Buddy, Can You Spare a Line?

(Not actually John Kerry)

Ladies and gentlemen, your US Secretary of State:

I was privileged to speak to the graduating class of Yale this year, and it was particularly a pleasure because it happened to turn out to be, literally, I hate to say it, 48 years to the day that I was privileged to speak as a graduating senior to my own class. And I talked to them about sort of the world we’re in right now, but at the end I tried to remind them all, which I remind you of, we are – I get always a little uptight when I hear politicians say how exceptional we are – not because we’re not exceptional, but because it’s kind of in-your-face and a lot of other people are exceptional, a lot of other places do exceptional things.

Does John Kerry understand what makes the United State exceptional? It isn’t that we make fine luxury touring sedans (other than the CTS-V, we don’t really make any at all.) It isn’t our fine selection of cheeses or wines (France’s is better). It’s not that we’re adept at miniaturization (that’s still Japan’s bailiwick). It isn’t our space age rocket industry (Russia does much of the heavy lifting). It isn’t our history of fine arts (Italy, natch), or classical music (Austria), or even our timekeeping (Switzerland).

What makes America exceptional is that we are “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” The results speak for themselves, or at least they used to.

I don’t think John Kerry understands that. Or if he does, he seeks to undermine it like Syndrome in The Incredibles who plotted, “Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super… no one will be.”