On Monday, Gallup released a poll that should be shocking: most Americans say they’re not extremely proud to be American. That’s the first time since Gallup began asking the question in 2001 that a minority of Americans haven’t been extremely proud of their national identity.

What’s more telling is the partisan breakdown. Just 32% of Democrats say they’re extremely proud of the country, down from 56% in 2013; 42% of independents say they’re extremely proud of the country, down from 50% in 2013; 74% of Republicans say they’re extremely proud, compared to 68% who said so in 2016.

The most telling part of this breakdown isn’t the shift, which is likely due to Trump’s election. The most telling part is the baseline: even when Obama was president, only a slight majority of Democrats felt extremely proud to be American, compared to a supermajority of Republicans. Why are Democrats so much less likely to be extremely proud of being American?

The answer lies in the ideology of the Left, which sees the story of America as a story of original sin, punctuated by occasional Leftist victories. In this view, America was founded on slavery and bigotry and rich white property ownership, and only through the bravery of those willing to reject the system have those excesses been curbed. America exploits foreign nations for its own profit; America engages in cultural imperialism; America is rude, brash, and militaristic. That’s the Howard Zinn view of the country, and it has increasingly affected the Democratic Party mainstream. – READ MORE