Yesterday was a huge day for America. Malia Obama turned 18; her father embarrassed her, as is a dad’s primary responsibility, by (badly) singing “Happy Birthday” to her in front of the whole internet. And of course, our fair nation turned 240 years old. Everyone wanted to celebrate by seeing Hamilton but settled for watching fireworks explode over the Capitol dome, as is tradition.
Those who trekked to the District to watch the fireworks from the National Mall sat in a lovely, Washingtonian mist of humidity, drizzle, and fog. The fireworks looked, to use a technical term, meh. But those who watched A Capitol Fourth on PBS saw fireworks in HD. They looked crisp and dazzling. A little too crisp and dazzling, it turns out.
Amid outcry on Twitter from local viewers that the fireworks on TV could not possibly be the very same fireworks snap-crackle-popping in the District’s night sky — the special also included live performances, during which the cloudy sky was plainly visible — PBS admitted that it edited the broadcast. Much of what aired on television was in fact footage from the archives.
During the show, PBS apologized on Twitter. “We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and the previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do.”
Ah, yes. The true definition of patriotism: Trying to pass off a mash-up of old and new stuff as totally original material and hoping you don’t get caught.
The following morning, the station issued another statement:
— A Capitol Fourth (@July4thPBS) July 5, 2016
Finally: The kind of scandal that can rock a nation to its very core. This is a real slippery slope, and I’m not just talking about the hill in front of the Capitol after two days of on-and-off inclement weather. How can we ever trust our televisions again? If we faked the fireworks, did we fake the moon landing? Wake up, sheeple.