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I think this is very important and something that definitely needs national dialog. I agree with the general idea of this report that something is really amiss. However this report to me is tap dancing around the real issues and ultimately the conclusion does all it can to perpetuate that which is helping to take us down this path to hell and national destruction.

One in Four Believe the Nation is So Divided That a Common National Identity is Not Possible

I'll bet too that those are the ones who are really paying attention.

the product of a two-year study involving a number of our nation's leading academics, public figures, journalists, educators and policy experts

I am glad to see these areas represented but they are also the very same ones who have been instrumental in helping to push us down this path.

America's understanding and appreciation of diversity is important but must be balanced by an emphasis on what we share. "In selecting the title E Pluribus Unum the Project embraces the conviction that plurality and unity are not necessarily in tension with one another, but are supporting ideas of the same national experiment," Ceaser said. "Plurality is only made safe when it is grounded in a deeper commitment to national unity. Unity is the precondition for healthy diversity."

I think that is an important statement and I would go even further to say the words 'diversity" & "important" both need more definition because from where I sit that is a big part of the problem.

that plurality and unity are not necessarily in tension with one another

I would like to see that proved. I don't think I agree but of course it depends on what is meant by "plurality" As I would define this I don't think it is really possible without force like we have now.

The good news is that most U.S. citizens believe there is a unique national identity that defines what it means to be an American. The troubling news is that over six in ten believe our national identity is getting weaker.

I would go even further. I would bet that national identity would by and large be define differently and would also largely be along racial lines although not exclusively.

Indeed, 45 percent of 18-34 year old Americans believe that international law should trump the U.S. Constitution in instances where there is a conflict.

I agree, if this is true it is indeed very troubling. However as I stated above many of the institutions represented in this study are greatly responsible for this. That and the fact that we have given over educating our children to socialist indoctrination centers.

"The weight of all this evidence suggests mounting confusion about the meaning of American national identity and a loss of commitment to its promotion."

As long as we exclusively promote that America is only a "proposition" nation this will continue to be so and continue to worsen. The Balkans come to mind.

They raise subjects that are vital to our future, transcend partisanship

I agree 100% it is vital. I agree as well this should transcend partisanship but the practicality of it is just the opposite.

Silent Spring in 1962 started a conversation that brought about significant changes in our environment

Ironically or maybe not so ironic. Our government in 1965 implemented laws that had and are having grave effects on this very issue.

Amy A. Kass, of the University of Chicago, writes: "The Bradley Project's report addresses the urgent problem of American identity in our global and multicultural age, and its wise recommendations for promoting civic consciousness and civic understanding couldn't be more timely or more fitting."

Indeed. "global" & multicultural" the very two issues that go to the heart of the matter although something tells me that is not what she meant.

affirming the benefits of diversity, but not adopting policies that perpetuate divisions or compromise our national identity

How do you do that? and what EXACTLY is meant by "diversity"?

"The report speaks of a nation 'founded not on a common ethnicity,' but 'on an idea.' And it argues that 'a nation founded on an idea starts anew with each generation and with each new group of immigrants.'" "Knowing what America stands for is not a genetic inheritance," said Ceaser. "It must be learned, both by the next generation and by those who come to this country. From this premise follow many of the recommendations to strengthen the serious study of American principles and the American founding at all levels of education, including college."

This is partly crap and myopic in it ability to completely ignore the role this very mindset plays in out "national identity". It is also suggesting that really the people don't matter it is only the ideas. Most of our ancestors would disagree.