What these surveys reveal is that 9/11 was no blip: Though we had more flag-waving and overt displays in the months immediately after, the belief in American exceptionalism, the commitment to die for one's country and the regard for the military that defends us remain deep, heartfelt and unwavering.
At a time when the punditry continues to obsess over Abu Ghraib, the polls here reveal that Americans respect our military more than any other institution. But this is no knee-jerk jingoism. Americans also oppose the draft, a majority think we are more divided than united on "our most important values," and we are evenly split over whether the Founding Fathers would be pleased with what they had wrought. Even so, nearly 91% report being either "extremely proud" or "very proud" to be an American and 93% say they'd rather live here than anyplace else in the world.
No doubt the Michael Moore brigade will see these results (not to mention the healthy re-enlistment and recruitment rates for our military) as more confirmation of the distinctive stupidity of the American people. But it's a strange champion of the "little people" who believes you can fool all the people all the time.
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Meanwhile - more tham a few showed up in Hong Kong - wanting democracy
