Good Thing to Be American? Yeah, Since Barack Got Nomination

Will Smith, during his interview with Matt Lauer on this morning's Today Show, said it's just now, with Barack Obama's nomination, "a good thing to be American":

You know I just, I just came back from Moscow, Berlin, London and Paris and it's the first, I've been there quite a few times in the past five to 10 years. And it just hasn't been a good thing to be American. And this is the first time, since Barack has gotten the nomination, that it, it was a good thing...

Here's the video. Scroll forward to about 5:00 minutes:

I really like Will Smith, but I'm disappointed with him here. He must not be following politics very closely.

The "patriotism gap" is a legitimate issue for many Americans. The Obama campaign's already under fire on questions of national loyalty (he's been photographed with arms lowered and relaxed during the Pledge of Allegiance, and Michelle Obama's on record as not being proud of her country), so the message that Obama's an unpatriotic radical is likely to become increasingly embedded as more and more top Obama supporters announce that "for the first time" it's good to be American.

Hat Tip: Newsbusters