# 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:** 34
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/661 "2026-07-03T01:14:09Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > I was more thinking along the lines of a second amendment nut job exercising their constitutional rights rather than falling scenery or architecture. But it could simply be from negligence rather than malevolence. That seems as likely to me. Die from food poisoning. Or they sip the reflecting pool soup and get eaten out from the inside by ravenous microbes. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/662 "2026-07-03T01:17:11Z")
Not out of the question: > **[Holiday swimmers warned of DEADLY flesh-eating bacteria along Atlantic Coast](https://www.the-sun.com/news/16622971/flesh-eating-bacteria-spreading-atlantic-coast/)** > > SWIMMERS have been warned of a deadly flesh-eating bacteria found near Atlantic Coast oceans.  The beach warnings come ahead of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend, where many will use… ---
**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:** [July 3, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/663 "2026-07-03T01:19:18Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > I’m getting a “Green Acres” vibe. > > “Come see the new DC! Green water’s awaiting me --” Forget The Mall, and give me the countryside. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/664 "2026-07-03T01:24:02Z")
I see your concern, but … The thing that is most protective of the crowd and performers is the fact that there is no crowd and very few performers. If a stage falls in an empty venue, is anyone at risk? Ammosexual nutjobs can blaze away in an empty arena all afternoon and the only thing they can hurt is their own hearing and some shittily constructed stagecraft. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/665 "2026-07-03T01:37:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The thing that is most protective of the crowd and performers is the fact that there is no crowd and very few performers. That’s actually a very good point. A few weeks ago, a month ago or so, when these thoughts first started occurring to me, I was picturing these events being much better attended than how they have ended up. It’s not exactly a “Target Rich Environment.” ---
**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:** [July 3, 2026, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/666 "2026-07-03T01:43:45Z")
Maybe when (if) the devil himself shows up, so will the red hatted idiot throngs. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/667 "2026-07-03T02:41:54Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > And of course, like you I don’t want innocents to die because of Trump’s insanity. What’s actually more concerning is that the Fair is not the end of this shitshow. [The Patriot Games](https://freedom250.org/celebration/the-2026-patriot-games) are set to begin in early August. Televised competitions involving kids 14-17 years old. There isn’t any info on what exactly this is going to involve, of course. For people who can’t even get a Fair right, this doesn’t bode well. And the jokes about the Hunger Games will write themselves. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/668 "2026-07-03T03:23:10Z")
If someone opened fire at the crowd at the Great American State Fair, would it even qualify as a mass shooting? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/669 "2026-07-03T03:28:15Z")
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t find mass-shooting jokes very funny. > [@solost](#): > > > [@Kimstu](#): > > > > Honestly I kinda like that Virginia “LOVE” exhibit:… ties in to the state motto… > > “Sic Semper Tyrannis”? > Translation: “Thus always to tyrants”? > > Heh, I know what you mean-- you’re referring not to the official state motto, but to the old, classic tourism slogan “Virginia is for lovers”. I had been wondering why the word ‘LOVE’, so I guess that does make a bit more sense, calling back to that highly successful tourism campaign… The story goes that, when the Virginia legislature later defeated a bill to decriminalize adultery, someone suggested that the slogan be changed to “Virginia is for ‘just good friends.’” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/670 "2026-07-03T14:44:37Z")
> [@solost](#): > > The hubris, greed and narcissistic delusion involved in making something so terrible for America’s 250th birthday and still thinking people would flock to see it is a perfect metaphor for all of trumpism. I think what we have to look forward to now is the inevitable blaming of “others” for the failure of the fair. I don’t think that has happened yet? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/671 "2026-07-03T15:05:43Z")
It’s already happened, though with limited success. On the one hand, the fair is a massive success and the ‘failure’ is a hoax perpetrated by people with “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. On the other hand, the fair would have been a success except it’s been targeted by left wing extremists. On the gripping hand, after tomorrow, I suspect they’ll cancel the remaining days and blame it on the weather or security concerns or whatever ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/672 "2026-07-03T15:11:37Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I suspect they’ll cancel the remaining days and blame it on the weather or security concerns or whatever Next week’s headline: “The Bomb Threat Call came from INSIDE the White House” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/673 "2026-07-03T15:13:54Z")
That’ll be the headline in the MSM. On Faux it’ll be “The bomb threat came from Iran’s leader’s palace.” ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/674 "2026-07-03T15:40:25Z")
My fantasy is to go to the Florida exhibit, and ask why the Florida colonies remained loyal to the crown. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/675 "2026-07-03T17:47:33Z")
Heat shuts it down for a while. > **[Heat wave forecast: Great American State Fair postponed amid extreme temps](https://abcnews.com/US/heat-wave-forecast-dangerous-temps-continue-july-4/story?id=134404736)** > > A dangerous heat wave is bringing prolonged extreme heat to more than two dozen states across the Midwest, the South and the East Coast. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/676 "2026-07-03T17:55:54Z")
I wonder who is going to show up at 5pm for the re-opening with temperatures still around 100 degrees? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/677 "2026-07-03T18:52:21Z")
Wow it’s actually hotter some of the places there than it is in AZ. (projected high 107) ---
**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:** [July 3, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/678 "2026-07-03T20:04:14Z")
Easiest evacuation ever. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/679 "2026-07-04T01:39:57Z")
I guess Trump’s shenanigans have forced PBS to move their _Capitol Fourth_ fireworks to Mount Vernon. Unclear if the usual display at the Washington Monument will go off this year. Still a good-sized crowd on the Capitol steps, though, if a bit smaller than last year. Let’s see Trump pull that off! ---
**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:** [July 4, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/680 "2026-07-04T01:46:21Z")
Definitely no fireworks on the Mall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470.md?page=33) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470.md?page=35)