“I have never been so proud of Amerika.
But who to help first?
Either my "Father”('Lockerbie'-down)"
? Or my fellow soldiers of allah in al Qaeda?”
Posted on 04/02/2011 4:27:05 AM PDT by Walter Scott Hudson
I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.This uninspiring quote has haunted Barak Obama. It leaves some doubt as to whether the president truly regards America as exceptional, or merely expresses a superficial team spirit.
In the wake of the president's speech earlier this week, during which he attempted to sell his intervention in Libya, leftist commentators have seized upon one of his justifications and flaunted it as evidence of his belief in American exceptionalism.
Steve Benen proclaimed that Obama's speech should put an end to the debate...: "the president wasn't subtle -- the United States isn't like other countries; ours is a country with unique power, responsibilities, and moral obligations." Andrew Sullivan observed that exceptionalism was "the core message of the President's speech" and that "he clearly believes in that exceptionalism - and now will live with its onerous responsibilities." Mark Kleiman announced that last night's speech exposed "one of the stupidest of right-wing talking points about Obama . . . that he somehow disbelieves in the exceptional nature of the American project..."This has prompted an intriguing back and forth between Serwer and Salon's Glenn Greenwald (author of the above blurb). The discussion has taken two tracks. The first is consensus upon this assertion that Obama clearly believes in American exceptionalism. The second is whether that's a good thing...Adam Serwer wrote: "After Obama's speech last night. . . anyone who alleges the president doesn't believe [in exceptionalism] deserves to be laughed out of town..."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsrealblog.com ...
Britain and Spain do not have the “Bill of Rights.” The Bill of Rights is what makes America exceptional. Foreign policy can be viewed simply as the quest to bring the Bill of Rights to every nation on Earth.
“I have never been so proud of Amerika.
But who to help first?
Either my "Father”('Lockerbie'-down)"
? Or my fellow soldiers of allah in al Qaeda?”
And that has been at best a naiive mistake on our part. We should observe the prime directive.
There is nothing real about Obama. Or if there is something real, it’s buried several layers beneath what appears at the surface of what he says. You have to parse his expressed ideas the way you had to parse Bill Clinton’s words. And I think you’ve parsed him correctly here. He’s just redefined American exceptionalism rather than actually embrace the classical definition.
I think he’s been stewing about this for a while. I think he felt stung over criticism of his earlier statement which equated American exceptionalism with British and Greek exceptionalism and thereby negated it. Most of his deep strategic thinking isn’t in matters of foreign policy and that kind of thing, but rather in how he can manage perceptions of himself. I think he’s been looking for an opportunity to revisit his earlier statement and to recast his meaning in a way that is more favorable to him. He has done that by subtly redefining the meaning of American exceptionalism. His new meaning lets him have his cake and eat it too.
"that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. "George Washington, Farewell Address
Well then, have we the People been careful and prudent in our use of liberty under the Constitution? Please. We're exceptionally broke, exceptionally spoiled--really we are an exceptional disgrace, as a body politic.
I'm sick of all this namby-pamby exceptionalism talk. Rah-rah. It's sort of like when the New York Yankees go through a rough patch and don't win any championships or even compete. Suddenly all the Yankees fans get history and start squawking about Mantle and Ruth and Dimaggio. They rely on past glories to salve their egos when their actual product is not performing.
When you're really performing, you don't need to point it out. It speaks for itself and people say it about you without you prompting the discussion. When you are really executing, the results tell the story.
That's why I liked it when Trump said on Limbaugh's show that we are NOT a great country right now. We have the potential, but we are not executing. He's f-ing 100% correct. We need to be TOUGHER on ourselves than the world is, not coddling ourselves. Are we really that brittle?
Sorry...not in the mood for riddles this AM.
There is a valid argument to be made that the bill of rights was a monumental mistake. By enumerating certain rights it implies that those are the only rights we have despite the 9th and 10 amendments which are routinely ignored. Further by purporting to protect us against government it ignores the basic premise that government could not infringe on these areas because they didn't have the enumerated power to do so. It turned the basic concept of a grant of specific powers on it's head with the clear inference that government could do anything except interfere with our rights. It was at one time clear that government only had those powers granted to it by the constitution, but now they have unlimited power only restrained by the bill of rights which they constantly redefine.
You can't give people freedom. You can see it in our own country. People that have never stopped to consider how amazing it is that we became a free country yearn for power over their fellow man. People are begging daily to become slaves to an omnipotent state. And you think we can impose a "bill of rights" on some foreign nation when even our allies don't believe in the concept of inalienable rights and the idea is denigrated here on a daily basis? I'm pretty sure it isn't going to work.
But the 9th and 10th amendments are pretty explicit aren't they? You can't criticize the Bill of Rights for implying something when it explicitly states the opposite of what you say it implies.
The fact is that words on paper are ultimately powerless. It comes down to maintaining a culture that believes in those words. We've failed to maintain a culture that takes the 9th and 10th amendments seriously. That's not the Bill of Rights' or the Framers' fault.
--Barack Hussein Obama
This is obviously sarcasm, like my saying that I believe my baby is the most beautiful in the world - while at the same time admitting that of course every father feels the same way about his baby.
I could think of no more-effective way of saying that such feelings and/or beliefs are totally without objective truth.
Regards,
Well, I would argue then that it is the ignoring and redefining of the Bill of Rights that has caused our problems and not the ten amendments themselves, as you yourself used as your argument. Imagine what could be done with freedom of speech in Iran, with freedom of assembly in North Korea, or with freedom from cruel and unusual punishment in the recent Saddam Hussein led Iraq?
That the Bill is not administered or thought of correctly., or that it is redefined by tyrants is not a valid argument for its’ suppression. These natural rights should be extended to every human on the planet, and they are not. To what extent a country allows these rights to exist should be the controlling factor in how we deal with them.
You are correct that words on paper are powerless, but in the end they stand for ideas and ultimately truths which live in the minds of men. I believe that if a leader came forward with the simple ideal to spread the rights contained in the BOR to every person on the planet, he would revolutionize modern diplomacy and foreign policy with that one simple test.
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