Saturday, July 2, 2011

Celebrating the Fourth Of July? You Must Be A Republican!

By a slight, statistically insignificant margin, according to a new Harvard Study.

No, I am not making this up. Really. I swear. Paul Bedard had this report in the US World and News Report, "Harvard: July 4th Parades Are Right-Wing." Who knew, right? I just thought these parades were celebrating the Independence of our country. Who knew that they were really right wing breeding grounds? Or so these Harvard researchers claim:
[snip]"Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party," said the report from Harvard.

"The political right has been more successful in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols during the 20th century. Survey evidence also confirms that Republicans consider themselves more patriotic than Democrats. According to this interpretation, there is a political congruence between the patriotism promoted on Fourth of July and the values associated with the Republican party. Fourth of July celebrations in Republican dominated counties may thus be more politically biased events that socialize children into Republicans," write Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor David Yanagizawa-Drott and Bocconi University Assistant Professor Andreas Madestam.

Their findings also suggest that Democrats gain nothing from July 4th parades, likely a shocking result for all the Democratic politicians who march in them.

Uh, yeah - I bet it would be a shocking result. But even more shocking is the percentages by which these researchers claim these findings:
[snip] * When done before the age of 18, it increases the likelihood of a youth identifying as a Republican by at least 2 percent.
* It raises the likelihood that parade watchers will vote for a Republican candidate by 4 percent.
* It boosts the likelihood a reveler will vote by about 1 percent and increases the chances they'll make a political contribution by 3 percent.

[...]

Finally, the report suggests that if people are looking for a super-patriotic July 4th, though should head to Republican towns. "Republican adults celebrate Fourth of July more intensively in the first place." (Click here to read the rest.)

Gosh, "Republican towns" like, say, BOSTON??? Good grief.

Really, these "statistics" are laughable - by 1%? 2%? 3%? What was the margin or error in these stats? Let me guess, 1%? 2%? 3%? What a freakin' joke.

And if I may quote one more comment I saw, I cannot let this one by Michael Dean slip by. It is just too damn funny:
Good News for Democrats!

Who says Democrats don't celebrate Independence Day? Yesterday the White House updated President Obama's July 4th schedule to include a stop in London where the Commander-in-Chief will officially apologize to the Queen and the British people for North America's racist colonial aggression of the late 18th Century that led to the illegal formation of the breakaway United States. In a ceremonial gesture that U.S. liberals call long overdue, the President will formally repay the Crown for the tea and other property lost in 1773 when disloyal Massachussetts residents committed acts of economic terrorism by tossing cases of tea into Boston Harbor. Scientists have reached a consensus that this original so-called "Tea Party" created an environmental hazard which remains a primary cause of global warming and therefore a threat to all life on earth, especially women, minorities, and the poor. In recognition of the worldwide suffering caused by centuries of American exceptionalism, Democrats will mark the upcoming July 4th holiday with legislation calling for a "success surcharge" on all U.S. households earning more than $250,000 per year. Vice President Biden calls it "the patriotic thing to do." Finally, Senate Democrats will celebrate July 4th by joining hands on the steps of the Capitol where they will sing the updated version of "God Bless America" entitled, "May the Deity You Find Least Offensive Improve the Lives of Everyone on Earth, Especially Undocumented Immigrants." Happy 4th of July!!!

Indeed.

Can you believe someone PAID for this study, and even thought to look at it in these terms in the FIRST place? WTH?

Wow, all these years, I was under the misguided assumption that the Fourth of July was a celebration for all Americans to acknowledge the birth of this great Nation. Evidently not, at least according to these Harvard researchers. Enjoy celebrating our Independence Day all by your lonesomes, Republicans. Apparently, the Democrats will be sitting it out... Copyright © 2011 by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

5 comments:

Mary Ellen said...

Isn't it ridiculous how divided our country has become. It seems that we are no longer "Americans" but we are divided by class, politics, gender, etc. Also, the entire meaning of Independence Day is lost on the younger generation, IMO. They don't even know what is in the Constitution, and often say that it's a meaningless piece of paper. So sad.

Our family is just going to sit around and enjoy the day. I've grown tired of fighting the traffic and crowds to go to the fireworks display in town (albeit it is a really great show!) They also have the "Ribfest" in town for the weekend and the crowds that gather there are huge. We may be in a suburb of Chicago, but it's a huge suburb. It's actually a "city" but we are still considered part of the "metropolitan area".

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

I was just having this conversation with my niece yesterday. She was talking abt some of her coworkers saying the Constitution is meaningless to them, and they could care less abt it. They also don't vote. My niece told them not to bother stating their opinion on politics, then.

You may have seen the cover of Time - they have been talking abt it on the news. It is all abt the Constitution and what it means for us today, if anything.

Sigh.

How can people forget how incredibly fortunate we are to live in this nation, in a democracy still fairly young, with the right to vote? Just mind boggling.

I hear you abt not wanting to fight the traffic to go to the show. I think we might head down to the beach on Mon. It's kinda cool - they are having some fighter jets fly down the coast over the beaches. It's wild, starting up at Myrtle Beach, it takes them 2 minutes to get from each beach all the way down to Hilton Head in a matter of abt 16 minutes or so. Wild!

Mary Ellen said...

Oh Rev. Amy! You would love the air and water show in Chicago. It's absolutely amazing. Last year my daughter from NH was visiting with her boyfriend and he has never been to Chicago before. As we were driving down to the Loop, the fighter jets were flying so low over our car as we were driving down Lake Shore Drive, that you could see every detail on the wings. Amazing. My daughter's boyfriend was absolutely shocked at what a great city Chicago is...the lakefront, Millennium Park, the architecture and the museums....not to mention the deep dish pizza. I feel fortunate to live here, especially since I can leave the city and its high taxes and just drive in for the day whenever we want.

He also loved going to the White Sox game, he said the food was way better than Fenway and the seats were a lot roomier.

Traffic...not so much fun, though. Ugh.

It's so freakin' hot today and HUMID! And our air conditioner isn't working well so we turned it off until the guy can check it out on Tuesday. I think it just needs to be recharged, hopefully that's all that it is.

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

ME, yes, I would love the air and water show! I love boats anyway, and jets are just amazing. We got to see the Blue Angels fly here a couple of years ago, and I wanted to become a groupie. Amazing!!

That's so cool abt your daughter's boyfriend. Isn't it fun to see your city through someone else's eyes? It sounds like y'all showed him a great time when he was there.

And yes, Chicago is a nice city. I lived there briefly, and got to go to a Sox game, too, courtesy of a Chicago Bear (he was on the board of an org. for which I worked, and took a bunch of kids - it was the so much fun. He and another Bear showed us their Super Bowl rings, too - cool!!!). LOL abt the food being better than Fenway.

It sounds like you have the best of both worlds - being close enough to the city but far enough away. Perfect!

YUCK abt the a/c. I hope they can get it fixed quickly. Humidity is something I know all abt living down here in the South. I figure it's good for the skin, right? :-)

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

ME, in case you check back - the F-16s that will be flying tomorrow will cover every beach in SC in just 15 minutes. And that is not as fast as they could go. Isn't that amazing?