Republicans Don't Own the Fourth of July

We just understand and appreciate it better than those on the far left.  The Stir comments on the Harvard study that came out the other day claiming that Fourth of July parades tend to make people more like to vote Republican:

The Republican Party hasn’t appropriated patriotism and its symbols; it has simply attracted people who love their country and the unique freedoms they enjoy as American citizens. The freedom to work hard and make something of ourselves, the freedom to worship how we see fit, the freedom to vote, the freedom to fail, and the freedom to pick ourselves back up and try again.

We are not ashamed of our country. We love our flag and what it represents. We love our heroes in the military and are grateful for their sacrifice overseas to keep us safe from evildoers back home. We love the pledge of allegiance and say it loudly and proudly. Some of us even get goose bumps at this part:

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Liberty and justice for all. What an incredible statement. Not liberty and justice for the ruling class, but for everyone. In our great nation, it doesn’t matter where you came from – you can go anywhere, do anything, and be anyone.

What’s interesting is that I believe these are things celebrated by the vast majority of both political parties. I believe that most Democrats are proud of their country and grateful of the freedoms and opportunities they have here. I think the shift we’re seeing by many Americans from the Democratic Party to Independent status is a result of some of the extreme liberals in Washington that would try to limit our freedom of choice with things like orders to purchase health insurance. I don’t like the idea that Democrats are not proud of their country, and I refuse to believe it.

So this Fourth of July, go to a picnic, a parade, or a fireworks display. Thank a soldier, hug your friends, and bond over beers and BBQ. Republican or Democrat – it’s good to be an American.

That it is. What the wacky left will never tell us is where they'd rather live since America is in their minds so terribly flawed. Surely there must be a shining symbol of liberalism out there for us all to aspire too.

There isn't. Everywhere the wacky left's ideas have been tried they have failed miserably. We understand that, and perhaps that's why we still get a little choked up at great patriotic events.