Reading about the musicians dropping out of the "Freedom 250" concert lineup had me in my feels this weekend.
Is that silly?
The thing already had the energy of a themed cruise that isn’t selling particularly well. And yet here I am, wistfully "What if...?"-ing.
It's like missing an ex who wasn't all that nice to you.
But I just keep thinking about how amazing this summer's birthday celebration for the country could have been.
Sure, it's a little funny how many artists signed on for a performance before basically being like, "Wait… that America? Yeah, no, I’m good."
But hey, who hasn't signed a contract without really looking at it?
So now we're getting a UFC-style cage match on the White House lawn and Vanilla Ice performing "Ninja Rap" on the National Mall.
The "sliding doors" version of this moment goes way beyond a concert, though.
Imagine the alternate universe with me:
Civic-minded art installations in cities across the country by celebrated and burgeoning artists alike.
A series of Lincoln Douglas-style debates where good faith arguments are made for how our country's leaders can help more Americans prosper.
Fortune 500 companies that benefit most from the country's tax code competing in a nationwide hackathon to pitch infrastructure improvements. DOGE, eat your heart out.
Every artist topping the charts vying to tackle the official Freedom 250 song. My vote? A remake of Gloria Estefan's 1996 Olympics opus, Reach, performed by Taylor Swift, with a rap interlude by Bad Bunny.
And the pièce de (patriotic) resistance:
American designers fighting for the chance to make merch for the national moment.
I’m talking:
🇺🇸 "United States or Nowhere" hoodies by the New York or Nowhere crew.
🇺🇸 Vans doing a red-white-and-blue commemorative checkered slip-on.
🇺🇸 Rowing Blazers dropping a stars-and-stripes rugby shirt.
In this fever dream where it's cool to be an American again, Anna Wintour would commission a 50-page patriotic fashion portfolio in Vogue. Whoever runs GQ now would be tagging in every menswear designer south of Canal Street for a fashion show taking place in the crown of the Statue of Liberty.
This summer, we could’ve been the United States of Style.
Instead, the national aesthetic falls somewhere between NFL tailgate in a secondary market and an energy drink convention.
At least we have the Knicks in the playoffs and the World Cup ramping up everyone’s interest in ethnocentric (complementary) merch!
So, maybe there’s hope for tasteful nationalism yet.
Hit reply and tell me the “America, F*ck Yeah” designer collab or event you'd want to see.
Let's dream together!
Patriotically Yours In A Federalist Papers Kind Of Way,
