Hours before Donald Trump addressed the nation on its 250th anniversary, the National Mall was in chaos. A storm was on the way, and law enforcement had ordered the MAGA faithful to evacuate — a process that did not go smoothly. People had waited in the extreme heat for hours to celebrate Trump and America; now they argued with the Secret Service and chanted “USA, USA” out of fury. As the lightning descended, the New York Times liveblog began to sound a little incredulous. A Times reporter heard a man blame the order on “liberals in the weather service.” Crowds seeking shelter found nearby buildings locked up for the holiday. An officer in front of the Commerce Department “shrugged” when someone asked him how to get inside, the liveblog noted. Others huddled inside the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Although Trump eventually appeared on the Mall for his speech, the spectacle had grown damp and strange, a fitting conclusion to months of disorder.

By now the mess is familiar. The Great American State Fair attracted small crowds; some states even declined to participate. Bret Michaels backed out, and so did Martina McBride. The Real Milli Vanilli said they would not perform. When a Washingtonian reporter visited the scene, an Evangelical preacher was holding forth from the main stage without an introduction; “the handful of other spectators” said they don’t know who he is. A mock-up of Trump’s triumphal arch oozed a puslike substance, and a robot dog danced alone in the mud. Nearby, the reflecting pool sat green and full of algae, lethal to ducklings and irresistible to protesters, who demonstrated next to it in costume. A grand jury indicted an Olympic canoe racer for touching a piece of the pool’s disintegrating bottom liner. Two days before the storm, a portion of the stage broke off and nearly struck dancers who were in the middle of a........

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