We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

Leave it to the New York Times to undermine the Fourth of July celebration marking America’s hard-fought independence from Great Britain.

Not only is an op-ed run by the paper urging us to “ditch” fireworks and burgers on July 4th, but the piece also wants selfish Americans to reject trucks.

“The conflation of selfishness with patriotism is the thing I have the hardest time accepting about our political era. Maybe we have the right to eat a hamburger or drive the biggest truck on the market or fire off bottle rockets deep into the night on the Fourth of July, but it doesn’t make us good Americans to do such things,” wrote Margaret Renkl.

“The truly American thing would be to join together to make every change we can reasonably make to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, human and other-than-human alike. The truly American thing would be to plant a victory garden large enough to encompass the entire natural world.”

Renkl is identified by the Times as “a contributing Opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics, and culture in the American South.”

Her op-ed opens with a focus on the impact of fireworks on dogs but soon runs astray, expanding that concern to “deer and foxes, opossums and skunks, coyotes and raccoons.” She expresses concern over the pollution caused by fireworks as she frets about climate change and even takes issue with guns, suggesting that “the whole country is arguably suffering from PTSD” as she recalls the random shooting at a Fourth of July parade two years ago in Highland Park, IL.

As for social media, one user responded to suggest that avoiding the New York Times might be the most American thing one can do.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, including that one, as seen on X:

Tom Tillison
Latest posts by Tom Tillison (see all)

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.