# 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:** 35
**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 4, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/681 "2026-07-04T02:41:34Z")
> **['Total disaster' at Trump's fair as scorching heat leaves 7 on 'advanced life...](https://www.rawstory.com/great-american-state-fair-2677157060/)** > > A reporter braving a blistering heat wave at President Donald Trump's Great American State Fair described chaos at the event as paramedics raced to save attendees, with seven said to be on "advanced life support" in the hospital.Julian Andreone of... Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/682 "2026-07-04T03:04:57Z")
My weather forecaster says 38 celsius tomorrow in DC, with clouds and showers. Not often I hear of scorching heat _and_ rain. I’ll just take that as the gods being really angry at Trump. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/683 "2026-07-04T05:00:06Z")
Undoubtedly he’s going to say it was wildly successful with massive attendance AND there was no one there because of Antifa’s threats or something. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/684 "2026-07-04T05:43:29Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > [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. Trump: “May the odds be ever in my favor.” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/685 "2026-07-04T15:13:59Z")
Half of me is glad that 250 got cancelled today, while the other half was hoping it still would’ve gone on, in hopes that my prediction of 140 attendees would happen. 🤷‍♂️ ---
**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 4, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/686 "2026-07-04T16:04:18Z")
It’s canceled on the fourth of July? God damn. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/687 "2026-07-04T16:07:42Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > It’s canceled on the fourth of July? I don’t think so (at least, not yet); it was shut down _yesterday_ due to the weather, but it looks like, as of right now, for today, a parade this morning was cancelled, and the fair itself will be opening two hours late. ---
**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 4, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/688 "2026-07-04T16:10:11Z")
Thanks. Because out of all the days this dumb thing has existed, today was supposed to be _the_ day. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/689 "2026-07-04T16:41:39Z")
Ah, my bad - just the parade cancelled. Still hope, then, for Trump to be looking out over a near-empty field later on. Bet he’ll cancel, too - but not out of any stated claims of heat, but because they know it’ll be a shitty turn-out. Or he could just possibly collapse in what will still be near-100 temperatures. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/690 "2026-07-04T16:46:47Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Or he could just possibly collapse in what will still be near-100 temperatures. He’ll have a bullet proof airconditioned box. The turn out will be terrible though. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/691 "2026-07-04T17:05:11Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > He’ll have a bullet proof airconditioned box. If it isn’t prerecorded and/or put on a big screen from elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/692 "2026-07-04T17:07:18Z")
If so, so much for the windbag’s brags that he’ll handle the heat no problem. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/693 "2026-07-04T17:09:11Z")
That _is_ how he is “handling it”. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/694 "2026-07-04T17:17:43Z")
Yep. The American Republican/TeaParty/MAGA/techbroligarch response to high temps is “so, crank up the AC” (with a subcategory of “u Europoors dum, u rather die of heat than have AC” if anyone from across the pond complains). ---
**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 4, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/695 "2026-07-04T19:09:52Z")
Nobody is at the Fair but they are still spending a gazillion dollars on flyovers. I saw a few at [EarthCam Live: Washington Monument (Washington, D.C.)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDCAAfOSqvA) - 1:14 PM - NASA F-5 Flyover - 1:24 PM - NASA Fleet Review - 1:44 PM - USCG Helo Flyover - 1:54 PM - USCG Fixed Wing Flyover - 2:09 PM - Golden Knights, Leap Frogs - 2:29 PM - Army Helo Flyover - 2:44 PM - USAF Fleet Review - Wave 1 - Heavies - 2:54 PM - USAF Fleet Review - Wave 2 - AFSOC - 3:04 PM - USAF Fleet Review - Wave 3 - Fighters - 3:29 PM - Executive Rotary Wing Airlift - 3:39 PM - USMC Fleet Review - Wave 1 - Rotary - 3:49 PM - USMC Fleet Review - Wave 2 - Fixed Wing - 3:59 PM - USN Fleet Review - Wave 1 - Rotary - 4:09 PM - USN Fleet Review - Wave 2 - Fixed Wing - 4:19 PM - USN Fleet Review - Wave 3 - Fighters - 4:21 PM - USN F-18F Demonstration - 4:59 PM - USN Blue Angels - 5:26 PM - USMC MV-22 Osprey Demonstration - 5:44 PM - USAF Fleet Review – Fighters - 6:02 PM - USAF Tri-Bomber Formation - 6:05 PM - USN F-35C Demonstration - 6:25 PM - USAF Thunderbirds Demonstration - 7:03 PM - Air Force One Flyover - 7:07 PM - USAF Thunderbirds Delta Break - 7:17 PM - HUGE 1 Flyover Led by the Newly Renovated Air Force One - 7:38 PM - U.S. Stealth Airpower Flyover - 7:39 PM - F-22 Raptor Demo - 7:53 PM - F-22 Raptor in Afterburner - 7:59 PM - B-1 Flyover - 8:07 PM - B-1’s in Afterburner - 8:11 PM - HUGE ONE Fly Over Review - 8:22 PM - Golden Knights Twilight Jump - 10:36 PM - B-1 Afterburner Night Pass ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/696 "2026-07-04T21:10:10Z")
I’ll be stunned if nobody gets killed with all that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/697 "2026-07-04T21:28:02Z")
The Parks Service is apparently warning people to wear N95 masks because of the amount of smoke that 850,000 fireworks is going to produce. > **[‘Going to be brutal’: Trump’s ‘dangerous’ July 4th finale hit with ominous...](https://www.rawstory.com/dc-fireworks/?utm_source=superhead)** > > President Donald Trump’s record-breaking fireworks show slated for Saturday night has a growing number of critics worried about the safety of Washington, D.C. residents, with one commentator offering a particularly disturbing prediction as to how the... ---
**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:** [July 4, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/698 "2026-07-04T21:35:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The Parks Service is apparently warning people to wear N95 masks because of the amount of smoke that 850,000 fireworks is going to produce. Some details: > [@](#): > > Scientists have found the particles of soot and smoke fireworks leave behind can be inhaled into lung tissue and enter the bloodstream. “This is over the top,” said professor Russell Dickerson of the University of Maryland. “What will be in the atmosphere will be mostly fine, particulate matter. That is particles of the right size to go past your nose, deep into your lungs, where they are related to cardiovascular problems, respiratory problems.” Atmospheric chemists described how record-breaking fireworks likely will affect air quality. > > “We’re expecting particulate concentrations hundreds of times higher than what you might associate with, say, a smoggy day in Los Angeles or Beijing,” University of Maryland professor Christopher Kenseth said. “So, this really has the potential, particularly in the immediate vicinity of the Mall, to create a severe health risk.” This site has a lot of short articles on today’s doings, including (as mentioned earlier in the thread) their choice to open the Mall two hours late, and the number of people taken to the hospital yesterday with heat issues. Today is likely to bring larger numbers (more people, more heat). There’s also a mini-article on the BDOA (Basement Dwellers of America), aka the “Patriotic Front.” They’ve been parading around DC in full facial masks, and their usual long-khakis—perfect for the heat! > **[Live updates: Extreme heat, storm threat affect DC July 4 events ahead of...](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/fireworks-america-freedom-250-dc-weather-forecast-live-updates/4125821/)** > > As crowds flock to the National Mall for July 4 events and fireworks, they’re coping with extreme heat and a storm threat. ---
**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 4, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/699 "2026-07-04T21:50:00Z")
And their confederate flags, the fucking idiots. Another Trump term, another racist march. Fuck off, Republicans. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470/700 "2026-07-04T21:55:39Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > And their confederate flags, the fucking idiots. Another Trump term, another racist march. There is fair and reasonable ridicule of the Basement Boys all over the internet. One example: > **[Petrarca (@petrarca.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/petrarca.bsky.social/post/3mptg2pc3rk2s)** > > This author has chosen to make their posts visible only to people who are signed in. eta: well, rats, I don’t see another source for this. It’s an 8-second GIF of them marching with a big banner reading “Where is the clitoris?” and looks _very_ realistic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470.md?page=34) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-250-the-great-american-state-fair/1030470.md?page=36)