HOLIDAY ALERT! – AT 8:40 A.M. ET:  As you begin your holiday weekend, we present this as a public service so that you don't feed the beastly, fascistic, mindless right-wing propaganda machine, hovering over us to snatch your children, soul mates and even your orthodontists.  Read this and LEARN what's being done to you.  The villains have names like WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON, and the heinous BEN FRANKLIN:

Democratic political candidates can skip this weekend's July 4th parades. A new Harvard University study finds that July 4th parades energize only Republicans, turn kids into Republicans, and help to boost the GOP turnout of adults on Election Day.

I knew it!  The whole thing is a conspiracy.  The Declaration of Independence was written by...by...Karl Rove.

"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.

"There is no evidence of an increased likelihood of identifying as a Democrat, indicating that Fourth of July shifts preferences to the right rather than increasing political polarization," the two wrote.

COMMENT:  Well, there goes the White House's celebration of the 4th of July, not that they were too enthusiastic about the idea in the first place.

I wonder who paid for that "research."

July 1,  2011