"From the mountains to the prairies and from sea to shining sea, inside every redneck bar and at almost any 4th of July celebration, you can hear the voices of every red-blooded, flag waving, patriotic American belting out, proudly and forcefully – as if it were the true national anthem of a unified nation – “BORN IN THE USA! I WAS… BORN IN THE USA!” To them, this song represent all the bad-assery and freedom American could ever be. It's not what everyone thinks it is. Being born in the USA is a BAD thing. That is his real message."
I've been to plenty of redneck bars and plenty of 4th of July celebrations and can't say I've ever experienced such phenomena. My limited knowledge of him was from the Army, and he was universally despised by my fellow soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, for reasons unknown to me, but maybe political reasons, from your post.
I can't say I've ever given it any thought, as I couldn't take listening to his music long enough to form an opinion as to meaning.
FWIW, most of my combat unit (and all combat units, really) consisted of rural whites and upper class suburban kids. Contrary to popular belief, it's a very educated and disciplined group, so I'm not sure that could be classified as "red neck." Certainly not coastal, if that is the meaning of redneck.
I assumed it was because he sucked as a singer and every song sounded exactly the same, which is what I heard, and why I disliked him.