PATRIOT GAMES

ET CETERA

THE 60 MINUTES/VANITY FAIR POLL

This month finds Americans poised. Not as in composed or self-assured, but rather as in ready and about to... but then not quite doing it.

Eight in 10 of us think the presence of an Americanflag lapel pin doesn’t make one more patriotic ... yet politicians won’t chuck the things. Seven in 10 of us think that if 18-year-olds are allowed to fight for their country abroad they should certainly be allowed to have a beer at home ... and yet the laws remain unchanged. And even though 23 percent of us admit to occasionally wishing we weren’t American, only 8 percent recall having at some point threatened to take the obvious next step and move to Canada.

When it comes to our national anthem, however, wishes and reality coincide completely. We don’t want to replace it, even when offered options ranging from “God Bless America” to “This Land Is Your Land.” You’d think that, in a country such as ours, there’d be a large group of cranky mavericks eager to break away—the sort of people who like Thomas Paine. And maybe that’s the explanation: one in 10 of us thinks he wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

When do you most wish you were not American?

If you could vote for one of these presidents to be the face on a new bill, whom would you

Have you ever threatened to move to Canada?

Do you think politicians who do not wear an American-flag pin are less patriotic than other politicians?

Agree or disagree: If 18-year-olds can fight for their country abroad, they should be able to enjoy a beer at home.

Who was Thomas Paine?

Which of these rights and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution is the least important to you?

How important is it for children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day?

Which of the following songs would you most like to have as our national anthem?

Would you ever marry someone you didn't love in order to help him or her become an American citizen?

Americans don't put much stock in flag pins, but they cherish the national anthem—you know, the song written by Thomas Paine

This poll was conducted at the CBS News interviewing facility among random sample of 1,072 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 18-21, 2013. Some low-percentage answer choices have been omitted.