"Patriot" Or "Good Citizen" - Which Do You Prefer ?

There was a time when nearly all Americans would have been happy to call themselves a "patriot", but those days are gone (at least for now). It seems that today most Americans would prefer the term "good citizen" -- a significant 65% of them.

This initially surprised me, but after thinking about it for a while I understand (and agree with the 65% who prefer to be called "good citizens"). I think it's because the word "patriot" has been co-opted by right-wing extremists and militia members -- the kind of person who would support opposition to (and maybe even armed insurrection against) our government. The kind of person who thinks shooting policemen and pointing firearms at federal agents is "patriotic".

Although these nuts are a tiny majority in this country, they get a lot of publicity (and always refer to themselves as patriots). It has reached the point that when we hear the term "patriot" many people automatically think of these extremists -- and thus a perfectly good word has been perverted to have a vile connotation.

Because of this, it is understandable that most Americans would prefer the term "good citizen". They don't want anyone to misunderstand and think they sympathize with the anti-government extremists.

These charts were made from information in a recent Rasmussen Poll -- conducted on June 9th and 10th of a random national sample of 1,000 adults, with a margin of error of 3 points.