Mar 28, 2022 3 min read

Much important world, national, state and local news over the past month has been relegated to the background – some completely overshadowed – by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s horrific invasion of Ukraine.

Unfortunately, there is no sign of that changing anytime soon.

Putin’s threats regarding use of chemical weapons have opened potential prospects for a conflict much broader and intense than what has occurred so far, and news organizations on all fronts must not allow any proverbial stone unturned in their attempts to keep the people of this planet informed.

For Ukraine and the world, the best thing that could happen would be a rising-up of Kremlin leadership to strip Putin of power – a move reminiscent of October 1964, when Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev, the architect of the tensest years of the Cold War that included the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, was deposed.

Khrushchev was pensioned to an apartment in Moscow and a dacha in the countryside; Putin deserves to be confined to one of the coldest regions of his country to live his last days, stripped of all power.

But, for the moment, a time-out from Putin and Ukraine, and a focus on what should be an uplifting project for this country that, instead, is degenerating into a process something much less and embarrassing as well – a situation that demands to be rectified without delay.

That project in question is the planning for the commemoration of 250 years of American independence in 2026.

Most right-thinking people would agree that, by now, planning for an event so potentially massive should be on solid footing and moving consistently in the right direction, despite what is happening in Ukraine and despite the fears and concerns that conflict has wrought in the United States.

Not so. Planning for the nation’s 250th anniversary has, according to the Wall Street Journal, become a war between the federal commission charged with arranging the national celebration and itself “over allegations of featherbedding, favoritism and misappropriation of taxpayer funds.”

Earlier this month, at a closed-door meeting that should not have been “sealed off” from public access, the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission voted 12-10 to support its chairman, Pennsylvania developer Daniel DiLella.

DiLella is under fire from some members of the commission for allegedly transferring improperly some of the commission’s functions and federal appropriations to a private foundation DiLella and his allies control.

With DiLella’s leadership under fire, the Journal reported, “his allies put forward a resolution that augments his power, reduces public access to official proceedings and limits members’ ability to vote on budget and planning issues or speak at commission meetings.”

The Journal quoted Commissioner Andrew Hohns, chief executive of Philadelphia investment firm Newmarket Capital, as saying “there has been little to no focus on the hard work of historic preservation, capital and community investment, and planning for the celebration or building its legacy.”

DiLella disagrees, claiming that “we are on the right path to fulfill our sacred mission to honor this great country.”

People of this nation ultimately will have the opportunity to pass judgment.

It is ironic – “shameful” is a better word – that so much friction has evolved – and is continuing – over celebrating this country’s independence at a time when a ruthless dictator is forcing people of Ukraine to fight and die for theirs.