This birthday party is about to be crashed — and it could blow out the candles for Trump

As we go about our spring, awaiting the latest drop of "The Pitt," putting money on the Final Four, or indefatiguiably scrolling dog videos on "X," it's all too easy to pretend that, as bad as things may be, they remain "managably bad," not so bad as to touch you personally, not "that bad," anyway.

At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, please set that comforting thought aside, because things are aligned to get "bad" in a way that most certainly does impact you, badly. Summer is coming, and not just any summer.

This summer promises the confluence of several "once in a generation" moments, and it's best to prepare now. Prepare as one of the "better Americans" the world needs to see.

Things are bad even outside the current political climate. Prices continue to rise, rents are now well over one-third of income, job creation is a thing of the past, the stock market — long overly propped up by exuberant AI investment — is set to burst, and even as Oracle lays off 30,000 employees, AI hasn't yet even checked its coat at the job-loss dance.

And absolutely none of this is getting better while gas remains above $4-a-gallon — a price that may soon sound like a fire sale.

Of course, on top of all of this — and, indeed, exacerbating it plenty, the U.S. is at war, primarily going it alone, burning nearly century-old alliances in a fight the administration couldn't even fake justifying to citizens, too busy making video game memes, leading many to conclude the mission involves keeping Epstein off the front pages, and pleasing Israeli P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu, neither mutually exclusive, nor necessarily unrelated.

Indeed, we appear to be days away from American soldiers on the ground on Kharg Island, a formerly unknown piece of land that few knew functions as the fulcrum for global petro-transport, all threatening to toss global markets into further chaos.

The backdrop constitutes a nightmare of Elm Street order, and would under any administration, but the civilization-threatening dangers only increase exponentially given the nation is led by perhaps the single least adult, least competent, most self-interested, and corrupt administration in memory, perhaps history.

A normal president would have appointed a commission of business leaders and politicians working on how to best integrate AI into a workforce with government programs to create jobs, retrain workers, and develop supplemental income by taxing the billionaires, perhaps real talk about Universal Basic Income — it's time. But all of that presupposes adults in charge.

Instead, we have the "Save America Act," which simply makes it harder to vote, harder to respond to emergencies, harder to evict the people that ushered this in.

Summer is coming. Things happen in summer that don't during any other season; how many hot "firsts" in your life occurred during a summer night? Warmer days bring about more time outside, during later hours, often meaning more alcohol, less sleep. Darkness creates doubt, both on scene in the moment and then the impact in the light of day. This coming summer, riding the war, ICE, prices, Trump — all of it, would be notable on its own, long, hot, and very, very dangerous. But this is no ordinary summer.

Raising matters to Shakespearean tragic comedy level, America is celebrating its birthday this July — entering middle-aged, as countries go. And like many middle-aged birthdays, it comes with some reflection about where we stand, whether we even like ourselves, and where we go from here. Making it worse, rather than have a quiet party among family, we've invited the world to our bash, hosting the world's largest sporting event in FIFA's World Cup, where our best and worst will be on display.

The world will look to America, its host, and rather than see a grateful, generous, modest, and caring nation, the one that saved Europe and Asia post WWII, won the Cold War, and provides disaster relief, it will see Donald Trump — master of ceremonies at the UFC octagon built at the White House, face on a commemorative coin, overseeing a military parade the likes of which only a fascist could love, all taking place in and around what was formerly some of the most respected, hallowed ground on Earth. Masked stormtroopers we call "ICE agents" will be the "face" of America.

Expect more thoughtful Americans to do nearly anything to disassociate themselves with the "patriotic hate-kitsch." We loathe who we've become, can't stand masked ICE agents killing protesters, and kidnapping undocumented workers. We don't support our "Secretary of War" bombing schools to distract from headlines. We're tired of being governed by oligarchs forcing us to work two jobs to barely pay rent, furious that two bags of groceries cost three figures, sigh upon hearing of more lay-offs due to AI, and tired of hearing about ballrooms, presidential crypto-schemes, presidential planes, and cognitive screens "aced" by a fading man.

It will be hot and, with the world's cameras pointed at the United States, expect decent Americans to show up to say "I'm not with them!" and "there is more to America than the man in the White House and those in red hats." As a means of self-cleansing alone, we'll want to distinguish ourselves from faux American-exceptionalism, false pride. It must be done.

But expect the man in the White House to use the situation to his advantage to claim every ounce of power that no previous president wanted. Between millions of us protesting what we have become and the militancy within the oligarchy-in-formation, something will almost surely break.

And please don't discount the possibility that it might be the stock market that breaks first (or at least concurrently), and thus your retirement, your job, your job prospects, "Dow 30k" for those of you who remember irrational exuberance. The only reason that the stock market is even in the mid-40,000 is a massive investment in AI — which, may be the single most destructive economic tool humanity ever created, even assuming it harmlessly does exactly what we ask, and in doing so disappears anywhere from 25%-33% of actual jobs performed by people in need of a paycheck to then go shop at Walmart.

It is April now, and you'd be a fool to think that this summer won't be the longest, hottest, most torrid on record — and it's time to begin preparations.

First, don't stray far from home — who can afford it with gas at $5 anyway? But more importantly, we have a president who is dying to utilize the Insurrection Act, federalizing troops — think "ICE" only better trained. The single last place you want to be if Trump federalizes policing is 2,000 miles from home. Stay close, spend your money on your neighbors.

We have the road map to summer success already. "No Kings" builds momentum with each event, decentralized, democracy at its finest, everywhere - let's repeat, only right in the middle of the festivities, the 250th, the World Cup. One word of caution, though - daytime only, strict curfews. Be responsible. He is dying to invoke as much police power as possible; don't hand him unearned gifts — it's also safer for you.

Welcome the world — the good people of the United States WANT you here. We are proud of who we really are, so let us show you. Let's show you how we protest peacefully, respectfully, away from areas where innocents might otherwise get caught up and get hurt. Trump introduced an "alternative Super Bowl Halftime Show" — perhaps the decent people of the United States could put together an alternative to the octagon and military muscle, focus on the gifts this country has given to the world, the science, the disaster relief, the art, there is endless material.

But everyone had better start to prepare now, put your summer plans in place. It is going to be hot and uncomfortable on many levels. Have no doubt, Donald Trump will likely feel his administration falling apart by summer, making this a dangerous place. Do what you can to make your corner of this country safer, helping your neighbors, building up a real national community, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood.

It is already getting hot and only getting hotter. Best to prepare. Lots of frozen drinks, care, humanity, and smiles, looking out for one another — find a way to help someone else. No ICE, no orange King. We are bigger than any one man or even one party. Let's send the world a message we can be proud of.

A lot of America is still pretty cool.

Jason Miciak is a Rawstory Columnist at Large, a former associate editor at Occupy Democrats, author, and American Attorney. He can be followed on Bluesky, and reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com, and is seeking beta readers for a soon-to-be-released novel.