It makes me sick when I hear people talk about American Exceptionalism. The only thing exceptional about us is our level of self delusion. We want to think of ourselves as so morally superior, and we (or our govt) go around the globe violating all the beliefs that we claim to most cherish. We are exceptional hypocrites, that is for sure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When he said Americans deserve better, he wasn't saying they deserve better than other nations, he was saying that they deserve better than the job Obana has done.

Of course he was. Don't bother trying to explain it to people who want to think otherwise.

I'm puzzled - does anyone really think differently? Of course that's what he said. And I agree - we DO deserve better than Obama. But I'm coming at it from the left (contrary to the current narrative, Obama isn't a liberal's dream - far from it), so I certainly don't think Romney is the answer.

God told him so on the trip from Cobol.

Anonymous wrote:When he said Americans deserve better, he wasn't saying they deserve better than other nations, he was saying that they deserve better than the job Obana has done.

Of course he was. Don't bother trying to explain it to people who want to think otherwise.

Anonymous wrote: What is up with this self-congratulatory blather? All this "American Exceptionalism" makes me want to puke. I really believe most of the people who believe this drivel have never even been outside the country.

Oh - because going outside the country makes us hate the ideals of America?

When he said Americans deserve better, he wasn't saying they deserve better than other nations, he was saying that they deserve better than the job Obana has done.

Short answer is that Americans don't deserve better than anyone else. It is arrogant to think otherwise. The other important thing to know is that a) we foreigners don't envy your "freedom" and b) we don't necessarily think that America is the greatest place on Earth...

Anonymous wrote:Because America is the one true nation, blessed by God to spread our democracy to the huddled masses far and wide! I honestly have no idea. I read a great essay on American Exceptionalism and the ideal of the American West (the Lone Ranger, Han Solo, you know) but I can't find it anywhere! Good read.

Unless the country is Muslim, in which case democracy is a failure of Obamas foreign policy.

VERY LARGE GUNS.

Ugh, it's totally gross. I can't imagine anyone with any intellectual maturity thinking that way. The one thing we had going for us was the prevention of the establishment of a permanent aristocracy (which enabled more meritocratic upward mobility), but the republicans have done their best to make sure the wealthy stay wealthy so much so that I doubt there's any such thing as "American Exceptionalism" anymore. Unless we're talking about how exceptional it is that we spend so much on wars, or how corporations are people now. Wow, exceptional!

I love my country, but I don't pretend we're the greatest country on earth. By what measure would that be true? Our math and science student test scores lag behind so many other countries. Many people lack health insurance. Our home-grown manufacturing base has long withered.

Yes we have a strong defense, but we've enraged many a country in recent years with our heavy-handedness.

But we do have the rule of law, which in the long run beats China.

I think there are some unique points to the American culture, but none of them are the things he mentioned.

Because America is the one true nation, blessed by God to spread our democracy to the huddled masses far and wide! I honestly have no idea. I read a great essay on American Exceptionalism and the ideal of the American West (the Lone Ranger, Han Solo, you know) but I can't find it anywhere! Good read.

lol! Every speaker gets a thread.

What is up with this self-congratulatory blather? All this "American Exceptionalism" makes me want to puke. I really believe most of the people who believe this drivel have never even been outside the country.