American Exceptionalism

We have made torture a national policy, we have besmirched our good name in the eyes of the world, we have been passive accessories in repealing some of our most cherished liberties, we lie with impunity and we accept lies from our rulers as natural and necessary.

America may soon have a Mormon president, but the public and media have devoted scant attention to the very premises behind Mormonism. While Mormon convictions may come across as peculiar, they arise out of a society where faith is celebrated and religious skepticism often frowned upon.

Where is it written in our Constitution or Declaration of Independence that we're supposed to be "number one?"

Is America still a great nation? With more than 1000 military bases over the globe, there is no question the world feels the presence of the Pentagon...

As important as Ike's deeds were to our country, in some way his words were (and are) even more important, especially in this time of constant war and bloated budgets for "defense" and our burgeoning trade in deadly weaponry.

Why won't I say that this is the greatest land on earth? For starters, because no land is the greatest land. Greatness is a pie that all have a piece of, but none can claim as their own exclusive possession.

If Romney wins, it will be based on economic hardship, but foreign policy will be engaged. Like his dodgy credentials as a businessman, Romney's ideas about America's role in the world are superficial.

President Obama's recent speech in Kansas, in which he proclaimed the United States "the greatest nation on Earth" and the "country [where] even if you're born with nothing, hard work can get you into the middle class," suggests that he grasps the magnitude of what is at stake in 2012 and beyond. His task now is to articulate his own distinctive vision of American exceptionalism, one that gives the public a clear roadmap of where he plans to take the country and how he plans to draw on America's distinctive strengths and traditions at a time of widespread fear of national decline. On his success may depend whether the Obama presidency, which began with such soaring hopes, will be cut short after just four years.

What is American exceptionalism? Is it merely the commonly held theory that America possesses measurable outcomes that make it vastly superior to other nations?

Pew's findings are a tribute to the resilience of our super-size ego. It shows that most of us are quite pleased with ourselves. Why analyze anything, or learn from our shortcomings, or examine our mistakes, when we can just tell ourselves how superior we are?

Proclaim it from the rooftops: No, America is not "over." Yet a growing accumulation of evidence suggests that America today is not the America of 1945. Everyone else on the planet understands this. Perhaps it's finally time for Americans to do so as well.

We seem to have little capacity for sustained self-recrimination. Call it patriotism, call it blind optimism, call it "fogging the lens." American exceptionalism is alive and well.

Decades of thoughtless purchasing decisions have engorged powerful, exploitive, and reckless corporations. In turn, these corporations have gained undue influence over the American political process.

What continues to give America such exceptional promise -- what still makes it a shining city on the hill -- is the enormous strength of a society forged out of every conceivable component of the human race.

President Barack Obama opened his re-election campaign last night with a wowzer of a speech to a joint session of Congress.

It is both sad and ironic that in a time of steady and fervent patriotism we seem to care so little for our republic.

What we can't do is have it both ways -- talk number one and behave like number 34. Proclaim our superiority and privatize or close down every meaningful public program.