Russell Kirk’s dire warning: America cannot be taken for granted

The onset of America’s 250th birthday should feel like a greater deal than it is.

It should be, in the words of John Adams, “solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

Despite this moment, when Americans are largely feeling down about themselves, the world lately has found itself quite impressed by America.

And yet 2026 has felt lethargic. America250 celebrations have mostly fallen under the radar or become subsumed into larger partisan divides. Even a local America250 lecture at my library devolved into a bully pulpit for a history professor to bark the “1619 Project” at a handful of seniors.

Reid my lips

If anything, there was active