America's Big Beautiful Birthday in DC: What really happened?

In spite of all the rhetoric and vitriol and doomerism, the Star Spangled Banner yet waves.

Opinion:

Last night long after the state-sanctioned fireworks had ended, I walked into my back alley and noticed the air was still thick with sulfuric smoke. The constant sound of fireworks echoed off the brick of the townhouses and the tin of the garage doors. I breathed in the hot, swampy haze and came to a realization: after 17 years in Washington, DC…