The Bashing of American Exceptionalism
Speaking of President Obama’s troubling discomfort with American exceptionalism, they’re the subject of Jonah Goldberg’s latest L.A. Times piece, which notes how common such punitive views are amongst the president’s fellow leftwing elites:
Last year, when asked if he believed in American exceptionalism, President Obama responded, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”
This reminded me of the wonderful scene in Pixar‘s “The Incredibles,” in which the mom says “everyone’s special” and her son replies, “Which is another way of saying no one is.”
But at least the president made room for the sentiment that America is a special place, even if he chalked it up to a kind of benign provincialism. Not so Michael Kinsley, who recently penned an essay for Politico titled “U.S. is not greatest country ever,” in which he mocked those who traffic in this exceptionalism nonsense.
Not to be outdone, Daily Beast columnist Peter Beinart railed against the GOP‘s “lunatic notion” of America’s exceptionalism. In particular, Beinart was infuriated by Sen.-elect Marco Rubio‘s claim that “America is the single greatest nation in all of human history.” Doesn’t the Florida politician know, Beinart wonders, that China and Brazil are opening opportunities to their citizens too? According to Beinart, Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, is too ideologically blinkered to know that “the American dream of upward mobility is alive and well, just not in America.”
What’s bizarre about Beinart and Kinsley’s rendition of American exceptionalism is that it reflects the premise that the idea of American exceptionalism is an artifact of right-wing jingoism, xenophobia or ignorance. And even Obama flirts with this sort of thing every time he chalks up opposition to his agenda to fear, bigotry or small-mindedness.
Forget that every Fourth of July we celebrate the fact that we fought a Revolutionary War to become an exceptional nation. From their dismissive condescension, you’d think these three educated men didn’t know that American exceptionalism has been a well-established notion among scholars for more than a century.
It’s all part of the Great Relearning, to coin a phrase.
As Jonah concludes, “by all means, Democrats, listen to the sophisticates who chortle at the idea that there’s anything especially good about America. That will solve Obama’s “communication problem.”
Yes, we are the greatest, but not simply because we are the most successful country in history. Rather, it is because no country has made more sacrifices to ensure the freedom of others than we have. Our liberal elites will never understand this, for they don’t value personal liberty, and therefore neither do they value the sacrifices made to preserve it.
When you live a life of sour disposition, when your raison d’etre is to tear down the system, when you are franchising victimhood…it is in your interests to disrespect American exceptionalism.
In fact, it is in your interest to disrespect American achievement, American values, American self-protection and security, American Judeo-Christian heritage, American history, American culture.
It is in your interest to create and expand every crisis, (financial, political, religious). It is in your interest to denounce every patriotism, every national pride, every crowning glory.
It is in your interest to devalue the successes and demonize the successful.
It is in your interest to scoff at the American Dream, upward mobility of the middle class and especially military service as being crass, unworthy and vile.
It is in your interest to create racial, ethnic, gender, religious and economic class or caste “wedge” issues, often out of whole cloth, in order to regenerate divisiveness, envy, anger and often hate of our fellow countrymen.
And, it is in your interest to do all this, while proclaiming that you “love” America. Because of all the lies you have to tell when you truly hate America and everything she stands for…the biggest lie you have to tell is this last one. That you don’t.
I’ve always been confused by the term ‘American Exceptionalism”. Is it some kind of dogma that one is supposed to follow or is it simply an observation of America’s unique and pedestal like place in history.
I like America but I don’t like phrases I’ve seen come out of American mouths consistently different from when I was young like ‘my beautiful daughter’ or ‘the brave soldier’. If these things are true then they are self-evident and need no promotion. There is something forced and phony about it and it reminds me of black folks who use the word ‘brother’ or commies who used to say ‘comrade’.
When I was a kid no American would come on TV and introduce their daughter with a rote phrase like ‘beautiful’ and it was taken for granted that a soldier was brave.
How many times do I need to hear a sexy blonde say she’s a sexy blonde before I dump her for someone with a more even attitude?
If American is number one fine, let’s shut the hell up about it and just let that fact be. There is no need to award ourselves Oscars every day. As far as America leading the world, I wish we’d get rid of that notion and just try and live our lives and be good neighbors and stay the hell out of others business.
America since the time of the Puritans has claimed American Exceptionalism. Shining City upon a Hill? (taken from the Bible, no less). The founding fathers claimed it. So too, Lincoln (last best hope for mankind?) Reagan too. Indeed JFK, a Liberal who believed through and through that America was indeed “the chosen nation” by God to lead others into peace.
America was largely settled, guided, and developed by those who argued, persuasively, that it was the modern inheritor to the Covenant with Israel. With a special destiny, to form a superior government AND PEOPLE that would produce, in Lincoln’s words, freedom as the last best hope for humanity.
Now, you might not like that America’s tradition since the founding has been explicitly exceptionalist, but there it is. America remains the first nation on the Moon, the nation that defeated (all by itself) the Imperial Japanese War Machine, the major combatant on the Western Front, the producer of the modern consumer economy, and the freest and most socially mobile nation on earth. Many don’t like ordinary people deciding how to live their lives, but America was founded upon it.
America’s tradition since its birth has not been explicitly exceptionalist. That is a retro view of success as if that success was never in doubt and of course it was. Joe Montana may have been the best quarterback of his generation because of his unique approach to preparing himself – that is not exceptionalism, it is success and I doubt if he knew in advance that his “exceptionalism” would succeed.
I never said anything about objecting to exceptionalism, I said I’m tired of hearing people blabbering on about things everyone knows and knows and knows.
I heard about World War II.
As John Carter said, “I have spoken”. (Carter was actually a projectin of American exceptionalism) That darn Burroughs anyways.
Even the last place team in the Big Ten has fans with giant “We’re number one.” hands. What the difference between exceptionalism and an entire lack of modesty. I like American audacity as much as the next guy but it’s a verb not a noun. Let’s quiet down already.
I agree with James May. Albert Einstein never had to go around telling folks he was a genius. He let his accomplishments do the talking. If you’re really exceptional, you don’t have to inform anyone of that fact, they’ll figure it out. Let’s work on making the country work the best it can and the hell with the chest beating.
The more liberals seek to addict more and more of the population to dependence on the current government and its social welfare programs, the more they seek to attack the past history of the country, as well as the institutions associated with that past. In order to be the public’s saviors, they have to be saving them from something, and if it requires convincing them that America in general sucked until the current crop of Democrat politicians came along, so be it.
I suppose my position is that there is a difference between defending this land of ours from constant berating, and voluntary “boasting”.
I believe there is a difference between waving the flag and burning it.
I believe there is a difference between apologizing for the country and taking pride in it.
If one errs, I suppose I would rather see it on the side of exhibiting pride in America than exhibiting venomous rancor towards her.
If one errs, I would rather that they err on seeing her greatness than at picking at her alleged flaws.
And anyone who prefers to sit on their hands while she is being constantly and consistently attacked, may do so. There is no draft in the service of protecting her reputation, overcoming her slanders or advancing her greatness.