Each Note Felt, 2nd of the Dog Days, 526 M.E. (Electra): Today, both the Pope in Rome and Zohran Mamdani, the democratic-socialist Muslim Mayor of New York City, gave speeches extolling the United State's history of welcoming immigrants. When the Pope and His Honor agree on a topic, you know it must be something profoundly true. 

Atlanta experienced some relief today from the heat dome as an early afternoon thunderstorm blocked the relentless Sun, and the cool rain absorbed some of the heat that had built up on the sidewalks and pavement. Right now, it's a relatively springlike 78°, albeit humid with all the rain. Still, yesterday's heat index was reportedly 106°.

Tomorrow marks the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. This old man remembers the bicentennial celebration of 1976, and even in the wake of Watergate, the fall of Saigon, and Nixon's resignation, and a contentious Democratic primary with candidates ranging from Jimmy Carter to Jerry Brown to George Wallace, the mood was more upbeat and, well, patriotic than today. There were no blood-sport cage matches on the White House lawn, no partisan "State Fairs," and no gleeful media laughing at the paltry attendance at those partisan "State Fairs." Even Republican President Gerald Ford didn't use the occasion as a cheap campaign gimmick. 

The Stable Genius is orchestrating a 250th celebration by and for conservative Republicans, not even bothering to pretend to reach out to the broader nation, but using the opportunity to increase polarization and divisiveness. He'll be speaking tonight in front of Mt. Rushmore, that tacky tribute to Presidents of the past, with the obvious goal of having his followers imagine his face on the desecrated mountainside. Ogden Nash wrote, "I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree," and I feel the same way about Rushmore. That man thinks he can improve the natural beauty of the Black Hills by sculpting the heads of dead presidents into the mountainside says a lot about more about America's attitude toward its environment than it intended with the monument. 

And don't even get me started on Stone Mountain. While Rushmore at least presumably had reverential intent, Stone Mountain was an angry protest, meant to sympathize with white supremacists and to intimidate minorities. The ugly fruit of ugly intentions.