Proud, but …

Leading up to last week’s Independence Day holiday, a Gallup poll asked: “How proud are you to be an American?” Overall, 85 percent of the respondents said they were “extremely/very proud,” which is roughly where the sentiment has hovered since 2005, when the swell of national pride in the wake of 9/11 subsided. Gallup also asked if the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be pleased with how the country has turned out, revealing that despite their love of country, many—especially conservative—Americans aren’t happy with its direction. (See chart below.)