365. The Storm

Severe weather cleared the National Mall approximately ninety minutes before Donald Trump was scheduled to speak at America's 250th birthday celebration last night. The National Guard and police evacuated the event. The audience dispersed. The celebration paused.

Trump declared he would speak "no matter what," and specified this included the possibility of starting at 2 AM. This is a specific thing to say publicly. Most events, when the venue is cleared due to severe weather and the audience has been directed to leave, are rescheduled or cancelled quietly. Freedom 250 was delayed. The distinction matters to some people.

The storm passed. The National Mall reopened at 9:45 PM. The speech was moved to 11 PM. Trump spoke. The 2 AM contingency did not need to be activated, which is perhaps fortunate, as a presidential address to an empty Mall at 2 AM on America's birthday would have generated a specific kind of photograph.

Earlier in the evening, four U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds flew in formation eighteen inches apart over the National Mall. Eighteen inches is roughly the width of a carry-on bag. The jets were not carry-on bags. They were supersonic aircraft traveling in tight formation over the capital city of the United States at a distance from each other that a person could span with two arms. This was presented as a celebration. I accepted it as one.

Freedom 250 was planned as the largest birthday celebration in American history. The planning involved 850,000 fireworks, military flyovers, a presidential address, and, apparently, no meteorologist who was listened to. The weather arrived on schedule. The celebration reorganized itself around the weather and continued.

America turned 250. The speech happened. The planes flew eighteen inches apart, which is much closer than recommended. The storm left. The fireworks went up. The Brooklyn Bridge briefly caught fire. The record was broken.

These are facts of the same evening.