Fireworks boomed. Flags waved. Speeches rolled out the same script about “freedom.” The crowd cheered while half the country counted freedoms lost.
Independence Day has always been more story than fact, but this year the gap was a canyon. Roe had fallen days before. Women in red states woke up knowing the Constitution cared more about muskets than their bodies. Politicians raised a glass to “liberty” while writing bills to criminalize doctors.
The fireworks drowned out the protests. For one night. The morning air smelled of smoke, sulfur, and regression.