“I take a lot of pride in who I am.....”

Merle Haggard is a country boy from Bakersfield, Calif.....’er maybe Weed Patch which is just a couple miles down the road.....anyway, he comes by his Oklahoma brogue honestly....
When I wuz a boy, I c’n remember people sayin’ that they wuz poor ‘n proud of it.....They wudn’t really sayin’ that they wuz proud t’be poor, just that it wudn’t anything t’be ashamed of......they said that God must’a loved poor people cuz he made so many of them....
I only mention all this stuff ‘cuz Obama made a remark t’other day about Republicans taking pride in their ignorance.....like if I don’t agree with what He has to say about things, why I just must be dumber than a stone....
I blame it all on my hillbilly upbringing ‘n my Scots/Irish heritage....My momma always told me that I wudn’t any better than anyone else but I wuz as good as ever’one...
I think most Americans feel that way.....’n always have...
that’s one ‘a the reasons we don’t have Kings ‘n Queens ‘n such in this country.....we ain’t got royalty in this country, just never seemed to need or want it.....we have enuff trouble with all the folks that get a little more money than their neighbors and let it go to their heads....if you got a lot of money, you c’n send your kids off to fancy schools ‘n they’ll grow up t’be better than their poor relation who has to get by with a dinky community college.....
I ain’t saying that Harvard ‘n Yale aren’t good schools, they deserve their reputations.....what I’m saying is that education begins and ends in an individuals mind...a good school c’n help but if you’re gonna sleep thru your classes, it’s a lot cheaper t’do it at a community college...