The president of the United States announced last month that, in place of performances by Martina McBride, Young MC, the surviving members of the Commodores, one member of Poison, and other sought-after musicians who had dropped out after being recruited on apparently false pretenses, he would personally provide the entertainment for a 250th-anniversary celebration of American independence. “On Wednesday, June 24th, at 7 P.M., in magnificent Washington, D.C., now totally beautified, and one of