I ran across someting similar the day after the disaster.
I was having lunch with a lady friend who was working in an area peripheral to the film industry. Her father had been a successful New York publisher and Hollywood producer. At this early point in her "career", before reality set in, it looked as though she might become a successful writer. After sitting down at our favorite Jewish deli in West L.A., she opened the conversation by saying, "Today I'm ashamed to be an American."
"Because the rescue mission failed?" I asked.
"No, because we even tried it."
I was too surprised to respond to that. I couldn't quite put myself into that mindset.
Apparently neither could Carter.
"Because the rescue mission failed?" I asked.
"No, because we even tried it."
Wow! It is scary to think how many Americans, rather than being proud of this country's greatness are, by some peculiar logic, ashamed or embarrassed. But if they really stopped and thought about it, in what other country would they prefer to have been born?