{"id":2440,"date":"2026-06-19T12:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T12:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440"},"modified":"2026-06-19T12:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T12:37:24","slug":"the-one-growing-gap-between-dems-and-republicans-that-shouldnt-ever-exist-patriotism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440","title":{"rendered":"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn’t ever exist — patriotism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Democrats take great offense at being accused of being unpatriotic \u2014 but the data doesn\u2019t lie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Switzerland just set a great example for America on immigration \u2014 we need to have a national conversation<\/a><\/p>\n

A new NBC News poll captured the partisan gap over pride in America.<\/p>\n

Overall, 56% of Americans are extremely or very proud of the country, but only 29% of Democrats, compared to 90% of Republicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a yawning gap, and about a matter that really shouldn\u2019t be controversial.<\/p>\n

We aren\u2019t talking about abortion, or Donald Trump\u2019s White House ballroom, but an elemental thing \u2014 pride in country \u2014 that in most times and places has been taken for granted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, that was the case here. The Gallup poll found in January 2001 that nearly 90 percent of Americans were extremely or very proud of the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2017, according to Gallup, 75% of the public said that they extremely or very proud of America \u2014 a low at the time \u2014 and it\u2019s been down since.<\/p>\n

The decline has been driven largely by Democrats.<\/p>\n

Their disdain for President Trump clearly is responsible for some of the drop, but not all of it.<\/p>\n

Democrats were less proud of the country than Republicans even when Barack Obama and Joe Biden were president. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Obviously, pride in country shouldn\u2019t depend on who the president is; the country is so much more than its politics.<\/p>\n

Mark Twain said, aptly, that \u201cthe only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, loyalty to the government when it deserves it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even if you have contempt for the party in power, there\u2019s the country\u2019s founding, its constitutional system, its stupendous wealth, its great heroes, its victories in two world wars, its natural beauty and its endlessly interesting, fair-minded and inventive people to feel proud of.<\/p>\n

Many Democrats are unmoved by these things, or consider them sources of embarrassment.<\/p>\n

The founding? Tainted by racism.<\/p>\n

The constitutional system? An antiquated obstacle to progress.<\/p>\n

The economy? Rigged by and for billionaires.<\/p>\n

Our heroes? Feet of clay or worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A key word here is \u201csystemic,\u201d as in \u201csystemic racism,\u201d which suggests that racism is not a product of historical circumstance, but endemic to the American project itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why feel pride in a country that is not yet redeemed, indeed may be unredeemable?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The left \u2014 especially in the academy \u2014 has long advanced the view that America\u2019s role in the world is predatory and imperialistic.<\/p>\n

Read more Hunter Biden challenges Donald Trump Jr. to cage fight in unhinged rant attacking UFC Freedom 250 event<\/a><\/p>\n

Over time this radical critique of US foreign policy has gained more traction within the Democratic mainstream.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the attitude toward small-scale expressions of patriotism \u2014 American flag imagery, lapel pins, fly-overs, Lee Greenwood songs and the like \u2014 that progressives tend to consider crude or jingoistic.<\/p>\n

James Talarico, the Democratic US Senate candidate in Texas, once called the American flag \u201ca complicated symbol.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the national banner doesn\u2019t elicit an instinctive feeling of devotion, one\u2019s attachment to the country is likely attenuated as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many progressives would counter that America is a set of ideals, and we should feel fealty to it only to the extent we realize those ideals.<\/p>\n

But the country and its people are also a concrete reality, and you either like them or not, feel connected to them or not, and \u2014 this is close to the crux of the matter \u2014 feel grateful for them or not.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Nearly everyone who isn\u2019t particularly proud of America is still incredibly indebted to it, benefiting from its liberty and prosperity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a profound act of ingratitude not to return the debt with a sense of reverence and obligation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not enough to say, in effect, you\u2019ll feel proud of the country at some future point when it has meet certain social and political benchmarks.<\/p>\n

This amounts to a version of St. Augustine\u2019s famous prayer: \u201cLord, make me patriotic, but not yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

In short, patriotism shouldn\u2019t be a partisan issue, rather a foundational commitment of both parties and all factions.<\/p>\n

These days, though, we can\u2019t even agree to feel proud of the nation we share \u2014 and to which we all owe so much.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Josh Hart\u2019s wife touches his behind in viral Knicks parade moment<\/a><\/p>\n

X: @RichLowry<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrats take great offense at being accused of being unpatriotic \u2014 but the data doesn\u2019t lie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-rich-lowry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn't ever exist - patriotism - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn't ever exist - patriotism - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Democrats take great offense at being accused of being unpatriotic \u2014 but the data doesn\u2019t lie.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T12:37:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn’t ever exist — patriotism\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T12:37:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440\"},\"wordCount\":740,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5f556bbe29474dc5f4c028f41b46e6e0.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\",\"Rich Lowry\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440\",\"name\":\"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn't ever exist - patriotism - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5f556bbe29474dc5f4c028f41b46e6e0.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T12:37:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5f556bbe29474dc5f4c028f41b46e6e0.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5f556bbe29474dc5f4c028f41b46e6e0.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2440#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn’t ever exist — patriotism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn't ever exist - patriotism - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn't ever exist - patriotism - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Democrats take great offense at being accused of being unpatriotic \u2014 but the data doesn\u2019t lie.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T12:37:24+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn’t ever exist — patriotism","datePublished":"2026-06-19T12:37:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440"},"wordCount":740,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5f556bbe29474dc5f4c028f41b46e6e0.webp","articleSection":["Opinion","Rich Lowry"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440","name":"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn't ever exist - patriotism - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5f556bbe29474dc5f4c028f41b46e6e0.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-19T12:37:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5f556bbe29474dc5f4c028f41b46e6e0.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5f556bbe29474dc5f4c028f41b46e6e0.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2440#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The one growing gap between Dems and Republicans that shouldn’t ever exist — patriotism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}