# Freedom 250 - The Great American State Fair **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 29, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470 "2026-05-29T03:08:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/501 "2026-06-29T16:22:54Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > I didn’t realize there was a parking lot in the same predicament. It’s a joke, referring to Trump having his motorcade drive along the pool’s surface during the project, before the water was put back in. [![](https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/https://media.snopes.com/2026/06/did_trumps_motorcade_drive_through_newly_painted_lincoln_memorial_reflecting_pool.png) ](https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/https://media.snopes.com/2026/06/did_trumps_motorcade_drive_through_newly_painted_lincoln_memorial_reflecting_pool.png) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/502 "2026-06-29T16:25:15Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > I thought that was the situation with the reflecting pool. I didn’t realize there was a parking lot in the same predicament. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It’s a joke, referring to Trump having his motorcade drive along the pool’s surface during the project, before the water was put back in. Actually my joke was a riff on what Horatius said (bolding mine): > [@Horatius](#): > > His whole schtick is going on about wanting to “make America great again”, and “be respected around the world”. But here you have the SI, which is legitimately both one of the greatest museum systems in the world, and also a celebration of American greatness. People go to Washington just to visit it (I did that 20 years ago myself!). It’s reputation on the world stage is exactly what Trump claims to want, and yet, he has mucked about with it so much, that he’s lost what they had. **Paved paradise, and put up a parking lot, as the old song says.** ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/503 "2026-06-29T17:11:54Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I do not attend party’s thrown by complete and total assholes. Well, one less for the 7/4 cookout at our house… ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/504 "2026-06-29T17:43:07Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Trump Truth > > > [@](#): > > > > Do you think people appreciate what a fantastic job we did in building and operating the Great American State Fair at the National Mall, packed with happy people, and everybody loving it? Ask yourself this simple question, “DO YOU THINK THAT OBUMA OR SLEEPY JOE BIDEN COULD HAVE DONE IT?” THE ANSWER IS NO! > > Could they have done whatever the hell the state fair is? Absolutely. Would they have? HELLLL NO! Well, they would have done it right, not like Trump. I told my wife over the weekend, if Kamala had been elected that mall would be _packed_. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/505 "2026-06-29T17:46:51Z")
Reading this thread and seeing various videos I can’t help thinking about the song “Our State Fair” but with a slightly altered opening lyric: “This state fair _ **ain’t** _ a great state fair…” ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/506 "2026-06-29T17:57:00Z")
Could Obama have done that? Perhaps if he hadn’t been planning a well attended party in Chi-town that featured Stevie Wonder, Bruce Sprinsteen, Christina Aguilara, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Vedder, Common, The Roots and others. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/507 "2026-06-29T18:00:29Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Perhaps if he wasn’t planning a well attended party in Chi-town that featured Stevie Wonder, Bruce Sprinsteen, Christina Aguilara, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Vedder, Common, The Roots and others. Come on, that loser didn’t even desecrate _one_ national monument for that! /s ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/508 "2026-06-29T18:17:18Z")
NGL I did a coffee spit when I saw this post! 😆 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/509 "2026-06-29T18:33:23Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > As a foreigner, if I was in Washington DC right now, I’d want to see the sights: the Smithsonian, the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, and so on. Silly foreigner. _None_ of those have Trump’s name on them (yet). How could you possibly have any interest in seeing them? > [@enipla](#): > > We will have a party like no other when Trump is removed. As I mentioned before, I took advantage of the holiday to buy the second biggest box of fireworks Costco has in anticipation. It was $100; the biggest was $200 but I’m not spending that much on that asshole, even in celebration of his demise. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/510 "2026-06-29T19:22:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Just like this cockamamie parade idea: mostly wrong. I’ve rarely felt as much Hope in the past 18 months as when the military failed to gratify Donald’s obvious wish for “Heil, Dear Leader” spit-and-polish. No synchronized goose-stepping, no turns to salute DL with precise snaps. Well done, US Military! Anyway, on the “Great American State Fair” debacle: many note that the odds are good at least HALF of those we see in photos and video of the concourse are actually journalists, there to document the sparse attendance. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/511 "2026-06-29T19:26:16Z")
I finally found a picture of the Oregon booth (Oregon did not participate). Maine got two chairs to our one, and theirs had cushions. But ours is a rocking chair, we have a picture of a “beaver” that appears to be a stuffed gopher prop from _Caddyshack_, and we got side tables to put your drink on as you sit, head in hands, pondering the choices that led you to the Oregon booth at this shitshow of a fair. So I’ll consider it a draw. [![](https://hermes.media.static.aol.com/media/2026/06/29/d187f966-934c-3379-9549-4afde592619a/de3f1250-6fbe-4791-a6a7-388efd0442bd.jpg) ](https://hermes.media.static.aol.com/media/2026/06/29/d187f966-934c-3379-9549-4afde592619a/de3f1250-6fbe-4791-a6a7-388efd0442bd.jpg) I note that there is no hint of the existence of Portland in any of the photos. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/512 "2026-06-29T19:31:29Z")
Are all states trolling him now? The displays are all really pathetic. I didn’t think Oregon was going to attend. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/513 "2026-06-29T19:33:53Z")
Once again, the states do not put up their own displays if they do not participate. They are shitty on purpose to slight them. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/514 "2026-06-29T19:44:28Z")
If that’s what it is, they should have set up a DNF trophy. Or did not participate medal. And what about Indianas miniture golf ‘course’? Did someone in Indiana actually think that was a good idea? And I know that Indiana is perhaps boring, but miniture golf as a state symbol? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/515 "2026-06-29T19:51:22Z")
If they were told something like “You’ll have a 4 foot square space to work with”, what are you gonna do? And Indiana love loves Trump. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/516 "2026-06-29T20:05:16Z")
Looks like the ~~Overgrown~~ Evergreen State’s rocker next door has cushions. Don’t know whether that’s an advantage or not. (The Soviet of Washington, like Oregon, chose not to participate.) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/517 "2026-06-29T20:13:27Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > And Indiana love loves Trump. This, and ISTR that another state also has miniature golf in their pavilion. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/518 "2026-06-29T21:32:17Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > ISTR that another state also has miniature golf in their pavilion. Reportedly [South Carolina.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-great-american-state-fair-122618041.html) Perhaps because their northern neighbor, the [birthplace of American](https://mimmsmuseum.org/2025/09/03/mini-golf-history/) minigolf, [declined to participate?](https://www.carolinajournal.com/sponsors-step-up-as-nc-officially-sits-out-america-250-fair/) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/519 "2026-06-29T21:39:19Z")
And Florida. Mini-golf is evidently the #1 attraction at the fair. It couldn’t be that these states are trying to kiss up to the golfer in chief, could it? [![](https://kesq.b-cdn.net/2026/06/cnn-L19jb21wb25lbnRzL2ltYWdlL2luc3RhbmNlcy9jbXFzdmN3bXQwMDEyM2I2cjAydmVlYjN2-L19jb21wb25lbnRzL2FydGljbGUvaW5zdGFuY2VzL2NtcXN0NjRldzAwMXIyN3FxaDluczNoM2k.jpg) ](https://kesq.b-cdn.net/2026/06/cnn-L19jb21wb25lbnRzL2ltYWdlL2luc3RhbmNlcy9jbXFzdmN3bXQwMDEyM2I2cjAydmVlYjN2-L19jb21wb25lbnRzL2FydGljbGUvaW5zdGFuY2VzL2NtcXN0NjRldzAwMXIyN3FxaDluczNoM2k.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/520 "2026-06-29T21:55:46Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And as noted in the publication, this particular “President’s Own” elite band’s members are exempt from completing regular recruit training and from “secondary combat role” (aka “every Marine a rifleman”). By contrast someone joining as a regular musician in the applicable MOS or rating (depending on service), must audition to qualify but _also_ complete the usual entry and continuing training requirements of enlisted personnel. "This is my oboe. There are many like it, but this one is mine. Without me, my oboe is useless. Without my oboe, I am useless. … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470.md?page=27)