Whoever is in charge of the story arc over at the White House is really excited about the Fourth of July. This is Independence Day, of course; the day in which we celebrate our decision to kick the British off of the continent over their ever-more-dastardly taxation of the colonies. But, for Team Biden, the 2021 version of Independence Day is going to bring us freedom from the coronavirus. President Joe Biden urged more Americans to get their coronavirus vaccine Wednesday, warning they still had “more to do” in order to celebrate Independence Day with their families. “To celebrate our independence from this virus on July 4th with family and friends in small groups, we still have more to do in the months of May and June,” Biden said. And his speech writers have been stewing on this hokey, on-the-nose narrative for a while. Biden first proposed the idea of allowing families and friends to gather for Independence Day on March 11, but he expressed concern on Wednesday the country was not ready. “If we let up now and stop being vigilant, this virus will erase the progress we’ve already achieved,” he said. We can only imagine what terrible puns and portmanteaus the Biden PR cabal will drop on us come July 4th: “One if by J&J, two if by Pfizer.” “If the Continental Army had has masks, so many fewer future Americans would have died from smallpox.” “You know what else is ‘Common Sense’?  Social distancing.” The cringe cometh, folks.

The politicization of American sports has been ongoing for some time, perhaps decades, but the most recent acceleration of this melding has come thanks to the power of social media and the blurring of the line between celebrity and athlete. At the forefront of this movement has been the NBA, and, more specifically, superstar LeBron James. This week, James came under fire for a tweet in which he referenced the Derek Chauvin trial’s guilty verdicts, with a photo of another officer who was involved in the shooting of a young black girl and text stating “you’re next”. The tweet was seen as a threat by many, including the Fraternal Order of Police who responded harshly. On Wednesday, James tweeted a photo of the officer involved in the shooting with a caption reading “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY.” The tweet has since been deleted. James was reacting to the deadly police shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant. Hours later, the National Fraternal Order of Police tweeted a photo of James’ original tweet, saying: “[email protected], with his vast resources & influence, should educate himself and, frankly, has a responsibility to do so, on the facts before weighing in. This is disgraceful & extremely reckless. The officer saved a young girl’s life. No amount of gaslighting will change that fact.” James attempted to walk back the tweet after deleting it, by issuing an explanation that garnered only a lukewarm response online.