As America barrels toward its 250th birthday, the line between national celebration and presidential spectacle is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish.

This week, from proposals involving commemorative currency and passport imagery to plans for a high-profile birthday event on the National Mall, much of the political conversation has focused on the growing perception that the nation's milestone anniversary is being reshaped around the image of one man: Donald J. Trump.

In our analysis, after looking at recent primary elections across six states, and ongoing debates over immigration messaging and controversy surrounding White House rhetoric, and finally, renewed tensions involving Iran, we then focus on whether America's civic traditions, public agencies, and even its national symbols are increasingly being pulled into the orbit of modern political "personality cults."

This episode of Middle Theory is dedicated to mourning and honoring all U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the Armed Forces, and for lives lost in the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran.

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DOLLARS FOR DONUTS

• Lane Marshall
• Daniel Baumberger
• Constance Butterworth
• Jason Ludwig

SHOW NOTES

• ELECTION UPDATE: Six states held primary elections on Tuesday. Here's what we know : NPR
• OGLES: SAY NO TO HOMOS: Republican Rep Declares 'Homosexuality Has No Place in America'
• WAR UPDATE: Iran launches deadly new strikes in Gulf as latest exchange with U.S. tests ceasefire
• ALIENS: Aliens – The White House
• WORDS MATTER: JRS/USA Statement on White House "Aliens" Website
• DEHUMANIZING: White House 'Aliens' website is disparaging to migrants, advocates say
• STRANGER DANGER: The White House's New "Aliens" Website Is Not a Joke
• RIOTER IN THE IC: Pentagon hires convicted Jan. 6 rioter for sensitive counterterrorism job
• TULSI'S OUT: Tulsi Gabbard resigns as national intelligence director, citing husband's health
• MORTGAGE MAN: Trump taps housing regulator turned MAGA enforcer as intelligence chief
• ATTACK DOG: Housing official who targeted Trump's enemies is named director of intelligence
• NEPO BABY: Trump Gives Tulsi G abbard's Job to Nepo Baby Sycophant, 38
• THREAT: Trump's choice of acting intel chief threatens fragile surveillance-powers deal
• BIRTHDAY BOY: America's 250th birthday celebration increasingly centers on Trump
• AMERICA250: America's Bipartisan Birthday Commission Is Losing to Trump
• THE REICH STUFF: The Truth About Tr ump's Birthday Bash - Robert Reich
• ARCH NEMESIS: Trump's arch is atrocious. Don't build it. - The Atlantic
• OBAMA LIBRARY: Inside Barack Obama's audacious, near-windowless, $850m presidential library

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