Goat, we all expect you to watch/listen to this a few dozen times, and then come back and edit this post:@unclemark Here's part of the statement Martina McBride made when she bailed yesterday.
"I would like to talk to you and clear the air. I will not be performing at the Great American State Fair on June 25. I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a non-partisan event but that turned out to be misleading. I asked lots of questions and was assured this was a non-partisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states. In my mind I thought this was a great way to celebrate the states and also bring people together in the way that only music can. I saw it as just a bigger version of so many state fairs I have performed at over the years, celebrating community and what makes each state special. Sounds fun, right? Wholesome even. Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening."
Even for something as historic as the 250th anniversary of the birth of the US, Trump has to co-opt it and turn it into a partisan, MAGA-only, look at ME (Trump) celebration. Dirtbag.
If you would like to attend the Democrats' version of a 250th celebration you can just hop in on your local teen takeover.
I don't want a "Democrats" version.
You missed the entire point, but that's not unexpected.
No. You missed my point. What Democrat would attend a 250th celebration? The majority of you aren’t even proud of being an American. It’s not a celebration meant for you guys.
Being proud of an identity is weird. Pride should be reserved for some sort of accomplishment. I guess if you immigrated (legally), and did your time, and studied what you needed to, and passed your citizenship test, and said your pledge, yeah, you have a right to be proud of your status as an American. But the vast majority of us are American because our parents were here and decided to have sex. We didn't do anything to be proud of.
Of course, I don't think Republicans are far more likely to have pride in an identity than Democrats. The gap is probably reflective of the types of identities each political persuasion thinks it is appropriate to have pride in. I'm guessing, for example, you'll find Democrats to be much more comfortable with being "proud to be African American" than Republicans, while you'll find almost zero Democrats who would admit to being "proud to be white." Similarly, I bet plenty of Republicans would have no problem displaying pride in their Christianity (although that has its own obvious issues!), whereas those same people would find Muslim pride quite distasteful.
I imagine the Republicans are consistently at the top of the poll you shared primarily because they are instinctively more comfortable in showing pride in one's national identity simply as a corollary to their particular understanding of patriotism. The widening gap on the right half of your graph is almost certainly nothing more than a side effect of the increasing distaste the left and independents have for MAGA populism in general, combined on the Democrats part with simply generic response to political events. In other words, that graph really is not much more than a reflection of how people respond to Trump and the various elections he's been part of. That's why independents follow a steady decline, while Dems plummet after 2016, but rebound temporarily after 2020.
NB: Yes, I realize that the phrase "proud to be an American" is depressingly vague, and a lot of respondents are probably thinking less of pride in their identity as an American, and rather thinking of whether or not they have pride in what America is to them at that moment, and how America is behaving in their opinion at that moment. So depending on the respondent, one person might actually be interpreting the question as "Are you proud of your American identity?" while another might actually be interpreting it as "Are you proud of America?"
I was proud, too. Attended the speech in Grant Park in a Hope shirt. Still have it.I was never prouder of being an American than when Obama was first elected in November of 2008.
My head is still spinning from what has happened since.