The Fourth of July is a time for proud, flag-waving celebrations of all-American patriotism. But some of country music’s biggest artists are concerned that the white got taken out of the red, white and blue when politicians divided the U.S. into red and blue states. It’s a situation that frustrates people from both sides of the political spectrum, including Democrat Toby Keith and Republican Trace Adkins.
Toby’s stance on the war in Afghanistan got him mislabelled as a Republican, and many assumed — incorrectly, as it turned out — that he also thought the war in Iraq was a good idea. Clearly, Toby is able to take a stand with either party at various times, showing his belief system to be beyond politics.
"My right to carry a gun is not political," he says. "I’m an American, and that is my right as an American, just like it’s my right to vote... Do I care if gay people get married? I could care less. It doesn’t bother me one bit. When you look at Al Gore trying to save the planet, that’s not a political issue."
Instead, he suggests, it’s a social issue that everyone should be examining.
"If the polar ice cap is melting and we’re doing it, I need to educate myself," he says, adding, "I don’t see things right-left. I see them right-wrong."
By the same token, Grand Ole Opry member Trace is frustrated with the Grand Old Party, noting that many elected Republicans are too willing to cast votes based on what’s best for their political careers instead of what’s best for the entire country.
"I only wish more people in government, Republicans as well as Democrats, were freer thinkers instead of just voting along party lines," he writes in his book A Personal Stand: Observations And Opinions From A Freethinking Roughneck. "What an exercise in futility the whole legislative process has become in this country!"
Not that Trace would prefer a different home.
"I’ve been to other countries, and I’ve done some travellin’, and I dig this place," he says. "I like it here. I haven’t seen any place or heard of any place that’s better, so I’m proud to be an American."
Ultimately, Trace and Toby are both hinting rather loudly at freedom of choice. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but — they seem to say — it’s better to form your own than to let blind allegiance to any leader or any party form it for you.
"The biggest part of being patriotic," Jack Ingram says, "is telling the truth and being honest, and not being afraid to question what is going on, and not being afraid to defend what’s going on. No matter what your belief system is and no matter where you think we are on the spectrum of right or wrong, as far as our policies go, being patriotic is having that discussion, period."