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91传媒

June 29, 2026

Happy Unrequited Birthday, America!

Happy 250th, America! What a gangbuster quarter-millennium of a resume you have assembled. Much to be proud of, and, yet . . . far too few Americans are lining up to blow out the candles.

A revolutionary war brought independence from the British Empire, self-governance and the adoption of natural law. A war with Mexico enlarged the nation by a third. A Civil War put an end to the scourge of slavery. A Trail of Tears was the price of Manifest Destiny, but only Native Americans shed them. The United States became a global superpower after prevailing in two World Wars and outlasting the Cold one.

Along the way the world鈥檚 oldest democracy advanced freedom around the world, accelerated the riches of Western Civilization, sought to perfect Judeo-Christian values, launched scientific discoveries and explored the universe. Meanwhile, in other parts of the globe, hundreds of millions of people living under the Sharia of Islam seemed contentedly stuck in the Stone Age鈥攕toning women, refusing to educate them, killing apostates and hanging homosexuals.

The world鈥檚 oldest democracy advanced freedom around the world, accelerated the riches of Western Civilization, sought to perfect Judeo-Christian values, launched scientific discoveries and explored the universe. Meanwhile, in other parts of the globe, hundreds of millions of people living under the Sharia of Islam seemed contentedly stuck in the Stone Age鈥攕toning women, refusing to educate them, killing apostates and hanging homosexuals.

With all those cinematic fireworks as backdrop, and with the milestone of July 4th imminent, there鈥檚 an appalling amount of doom and gloom about America by its own citizenry鈥攅ven elected officials. The celebratory mood is mixed, if not altogether nihilistic. In lieu of a national pep rally, we鈥檙e forced to vicariously love America through the fanfare and eyes of FIFA fans who are in the United States for the World Cup.

Thank God. At least these surrogates鈥攅stimated at 1.25 million, and counting鈥攁ppreciate America鈥檚 greatness even as Americans themselves take their country for granted. Bashing the homeland has become a new national ethic. We could learn a great deal from Scottish fans in Boston, playing bagpipes in celebration at 6:30 a.m. Germans and other foreigners are touring the country sampling neighborhood hot-spots and the dizzying array of fast food options as if awarding Michelin stars for Shake Shack.

Along the way they are feted by friendly Americans.

Walmart has become a tourist destination for Japanese. Norwegians gravitate to Bass Pro Shops. Soccer fans from Ireland and Holland can鈥檛 get enough of Tex-Mex barbecue. Brazilians are gaily dancing across the Brooklyn Bridge.

American abundance, which was once regarded as a clich茅 for the country鈥檚 crassness, today seems to have captivated the world. Giant retail stores, 24-hour diners, free soda refills, oversized portions are big draws of Americana on its 250th birthday. FIFA鈥檚 visitors may never leave now that they鈥檝e gotten a taste of America鈥檚 excesses and pizazz.

American abundance, which was once regarded as a clich茅 for the country鈥檚 crassness, today seems to have captivated the world.

Here鈥檚 an idea: Maybe we can swap out unpatriotic Americans and trade them for these far more appreciative surrogates? Let鈥檚 see how homegrown, and naturalized, American ingrates鈥攄isgruntled bashers of the land of the free鈥攚ill fare living among the 鈥済rooming gangs鈥 and 鈥渘o-go zones鈥 of Western Europe.

Sexual assault and antisemitic violence have become the bread and circuses of some of Europe鈥檚 once great capital cities. For American Islamists, it will be a blast from the past. Native-born Americans disenchanted with their nation will find the contrast at first illuminating, followed by menacing, and then terrifying.

Recent polling reveals that while 92 percent of Republicans report that they are 鈥渆xtremely鈥 or 鈥渧ery鈥 proud to be Americans, only 35 percent of Democrats are similarly enamored鈥攁 steep drop from 62 percent in 2024. The Democratic Party sure knows how to party-poop on America鈥檚 250th birthday. Only 27 percent display the American flag, as compared with 64 percent of Republican households. Sixty-five percent of Republicans intend to celebrate July 4th cognizant of its special meaning this year, as compared with 24 percent of Democrats, who place a higher priority on holiday sales for outdoor grills and air conditioners.

Sixty-two percent of Republicans agree with the statement: 鈥淭he U.S. is the greatest country.鈥 Fewer than 11 percent of Democrats would be caught dead saying the same thing.

Not surprising, after all the anti-American dogma they鈥檝e been spoon-fed by their teachers, who denounce the United States as an irredeemably racist, Islamophobic nation鈥攐ne unsafe for budding terrorists and their fandom. Purple-haired, mask-wearing, fist-pumping, know-nothing cohorts of Gen Z despise America most of all.

Public听officials and candidates for elective office have been especially contemptuous of the red, white and blue. Senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner听has said that he 鈥渟topped believing in any of the patriotic nonsense.鈥

Aber Kawas, who just notched the Democratic nomination for New York State Senate, once intimated that 鈥淎merica deserved 9/11鈥 and 鈥渂rought it on itself.鈥 Similarly, a听Democratic Socialist congressional candidate from Colorado, Melat Kiros, said that the terrorist attack on 9/11 (and, naturally, 10/7, too), was “inevitable” given America’s foreign policy听in the Middle East.

This was similar to when Squad member Congresswoman Ilhan Omar trivialized 9/11 by referring to it as merely, 鈥淪ome people did something.鈥 She came one vote shy of being censured by Congress. Fellow Squad member Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has accused the United States of enabling Israel鈥檚 鈥済enocide鈥 in Gaza. Sam Rasoul, who sits in the Virginia state House, also holds America accountable for what is a libelous and baseless charge against the 91传媒 state.

Meanwhile, in last week鈥檚 congressional primaries in New York, three Democratic Party candidates, who will inevitably be elected in November, each faulted the United States for the 鈥済enocide鈥 in Gaza. Darializa Avila Chevalier called America a 鈥渇—ing disgrace鈥 and once boasted that, 鈥淚 forgot to get napkins, so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me.鈥

Lovely. Benedict Arnold is calling for her to join his ranks.

Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El鈥慡ayed justified acts of terrorism with the defense 鈥渉urt people hurt people.鈥 Maine鈥檚 U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, professed to be mystified by the fuss over the Nazi tattoo he wore on his chest for well over a decade, took a similar stance on America鈥檚 complicity in genocide.

In their victory speeches, it was remarkable how many listed 鈥淔ree Palestine鈥 as either the first or second takeaway from their campaign. What on Earth does a fictitious country like Palestine have to do with the constituent needs of American citizens?

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the cheerleader for New York鈥檚 expanding delegation of giddy antisemitic, anti-American socialists, has long said that, 鈥淢y support for BDS is consistent with the core of my politics.鈥 Is BDS somehow linked to improving the municipal affairs of New York City? How did obsessing over Palestine become an indispensable policy plank of the Democratic Party?

How did obsessing over Palestine become an indispensable policy plank of the Democratic Party?

July 4th is for kosher hot dogs, not halal food.

Before blowing out the candles on the nation鈥檚 250th birthday, let鈥檚 hope there鈥檚 a new generation of Americans willing to liberate the nation once again. This time from a different insidious monarchy鈥攃omprised of university professors immersed in Marx and co-opted by Qatar, mainstream media with its contempt for the First Amendment if it means reporting the truth, and terrorist-loving elected officials who feel that July 4th鈥檚 fireworks would be better spent burning down the nation.

Absent Paul Revere, might a game FIFA visitor undertake another go at a Midnight Ride?

Absent Paul Revere, might a game FIFA visitor undertake another go at a Midnight Ride? This time, however, we鈥檙e thrilled that 鈥渢he British are here!鈥

We just want some discontented Americans to go!


Thane Rosenbaumis a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He is a contributing writer for White Rose magazine. His most recent book is titled, 鈥Beyond Proportionality: Israel鈥檚 Just War in Gaza.

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250 Reasons to Thank America

We are two Jews in love with America. We鈥檙e also friends. We鈥檙e also writers.

We bond over many things, one of them being an aversion to whining.

We can always find reasons to whine about anything. There are a million reasons, for example, to whine about America, just as there are a million reasons to whine about France, Spain, Israel or Greece.

Given that America is celebrating its 250th birthday this year, we thought we鈥檇 offer you a whine-free zone and share 250 of our favorite reasons to be thankful for America

We picked reasons that move us. You鈥檒l have your own. The point is not to have an exhaustive list but to take a time-out to thank our country.

You can read about America鈥檚 faults everywhere.

In this book you鈥檒l find nothing but gratitude, sometimes hard-earned, always well-deserved.

That is our birthday present, 250 years in the making.

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How Democratic Socialists Are Killing the American Dream

It鈥檚 a bad day for American Jewry when being anti-Israel helps candidates get elected.

Jews are up in arms at this development, as they should be. When three Israel-hating Democratic Socialist candidates win hotly contested House primaries in New York City, backed by Israel-hating Mayor Zohran Mamdani, we should be alarmed.

But if all we do is focus on the assault on Israel, we鈥檒l be making a big mistake.

That鈥檚 because the Democratic Socialist assault is, above all, on America.

Attacking Israel these days is low risk. It鈥檚 a lot riskier to admit that your policies undermine the American Dream.

How so?

However cleverly they are masked, socialist policies are the antithesis of the American creed. This was artfully displayed by Mayor Mamdani in his inaugural message: To 鈥渞eplace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.鈥

That sounds so warm and cuddly, doesn鈥檛 it?

What Mamdani will never tell you is that it was rugged individualism that propelled his own rise to the top of New York politics. It was raw ambition and hard work and relentless networking 鈥 pillars of American liberty 鈥 that made him a winner.

Had he relied on the 鈥渨armth of collectivism,鈥 he鈥檇 still be making hip-hop videos. The savvy mayor knows that cuddly collectivism may help him get votes, but it鈥檚 his drive and tenacity that gave him his American Dream.

Socialists don鈥檛 want you to know that. Admitting that 鈥渞ugged individualism鈥 fires up dreams would only undermine their own dreams.

It鈥檚 not cuddly collectivism that helped these socialists achieve their dreams. It鈥檚 moxie. It鈥檚 agency. It鈥檚 the American creed of making things happen. It鈥檚 everything their policies discourage.

It鈥檚 not cuddly collectivism that helped Bernie Sanders buy his private homes and travel in luxury. It鈥檚 the freedom to take advantage of opportunities, knowing that he lives in a country that rewards hard work.

Of course, 鈥渉ard work鈥 is not an idea that works on the campaign trail. You鈥檙e better off promising a sexy Marxist revolution that demands nothing of voters. Hang out at Starbucks all day while we give you free groceries and freeze your rent. What鈥檚 not to like?

A radical socialist like Darializa Avila Chevalier indeed hates Israel, but it鈥檚 much worse than that. When she says 鈥淣o. more. police. at. all. Ever,鈥 insisting that 鈥渁 world without borders 鈥 just like a world without prisons or police 鈥 is possible, necessary and the only moral way forward,鈥 or brags that 鈥淚 forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my face on the American flag behind me,鈥 that is blatant, shameless anti-Americanism.

As Noah Rothman writes in National Review Online, 鈥淲hat tethers these [Democratic Socialists of America] candidates is not their shared hatred of the Jews or the banks or the moneyed and propertied classes. They hate America and the West 鈥 Marxian revolutionaries do not stop. They must consume continually, find new enemies to demonize and scapegoat 鈥 It is a hate group masquerading as a political movement.鈥

Their hatred of Israel is making all the noise, but it鈥檚 their hatred of America that is most dangerous.

Jews are left in an awkward position. Our natural reflex is to defend Israel against lies and call out the antisemitism spreading throughout the country. While that is obviously important, it would be a blunder to stop there. This is a moment when America itself is under siege. For Jews, it鈥檚 a chance not just to help our tribe but to help our country.

Maybe it鈥檚 not a coincidence that we鈥檙e celebrating America鈥檚 250th anniversary this week. There’s no bigger priority today for American Jewry than to repair the fraying U.S.-Israel relationship. And there’s no better way to begin that process than by showing how much we care for America.

When we take on Democratic Socialists like Chevalier and Mamdani, our message must be: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not just anti-Israel, you鈥檙e anti-America.鈥 When we take on their hypocrisy, our message must be: 听“The American Dream has been good for you, but why not for your voters?”

In short, when we see anyone鈥攔ight or left鈥攗ndermine America and its founding ideals, the 91传媒 message must be: 鈥淲e’re here to keep the American Dream alive.鈥

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Prizmah and 91传媒 New Teacher Project Join Together to Strengthen 91传媒 Day Schools

91传媒 New Teacher Project (JNTP), which helps 91传媒 day school educators gain and maintain their classroom skills, is becoming part of Prizmah, an organization that unites 91传媒 day schools and yeshivas in North America.

鈥淭his is a pivotal moment for 91传媒 day schools,鈥 said Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah. 鈥淪trengthening the educator pipeline is central to Prizmah鈥檚 strategy and to the success of the 91传媒 day school field, and bringing JNTP鈥檚 proven, research-based programs into our platform allows us to grow talent at scale. Together, we can better recruit, develop, and retain the educators and leaders our schools need. This step not only advances Prizmah鈥檚 work. It strengthens the entire field.鈥

Formerly, JNTP was part of the New Teacher Center, for more than two decades. While there was a 91传媒 day school division, the work mostly focused on public schools. According to Nina Bruder, JNTP鈥檚 CEO, after leaving the New Teacher Center in 2025, they wanted to find a new home in the 91传媒 community.

鈥淔rom the beginning, Prizmah was the top and most obvious partner,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e used this year to really dig deep and have a very thorough process. We concluded that this makes the most sense, and the best home for the work we do, which is supporting day schools all across the country.鈥

鈥淔rom the beginning, Prizmah was the top and most obvious partner,鈥 鈥 Nina Bruder

JNTP works with people who are new to teaching and the administration side of day schools. They train in-school mentors who meet weekly with the teachers, help them develop skills, conduct biweekly classroom observations, do goalsetting, and observe student work, lesson planning, and parent-teacher conferences. The organization also assists people who have been promoted for the first time and have to now supervise staff members.

鈥淣o amount of grad school training can prepare anyone for the day in, day out of working in a school,鈥 said Bruder. 鈥淲hat our work does is help people think and react and plan for what work is like on a daily basis. We individualize it for each teacher or administrator.鈥

The organization鈥檚 training can help teachers and administrators stay in their roles鈥攁nd thrive.

鈥淭here is a high rate of burnout in education in general in America, and an entire generation of teachers are expected to retire soon,鈥 said Bruder. 鈥淲ith economy the way it is, and job opportunities that allow you to work from home, fewer people are going into teaching. [With our help], they can be supported and have positive experiences.鈥

JNTP is in 22 states and Canada as well. Locally, they have worked with Pressman Academy, Wilshire Boulevard Temple鈥檚 Brawerman school, Sinai Akiba, Wise School, and Yeshivat Yavneh.

According to Bruder, her organization鈥檚 goal is to make teachers and administrators feel supported every step of the way.

鈥淢y dream is to make sure every school has trained mentors, and all new teachers and administrators get the support they need in their careers,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hen you make a change and you鈥檙e doing something for the first time, it can be scary. Rather than make it up as you go, you can get the research-based support and be successful.鈥

The JNTP-Prizmah partnership is taking place when 91传媒 day school enrollment is up; according to a , 91传媒 day school enrollment across the organization鈥檚 network in North America has grown to 101,000 students in the 2025-26 school year, which is an overall increase of 7,000 students over the past five years.

鈥淒ay schools create communities of belonging, growth, and inspiration,鈥 said Bruder. 鈥淣othing is more influential on the life of student than their teacher, and second to that is their administrator. Creating joyful, purposeful, and inspiring environments where people spend most of their waking hours is so important. Day schools help people grapple and grow and ground in the 91传媒 community and world they face when they leave school.鈥

Bruder is looking forward to starting critical work with Prizmah schools.

鈥淧rizmah brings a national platform, a vast network of 91传媒 day schools, and the infrastructure to scale impact,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he sum will be greater than its parts. We are excited to amplify our respective and combined strengths in supporting the teacher pipeline and educational and leadership excellence.鈥

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The Antisemitism We Keep Missing

Poetica Coffee, a Brooklyn caf茅, promises anyone who walks through its door Not as a customer and not as a transaction, the website explains, but as someone who arrived and deserves to be welcomed.

Recently the same business posted a photograph of Rep. Dan Goldman, who had stopped in for a coffee, and Staff would have turned him away, the post said, had they recognized him in time. For good measure, it speculated that his money was 鈥減robably coming from AIPAC.鈥

The controversy matters not because of one congressman or one caf茅. It matters because of the gap between those two statements鈥攁nd because the people who wrote the second one clearly saw no contradiction with the first. That confidence is the real story.

For nearly three years since October 7th, the 91传媒 community鈥檚 attention has focused on elite institutions: presidents, provosts, trustees, editorial boards, elected officials. Those battles matter. Universities should protect 91传媒 students, public officials should condemn antisemitism, and institutions should enforce their own rules. But even when they do, a deeper problem remains. Antisemitism is no longer something many Jews encounter only from activists with megaphones or radicals occupying campus buildings. It is becoming socially acceptable among ordinary people in ordinary places.

That is what makes the Poetica incident worth more than a news cycle. The owners did not merely criticize Goldman; politicians are criticized every day. They publicly celebrated the idea that someone who supports Israel was unworthy of service, and they did so while presenting their business as a model of inclusion. The casual reference to money 鈥減robably coming from AIPAC鈥 is especially revealing. That is not a policy disagreement about Gaza. It is the oldest insinuation about 91传媒 money resurfacing almost reflexively in a place that imagines itself progressive.

For years, 91传媒 organizations have measured progress through elite signals. Has the president spoken? Has the board acted? Has the governor issued a statement? Has the company adopted a policy? These questions are valid and carry weight, but they tell us surprisingly little about the culture beneath them. A university president can condemn antisemitism while 91传媒 students are quietly ostracized by their peers. A mayor can issue a supportive statement while local businesses signal that Zionists are unwelcome. A corporation can celebrate inclusion while employees quietly learn which identities are protected and which beliefs place a person outside the circle of acceptable opinion. The gap between official rhetoric and social reality has become impossible to ignore.

The gap between official rhetoric and social reality has become impossible to ignore.

What many Jews increasingly encounter is not formal discrimination but social exclusion. They are not denied admission to institutions, but they are told they do not belong in particular communities. They are not silenced by authorities, but they are shunned by peers. And they are not excluded for being 91传媒 in the old sense. They are excluded for being Zionists, a category that happens to include the overwhelming majority of American Jews. That distinction is presented as morally decisive. In practice it rarely is.

The effect is often the same: A 91传媒 student, professor, neighbor, or congressman discovers that support for the existence of the world鈥檚 only 91传媒 state is enough to place him beyond the bounds of polite society.

That is not political disagreement. It is social stigmatization, harassment and exclusion, and it is becoming normalized. Many people who would never tolerate the exclusion of a Muslim, a Black American, a gay neighbor, or an immigrant have convinced themselves that excluding Zionists is not only acceptable but also virtuous. The language of inclusion has been repurposed to justify exclusion; the language of tolerance has become a rationale for intolerance. The contradiction is obvious and increasingly ignored.

This is why elite responses, however necessary, are not enough. A congressional hearing cannot fix a culture. A university policy cannot repair a social norm. A presidential statement cannot persuade millions of people that their neighbors deserve dignity even when they disagree.

The challenge facing American Jews is not only institutional but cultural, and it lives not just in faculty lounges and encampments but in coffee shops, community groups, workplaces, and ordinary social circles. That is the uncomfortable part, because institutions can change rules far faster than people change attitudes.

Poetica later deleted its account, saying it had received threats. Threats are wrong, and they are also beside the point; they do not make the original boast any less revealing.

骋辞濒诲尘补苍鈥檚 over. He recalled that a barista had let his seven-year-old daughter use the restroom without buying anything. He bought a coffee in return and later said he hoped she would still receive her tip. Whatever one thinks of his politics, it was a response grounded in ordinary reciprocity rather than retaliation.

Whatever one thinks of his politics, it was a response grounded in ordinary reciprocity rather than retaliation.

That is the whole tension in miniature. The young woman behind the counter extended the ordinary decency that holds a society together. The owners chose, deliberately and publicly, to advertise exclusion as a virtue. The first instinct is quiet and deeply civic. The second now expects applause.

The struggle against antisemitism will not be won solely in courtrooms, boardrooms, or university offices. It will be won, or lost, in the everyday spaces where people decide who belongs: the coffee shops, the community groups, the professional networks, the social circles. The most revealing incidents are often the smallest ones. They show what people are willing to say when they believe the room agrees. By the time organizations acknowledge a problem, the culture beneath them may already have shifted to a place from which it may be difficult to come back from.


Samuel J. Abrams is a Professor of Politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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