's vast timber resources would be the best way to promote that industry.
00:25:45.800Ames saw the exposition as a prime opportunity for Mississippi to open markets for its most abundant natural resources.
00:25:51.860And the national exposure did attract wealthy industrialists who saw the potential for profit and a way to get the timber out, the steam engine, and to get to market a deepwater port.
00:26:01.300So to recap, even in the immediate aftermath of a literal civil war, this country held a successful celebration of our shared history.
00:26:10.560And we did it again a century later at the bicentennial in 1876.
00:26:15.200And as you may remember, the 70s were not exactly a period of harmony and prosperity in this country.
00:26:22.360We were coming off the Vietnam War, extreme inflation, gas lines, the civil rights movement, the Watergate hoax, and so on.
00:26:29.540And yet, despite all the angst, we were able to come together and honor this country's history.
00:26:36.860The so-called Freedom Train, with a giant steam engine, went all over the country to 48 states as a kind of rolling museum for people to board.
00:26:45.920The train contained several historical documents, including George Washington's copy of the Constitution and the Louisiana Purchase.
00:33:11.040He risked a lot over the years, but I guess by the 1970s, he grew soft and weak in his old age
00:33:15.280and let some gangsters in New York boss him around over $50, which is a shame.
00:33:19.460In any event, the point is, we've held massive centennials and bicentennials before.
00:33:23.480even when the country was falling apart. But today in 2026, we have so far been unable to do so. And
00:33:30.560it's even worse than it first appears. In response to my posts on the America 250 events,
00:33:36.000I received several responses that tried to absolve the Trump administration of any part in the
00:33:40.020failure, but all they did was prove again that there's plenty of blame to go around. And so
00:33:44.360here's one of those replies from America First Insights. It says, quote,
00:33:48.880ultimately the issue comes down to the fact that there are two organizers and one of them has been0.99
00:33:52.500around longer and sucks. America 250, which is the organization created by Congress in 2016
00:33:57.160to get things planned, in which they have effectively done nothing, mostly because it
00:34:01.760was an Obama appointee followed by a Biden appointee. The biggest successes have been
00:34:06.440a place to announce you are hosting a block party at a Google map page to tell you where some events
00:34:12.380are. And that's about it. They're the ones paying some other places, events, or companies to throw
00:34:18.020the 250 on celebrations this year. It's a total S show of do nothing liberals. The other event is
00:34:24.680hosted by Freedom 250. It was created by Trump the second he got into office. The Freedom 250
00:34:28.720is at least attempting to be proactive. The national prayer event, the UFC fight, the Great
00:34:32.620American State Fair, July 4th, fireworks, Patriot Games, and the Indy 500 are all Freedom 250 events.
00:34:39.240Now there's more to the reply, which I'll read in a second, but I'll stop here to acknowledge that
00:34:42.740Indeed, there are two groups that are involved in the planning here.
00:34:46.420The America 250 group was established by Congress a decade ago.
00:34:50.920It's supposed to be a nonpartisan, nonpolitical group, but it's run by an Obama Biden appointee named Rosie Rios.
00:34:59.220Just like we saw in the 1960s and 70s, the federal government's commission was politically compromised, in other words.
00:35:04.920And in the case of Rosie Rios, she clearly didn't expect that Donald Trump was going to win the presidency again.
00:35:10.760So here's what she wrote in the summer of 2024.0.53
00:35:12.540Happy Pride Month, America. As we acknowledge the vibrant history and significant contributions of the LGBTQIA plus community, I'm honored to highlight their resilience and our nation's ongoing journey toward equality.
00:35:24.060At America 250, our mission is to recognize and support those voices, and we commemorate the 250th anniversary of Declaration of Independence signing trailblazers like Harvey Milk, Marsha P. Johnson, Laverne Cox, Bayard Rustin, Lonnie Kahumanu, who we all know, a legend just like Daniel Boone.
00:35:47.500You know, you got Daniel Boone and Lonnie Kahumanu. Anyway, and Sylvia Rivera, inspire us to continue the fight for equal rights and acceptance. Let's honor the legacy of LGBTQIA plus leaders and work together for a more inclusive and equitable future. Hashtag pride, hashtag America 250.
00:36:03.500So this was the vision for America 250 that would have taken hold if Kamala Harris had won.
00:36:10.720I mean, that's one thing for sure. You cannot even imagine what they'd be doing right now for this occasion if Kamala Harris was in the White House.
00:36:21.260They would be doing something. They'd be doing a lot. They'd be doing a lot, but it would be, you know, taking the opportunity to honor pedophiles like Harvey Milk.
00:36:29.160They'd make everybody watch Hamilton and pretend to like it0.99
00:36:33.060Once again, they'd worship transgenderism and various other forms of sexual perversions1.00
00:36:38.380It'd be like the Super Bowl halftime show1.00
00:36:40.360They'd flood the National Mall with foreigners who can't speak English1.00
00:36:45.200Instead of celebrating America's history, they'd be celebrating their conquest of America
00:36:49.360Now, we should all be grateful that we avoided that kind of atrocity by electing Donald Trump
00:36:54.280But as a response to my complaints, this isn't really a meaningful point
00:36:58.160Yes, leftists wanted to bastardize the event, but the Trump White House knew that, which is why they established their Freedom 250 committee.
00:37:06.700So what we're left with is the fact that two separate committees, given many years of planning time, are apparently incapable of putting together an event that appropriately and sufficiently honors this country's history.
00:37:22.280Which, to put it mildly, is not an encouraging sign.
00:37:26.220As their response to my post continues, the group America First Insight offered their explanation of what's going on here.
00:37:32.080Quote, the fact is, from our understanding, most of the 1976 celebrations were ground up.
00:37:39.080Cities, towns, and such, when community meant a hell of a lot more, were predominantly responsible for most of the celebration.
00:37:45.220Is that even possible in modern America?
00:37:47.620Ignoring the fact that half of this nation has had genuine deep hatred for the country drilled into their mind since the Obama era.
00:40:49.700Our quality of life is so high that everyone else is clamoring to get inside our borders.
00:40:54.320We're one of the few places where you can own a gun and defend yourself.
00:40:58.020We have individual states that would rank among the world's biggest economies.
00:41:01.880None of that was true in the 19th century.
00:41:04.420So, you know, the current picture is not all doom and gloom, even though the media and the podcast circuit are motivated for different reasons, or maybe not so different, to tell you otherwise.
00:41:13.960And yet, whatever challenges we face today, and there are many of them, and they are really significant, there's no question that our history is undeniably great.
00:41:23.300We are a nation that was forged from nothing.
00:41:26.320We defeated the world's greatest empire.
00:41:28.920We forged west into the unknown, vanquishing hostile Indians and conquering the wilderness.0.99
00:41:34.540We fought a civil war only 90 years into our existence, which could have been the end of the experiment.0.71
00:41:39.000Instead, we survived it, even thrived in the wake of the conflict.
00:41:43.340Over the next century, we went on to become a superpower, win two world wars, build a transcontinental railway, an interstate highway system.
00:41:49.460The Panama Canal landed a man on the moon, invented the light bulb, the airplane, the telephone, the Internet.
00:41:54.220I mean, we're a nation of innovators, builders, inventors, pioneers. America 250 is about
00:41:59.540recognizing and appreciating all of that. Now, if we no longer live up to the lofty standards set
00:42:05.560by our ancestors, and I don't think we do, that's no less a reason to mark the occasion. In fact,
00:42:10.720it's all more the reason. None of us today can hold a candle to the greatest Americans.
00:42:16.980And that's why our goal shouldn't be to put on a political rally or a concert of one-hit wonders.
00:42:22.280is it should be to celebrate the greatness we inherited
00:42:26.180so that maybe one day we can reclaim it.