Many posts have discussed patriotism.
Dueling events for America's 250th birthday are creating confusion as celebrations ramp up across the U.S.
Why it matters: The disconnect made headlines last week when a group of performers withdrew from on the National Mall, prompting President Trump to step in.
Those concerts were organized by Freedom 250, a White House-established initiative. America 250, a separate, Congress-approved missive, has planned events nationwide in the run-up to Independence Day.
The intrigue: Several of the performers who canceled cited being misled about the event.Country singer Martina McBride said on Instagram that she "was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states. ...Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening."...
Freedom 250 is planning events that reflect Trump's flair for spectacle.
That includes a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn, an IndyCar race through downtown Washington, D.C., a FIFA World Cup fan zone and the Great American State Fair — both to be held on the National Mall.
The issue is not hosting a sporting event, it’s the one they chose and what it says.
If the White House wanted to host a sporting event commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary, they could have chosen “America’s Pastime”—baseball.
And they could have held it at a stadium dedicated to the purpose, not spent tens of millions constructing a temporary arena that may leave scars on the landscape for a long time to come.
Instead they chose cage fighting, the most visceral expression of violence for sport.
What does it mean to normalize blood sport at that address?
Whatever your personal opinion of MMA as a sport, this is a deliberate choice about what power looks like, what celebration looks like, and what America is supposed to mean.
Yet it’s not a departure from this regime’s ethos; it’s right in line with their performance of masculinity.