I’m surprised Trump and his cult want all of the nation to celebrate the 250th anniversary of independence.

The key word in the above sentence is celebrate.

It’s hard to think of people more miserable than Donald Trump, the kakistocracy that comprises the U.S. government and his mean-spirited MAGA supporters. If you told me they all suffer from chronic constipation, I would believe it.

Two prime examples of recent Trumpgrump:

— Apparently, Trump thinks you don’t work enough. The guy who put a cage match on the White House lawn for his birthday said that there are too many non-working holidays and they’re bad for the nation’s economy. 

He said this, of course, on Juneteenth, a recently created holiday to mark the anniversary of when slaves in Galveston, Texas, finally found out they weren’t slaves anymore. Yeah, why would Trump want to celebrate that?

But he couldn’t mention Juneteenth specifically because that would mean he’s a racist – although, note to Donald, that’s not particularly well-hidden. Instead, he said that there are too many holidays in general, and we need to get rid of some of them to make our economy great again.

Ha! No workers in the developed world take as little time off as Americans. There are countries that shut down for entire months in the summer. There are countries that give parents six months or a year of time off for a newborn or adoption.

Trump thinks 10 paid holidays a year is too much. He’s on board with not taking all your vacation time at work. You have to make him and his friends more money. That’s your purpose in life.

— One of the biggest reasons that young people don’t want to start a family is that they can’t afford a home for kids to have the same quality of life they did.

In a lightning bolt of bipartisanship, Congress passed a measure aimed at making homes more affordable. Among its provisions, limits on investment firms purchasing residential housing, one of the things driving the tight market.

It’s a win for Republicans in a time when wins are hard to get. You would think Trump would just take the gift of a chance to look like a leader that the Democrats helped give him.

Nah.

Trump canceled a ceremony to sign the bill because he wants to push his divisive bill on voter ID that would, among other things, disenfranchise married women.

So a happy moment of accomplishment turns into another head-butting stupor.

The funny thing is that the only way Trump can stop this bill from going into effect is vetoing it and forcing the bill’s advocates to come up with a two-thirds majority to override. And somebody would be embarrassed by that – either Trump, because for once Republicans would stand up to him, or the Republicans, because they would capitulate to Trump once again, helping Democratic campaign writers again.

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Joy is not lost.

In New York, a million people turned out to celebrate the New York Knicks’ NBA championship. In Chicago, the opening of the Obama Presidential Center was marked with amazing musical performances and a wonderful tribute to the former president from the former First Lady.

Throughout the country, visitors from around the world attending the World Cup are discovering that most Americans are not as miserable as Donald Trump. The joyous celebrations of the Scots in Boston, the Norwegians here in New York, among others, are giving the lie to the notion that American cities – especially those in blue states -are hellholes.

It’s also Pride Month. And despite no official recognition from their president and the sour pusses of people like the San Francisco Giant pitchers who are trying to use the Bible to “reclaim the rainbow,” the celebration of love for whoever you want to love continues full bore.

You know, it’s fun to be happy. It makes you feel better. It makes you like the people around you more.

Maybe that’s why Jefferson threw in that line about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” when he wrote the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago. It’s in our national DNA to seek good times. To try to smile.

Trump and his ilk should try it sometime. Instead of complaining about a nation of immigrants and differing ways of looking at the world. Instead of aspiring to some ridiculous notion of warriorism.

You know, instead of being jerks.

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