Today is Saturday, July 5, 2025. It’s just a day after our “day of mourning.,” which is equivalent to July 4. An online article in Democracy Dies in Darkness hits home about how pride in being American has slumped to a national low since Diaper Don was inaugurated in January. Any fucking wonder? The article was written by Niha Masih and is entitled “National pride in the U.S. has declined sharply, Gallup survey.”

Thus only 58 percent of adults in the nation are “extremely” or “very” proud to be American [I’m shocked it’s even this high!], according to a Gallup poll released this week. This percentage represents the lowest level recorded by the company in the more than two decades since it started including the question in surveys.

The dramatic decline was driven – as predicted – not by repugnicans but by Democrats. Republicans who share the same delusional aspects of Diaper Don’s personality had strong feelings of national pride, according to the poll published Monday. Again, this result just shows – once more – the deepening partisan divide in the U.S. I can predict, though, when effects of Diaper Don’s “ugly, mean bill” start affecting people in rural, red states, I fucking hope that these people who are repugnicans will change their minds about how proud they are in being Americans. They will have nothing to show for their continuing support of the Orange Cheeto by then.

According to the poll, “At the beginning of the 21st century, U.S. adults were nearly unanimous in saying they were extremely or very proud to be Americans. But that national unity has eroded over the past 25 years due to a combination of political and generational changes.” In my mind, it’s not all Chump; it’s the rise of social internet platforms like TikTok, X, and Instagram or whatever that has caused this rift. These were not as dominant 25 years ago.

Also, younger Americans, particularly Gen Z, were more likely not to be proud of their country compared with previous generations. Thirty-six percent of Democrats expressed strong pride in their country in this year’s poll, down 26 percentage points from last year to a new low. Political independents also reached an all-time low, with 53 percent expressing great pride.

“The 56 percentage point gap between Republicans and Democrats is at its widest since 2001, when Gallup started surveying national pride.”

The new poll was conducted between June 2 and June 19 before the U.S. military strikes on nuclear sites in Iran, which could bolster the percentages even more for those feeling less patriotic for this country. Gallup says it was conducted through telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,000 adults across the country; the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for overall results.

“Referencing some of its previous polls, the company said the decline in national pride has come amid waning optimism about the future, widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country as well as ‘unfavorable images of both parties, and intense partisan rancor during the Trump and Biden administrations.'”

In the run-up to last year’s presidential election, The Washington Post reported that the “U.S. has become more polarized than ever, with more inflammatory rhetoric and anger.” This I totally blame Diaper Don for!

The survey showed clear generational differences, with each successive generation “less likely than the previous one to say they are extremely or very proud to be an American.”

Less than half of Generation Z (those born after 1996, according to Gallup) – or 41 percent – expressed strong national pride between 2021 and 2025, while that number was 58 percent among Millennials (those born between 1980 and 1996). Those figures are lower than the 71 percent among Generation X, 75 percent for Baby Boomers, and 83 percent for the Silent Generation.

Peter Loge, associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, said, “Negative partisanship is a feature of our politics.” He added, “Rather than agreeing with a party platform, negative partisans disparage people who agree with the other party.”

Loge indicated that Generation Z has “been told by the right that Democrats are anti-American [not true!], unpatriotic, and beyond redemption. They have been told by the left that Republicans are anti-American [so true!], fascistic [definitely true!], and beyond redemption.” As long as they have drunk the Kool-Aid for Diaper Don, they are beyond redemption, in my opinion.

I won’t compare this poll’s findings with those conducted by Fox News that was somewhat at odds with the Gallup findings. To me, it’s not credible at all since this supposed “news” station lies all the time. I have not and will never watch this network.

I thought I’d circulate these findings in the wake of our 249th birthday that was just marked yesterday. As you know, I was absent because Elliot and I were spending the holiday out in Woodmere with our friends “Mary” and “Joseph.” We brought a hefty chunk of flank steak for Joseph to barbecue. There were just two more guests sitting on Mary and Joseph’s porch: Joseph’s brother, “Richard” and his girlfriend “Melanie.” They were reunited after over 30 years when Noah’s wife died recently. I think they were sweethearts after high school or something like that. They looked each other up when Noah lost his wife and Melanie went through a contentious divorce. But now they’re an item for about five years. What’s particularly interesting about Richard is that he has a trans daughter. I could only imagine what he feels about this liar in chief.

I had an interesting discussion with Richard over my late-life activism since I informed him about my anti-Trump group online. He recommended that from this day onward, we need to post pictures and the names of every fucking repugnican who voted to take health insurance away from Americans. I hope that Democrats then start having town halls to discuss how bad Diaper Don’s bill will be for the majority of Americans until 2026.

We had as nice an evening as possible discussing the dire political situation gripping the country. Melanie mentioned she had family members who were Trumpers; I offered her my condolences.

We left Woodmere around 9:45 and didn’t get home until 10:30 or so. On the way home, we were treated to fireworks over the Grand Central Parkway. So we didn’t have to watch the spectacle on televise to see the Macy’s July 4th fireworks show. We got a birds-eye view of the pyrotechnical effects without having to take the subway or car to Brooklyn or Long Island City.

I forgot to mention that Diaper Don’s restrictive immigration tactics have had a real-life effect on our cleaning lady, “Lareto,” who canceled for the second time coming to us on July 3rd. When we probed the real reason she wasn’t coming, she mentioned how scared she was of being picked up by agents of ICE. You see, she’s from Guatemala and she’s not a U.S. citizen as of yet. So Elliot promised to pick her up at her home this coming week to take her to Forest Hills to have her work for us. As of now, that hasn’t been confirmed. This is the kind of fear this so-called felon in chief has instilled in those trying just to survive here and make a better life for themselves and their families. It’s a crying shame!

Tomorrow we have tickets to Pilobolus at The Joyce Theater, on 8th Avenue and 18th Street. The performance is at 2, but we intend to have a quick bite after the show. I might go somewhere after that, I’m not sure. So I might not be here then. You’ll just have to wait.

Have a good Sunday anyway.

And so it went!