Divided We Stand

So it is finally here, or almost here. Tomorrow will mark our 250th birthday as a nation.

Some will attend public displays marking the Fourth of July. There will be hot dogs, beer, speeches and fireworks.

Some will stay home, where there will be hot dogs, beer, arguments and fireworks.

Trump will give another of his bloated, narcissistic excuses for a speech to “We the People,” the vast majority of whom oppose his actions to dramatically increase wealth disparity, halt progress on climate control mitigation, wage war on a variety of smaller, weaker countries, and alienate the U.S. from the rest of the world.

This year besides that semiquincentennial and all of its mixed messages, France will play a key game in the World Cup, this time in Philadelphia. There is enough historical symbolism in that to make my high school history teacher drool.

My French-American grandchildren are in Philadelphia this weekend for that game.

I’m here with the dog and the rabbit; none of us are fans of beer or fireworks. But we’ll celebrate the Fourth in our own ways.

They’ll be treats for the pets and the World Cup game for me.

I’ll be rooting for France.

HEADLINES:

• Iran sends a defiant message to Trump with colossal funeral for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (CNN)

• Powerful Iranian general seen in public amid preparation for supreme leader’s vast funeral (NBC)

• U.S. Dangles Rewards for Opening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran Isn’t Budging. (WSJ)

• Iran warns of ‘forceful response’ if tankers don’t use approved Strait of Hormuz routes (The Hill)

• The U.S. healthcare system is in crisis. A Supreme Court ruling could make things worse (NPR)

• Postal Service’s proposed restrictions on mail-in voting blocked (The Hill)

• Olympian Is Indicted After Arrest at Washington’s Reflecting Pool (NYT)

• Trump wants to ditch his signature trade deal. It’s not that easy (CNN)

• Why the expected fight over the North American trade deal never kicked off (BBC)

• F.B.I. Assigns Scores of Analysts to Examine Election Records in Georgia (NYT)

• Following High-Court Victory, Bayer Separates Roundup Business (WSJ)

• The Unprecedented Profiteering Revealed by Donald Trump’s Financial Disclosure (New Yorker)

• Ross Gerber Says Trump’s $1 Billion Crypto Windfall Is Why ‘Bitcoin Went Down and Isn’t Going Anywhere’ (Benzinga)

• Trump’s wealth grew on a scale without modern presidential precedent (WP)

• June jobs report: US payrolls rose by 57,000, missing expectations (Yahoo)

• Russia Bombards Ukrainian Capital With Deadly Wave of Attacks (NYT)

• Catholic Church says 6 bishops from ultra-conservative SSPX society excommunicated as decades-old feud reopens (CBS)

• California Bans ‘Sell By’ Labels, Hoping to Cut Food Waste (NYT)

• Onetime MAGA loyalist and staunch Trump supporter Tucker Carlson has announced his next move in the wake of his messy breakup with the GOP. [HuffPost]

• 4 surprising (and evidence-based) health benefits of drinking coffee (WP)

• Elon Musk says AI is the only way to fix the $40 trillion U.S. debt crisis—but a new study says even the most optimistic scenario won’t fill the hole (Fortune)

• Can You Embrace A.I. Without Layoffs? This Company Says It’s Trying. (NYT)

• Agriculture Department Puts Trump’s Face On Soybeans (Onion)