Thune's Senate won't pass or even vote on the the SAVE AMERICA but this they pass in a heartbeat.
The saddest number in the Reuters/Ipsos America 250 poll is not Donald Trump’s approval rating, which is bad enough. It is not the 77% of Americans who expect political violence to increase over the next five years. It is not even the 38% who doubt the United States will exist as a single country in 2276.
The saddest number is 30.
America reaches its 250th birthday not as a confident republic, but as an anxious one.
Only 30% of Americans say America is the greatest country in the world.
That doesn’t mean the rest hate the country. Polls can reveal what people are willing to say. They are notoriously bad at explaining why they say it. Forty-eight percent say America is one of many great countries. Thirteen percent say America is not great at all.
But the partisan split exposes the wound. Sixty-two percent of Republicans say America is the greatest country in the world. Only 11% of Democrats say the same. Among independents, the number is 20%.
We’re past mere disagreements over policy. People are no longer talking about the same country.
America approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and Americans can barely agree what the birthday means. Seventy percent say observing the anniversary matters. But only 34% say they are likely to attend or view an America 250 event. Fifty-five percent say they are unlikely. Sixty-three percent say the events have become too political.
Even the Fourth of July no longer escapes the country’s partisan sorting. Asked what best describes the holiday, 42% call it “a day where I celebrate the United States of America.” Among Republicans, 65% choose that answer. Among Democrats, only 24% do.
Twenty-four percent of Democrats and independents say they will not celebrate at all, compared with 8% of Republicans.
Flags tell the same story. Forty-one percent of Americans say they will display a flag or bunting outside their home on July Fourth. Sixty-four percent of Republicans will. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats will. Thirty-three percent of independents will.
A flag should not require a party registration. Neither should gratitude.
RELATED: Damning poll reveals what Democrats actually think of America ahead of its 250th birthday
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The Reuters/Ipsos poll is not an outlier. Gallup reported in 2025 that American pride had fallen to the lowest point in its polling history. In 2001, 87% of Americans said they were extremely or very proud to be American. After 9/11, that figure rose to 90%. Last year, it fell to 58%.
The partisan gap was immense: 92% of Republicans, 36% of Democrats, and 53% of independents said they were extremely or very proud to be American. PRRI’s 2026 America 250 survey was even bleaker: 51% of Americans said they were extremely or very proud of being American, down from 82% in 2013.
This problem cannot be solved by scolding. Some Democrats should be ashamed of their reluctance to love the country that shelters them. Some Republicans should be ashamed of mistaking loyalty to a president for loyalty to the republic. But contempt will not repair our civic fabric.
The more painful truth is that the presidency has become a proxy for the country. When their side holds the White House, Americans find it easier to say the country is good. When the other side holds it, the flag begins to look like a campaign banner, the holiday like a rally, and the anniversary like propaganda.
A healthy polity would know the difference between a country and an administration. Presidents come and go. The country remains. The Declaration remains. The graves remain. The songs remain. The old promises and principles remain.
But Americans struggle to make that distinction.
Still, the Reuters/Ipsos poll contains signs of life. Seventy-five percent say they value elections even when their party loses. Seventy-three percent say democracy is the best form of government. Seventy percent say the Declaration’s 250th anniversary should be observed. Sixty-one percent say celebrating July Fourth should make them think about America’s founding beliefs and ideals.
Ken Cedeno/AFP/Getty Images
Those are not the numbers of a dead country. They are the numbers of a seriously wounded one.
The distinction is vital because wounded countries can still heal. Dead ones obviously cannot. Americans have not forgotten the old civic language — at least not entirely. We still recognize liberty, democracy, the Declaration, the flag, and the Fourth. But those words now come carrying the stench of faction.
So America reaches its 250th birthday not as a confident republic, but as an anxious one. We still have fireworks, flags, cookouts, parades, and songs. Beneath the rituals sits a terrible question: Can a people remain one people when they no longer know how to be grateful for the inheritance?
Polls cannot answer that. They only show the wound.
A nation does not survive 250 years because its people are always proud of it. A nation survives when enough people love it through disappointment, correct it without despising it, and inherit it without pretending they invented it.
America doesn’t need citizens who pretend the wound is not there. It needs citizens who can see it clearly and love the country anyway.
Ukraine said Tuesday its forces struck a railway bridge, a power plant and other key infrastructure targets in Crimea as Kyiv's military seeks to isolate the vital Russian-held peninsula in the latest stage of the 4-year-old war.
The post Ukraine Claims Successful Strike on Crimea Railway Bridge and Power Plant appeared first on Breitbart.
Film archives are pulling back the curtain to provide footage of an unfinished Orson Welles piece that he worked on for decades.
Spanish, French, Italian, and German sources are working together to allow the reconstruction of lost works that the "Citizen Kane" writer started production on in 1957.
'Welles' death in 1985 at age 70 meant he could not finish what was more than 30 years of work.'
Welles started the project in the 1950s in Mexico and continued to compile scenes and make changes in 1961 and 1969, Wellesnet reported. This footage was the start of Welles' work on a film adaptation of "Don Quixote," the 17th-century book that is widely credit with more than 500 million sales.
The deaths of multiple actors did not prevent Welles from continuing the project in 1972, then shifting to color footage, as he put together what is believed to be an experimental film format.
Although the movie is believed to have been nearly finished by 1982, Welles' death in 1985 at age 70 meant he could not finish what was more than 30 years of work.
Now, reconstruction of the film is set to commence through the collaboration of film archives across Europe, which will release the footage to be compiled and overseen by author and filmmaker Esteve Riambau.
Riambau published a book about Welles in the year of his death, and the Spaniard has reportedly been petitioning for the last two years to get approvals of the archival footage.
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Eduardo Parra/Europa Press/Getty Images
Mass amounts of film reel will be compiled from sources including Oja Kodar, Welles' unwed partner at the time of his death. The Croatian actress won custody of the "Don Quixote" negatives in 2017, which consists of 50,000 meters of film.
From France, the Cinémathèque Française will contribute a reported 80 minutes' worth of 35mm film that was actually screened at the Cannes Film Festival in the mid-1980s, according to citations in a Welles biography.
The Filmoteca Española in Spain has another reported 50,000 or so meters of 16mm film that it acquired in 1991, holding all the rights to the materials under the category of cultural and research purposes.
RELATED: Saving History
Central Press/Getty Images
The Filmmuseum München in Munich will contribute its own prints, negatives, tapes, videos, and other documents from Welles' films, including items that are said to only be "referring" to the "Don Quixote" project.
The intention — for unknown reasons — is that there will be three versions of the film, which will be screened at festivals and archives on a nonprofit basis.
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The government-established independent inquiry into Muslim child rape grooming gangs will begin its investigation with Bradford, Oldham, and London, despite long standing denials from Mayor Sadiq Khan that the British capital was impacted by the scandal.
The post Statutory Grooming Gang Inquiry to Begin With Investigations into Bradford, Oldham, and London appeared first on Breitbart.
Never forget the Democrats voted against stopping fraud in America.
We need this -- at scale.
A recent national survey found something rather alarming. Nearly half of Americans say the fun has faded from their lives. The top excuse is predictable — money. Over half say they simply can’t afford to enjoy themselves any more.
Interestingly, the people who do make time for fun report less stress, stronger relationships, and more motivation. In other words, the payoff is real. And the barrier is not as simple as the price tag.
There’s also something to be said for reviving lost habits: pickup sports, church gatherings, volunteering, even old-fashioned storytelling.
We have trained ourselves to think fun is expensive. That didn’t happen by accident. Social media sells a deadly diet of curated lifestyles — vacations, rooftop bars, luxury dinners, perfectly staged “memories.” Reality TV ups the ante with drama and excess. Fun, in this version of life, is something you buy, document, and broadcast. If it doesn’t look impressive, it doesn’t count.
That idea is both wrong and exhausting.
Simple, local, sharedFor most of human history, fun was simple, local, and shared. It was built around people, not purchases. Somewhere along the way, we replaced connection with consumption and then acted surprised when both our wallets and our spirits ran dry.
The truth is, some of the best forms of fun cost next to nothing, and they tend to be the ones that actually work.
Start with the obvious: time with other people. The survey itself admits what many already know but ignore — shared fun strengthens relationships. Not curated, expensive outings. Just shared time.
A backyard cookout beats a $200 night out more often than people admit. A few burgers, a cheap speaker, maybe someone brings a folding chair that’s seen better days. It’s not glamorous. That’s the point. People relax. They talk. They laugh hard, let their hair down, and leave feeling re-energized.
Playing, not payingGame nights are another example. Not the staged, Instagram-ready kind, but the slightly chaotic version. A deck of cards, an ancient board game, or even something improvised. Half the fun is in the arguing over rules and the inevitable cheating accusations.
Then there's the outdoors, still one of the best bargains left in America. A walk through the neighborhood, a hike up a nearby trail, a pickup game at the local court, an afternoon fishing at a quiet pond. None of it costs much more than the time you put in.
Even something as simple as a long drive can reset a person. No destination needed. Just music, conversation, and maybe a wrong turn that ends at a gas station selling fireworks, ammunition, and wedding dresses. Gas costs money, sure. But compared to most “entertainment,” it’s pocket change
Some ideas lean practical. Others lean a bit ridiculous, and that’s part of their charm.
RELATED: My new hack for a long, healthy life? Getting married
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Thrift tourTry a “no-spend day” with friends or family. The rule is simple: No one spends a dime, but everyone has to contribute an idea. You end up with a strange mix. Maybe a park visit, followed by a kitchen experiment, followed by someone insisting on teaching a skill they barely understand.
Or host a “bad movie night.” Everyone brings/suggests the worst film they can find. The goal isn’t to be entertained, but to acknowledge how terrible it is. You’ll get more genuine enjoyment out of that than sitting silently through a $250 million film whose plot you couldn't summarize at gunpoint.
There’s also something to be said for reviving lost habits: pickup sports, church gatherings, volunteering, even old-fashioned storytelling. These used to be normal parts of life. Now they feel almost novel, which says more about our culture than it should.
Other people's funThe issue goes beyond money. It comes down to isolation.
The same survey points out that social circles have shrunk. People have fewer friends, fewer regular meetups, and fewer shared routines. That is not solved by a bigger paycheck. You can have more money and still sit alone on a couch, scrolling through other people’s “fun.”
In fact, that’s exactly what many people do.
There’s an idiotic assumption that if finances improved, life would suddenly feel fuller. But look at the data again. What people actually benefit from is participation rather than spending. It’s being with others. It’s stepping out of the passive role and into something shared.
Money can help, no doubt. It can remove certain barriers. But it cannot replace effort, initiative, or community. Those are choices.
If anything, the “money excuse” has become a convenient shield. It lets people avoid the obvious truth. Building a life with real enjoyment requires intention. It requires calling people, making plans, and actually showing up at the agreed-upon venue at the agreed-upon time.
Fun still exists. It just got crowded out — by work, by screens, by the idea that everything worthwhile must come with the swipe of a credit card.
Once we drop that idea, something refreshing happens. Fun becomes accessible again. So make the call, organize a game night, watch a so-bad-it's-good movie with more than one sad soul in the room. And prove that fun doesn't require a reservation, a dress code, or a payment plan.