During May 2026 in West Orange, town employees were instructed to powerwash the rainbow flag off the Town Hall steps. The belated, nonsensical explanation referenced America 250, stating the steps needed to be fixed for the Memorial Day celebration as part of the 250th Anniversary events. Sure, repairing masonry might require a thorough cleaning first; however, it was clear the town had no plan to put it back after the repairs. The unwritten part of the explanation was that someone (the Mayor, the Memorial Day planners, bigots?) didn’t want to see a rainbow flag in their America 250 Memorial Day photos.

Reports from the field by Ryan Novosielski:

5.29.26

A week ago, Delaney Hall became ground zero for grassroots resistance in support of a hunger and labor strike inside the facility. Detainees launched the strike to demand an end to the egregious and inhumane conditions inside the facility. The crowds have grown, and the tension has heightened over the last couple of days. It’s Friday, and protesters are making the same calls to the wider community to join them on the ground in support of the detainees' calls to end their detention.

Newark just held another no‑contest election in which 11.89% of registered voters decided who governs a city of more than 320,000 people. 

This is not an anomaly, but the operating condition of a democracy that has learned how to function without its citizens.