The Dangerous Myth of American Exceptionalism

Allied with the message of hate that is the product of the professional Christian set is the myth of American exceptionalism which helps set the stage for national hubris and a refusal to lean anything from other nations or, indeed, history itself. Mixed in with Chimperator Bush's desire to "avenge his daddy,"by taking the USA into a needless war in Iraq was this mind set that the USA is special and that it can do what others cannot. (I'm sure many Russians are laughing their asses off now that the USA has been mired in Afghanistan longer than the Soviets during their debacle). Unfortunately, the GOP and the Tea Party drink this American exceptionalism Kool-Aid by the barrel full and it is worrisome what new disasters may be the by-product. In the grand scheme of things, I doubt that God - if he/she/it exists - gives any preference to the USA over for example France. The Washington Post has a story that looks at this false and dangerous myth. Here are some highlights:
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American exceptionalism" is a phrase that, until recently, was rarely heard outside the confines of think tanks, opinion journals and university history departments.
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But with Republicans and tea party activists accusing President Obama and the Democrats of turning the country toward socialism, the idea that the United States is inherently superior to the world's other nations has become the battle cry from a new front in the ongoing culture wars. Lately, it seems to be on the lips of just about every Republican who is giving any thought to running for president in 2012.
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[L]ast week, Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, told a group of College Republicans at American University: "Don't kid yourself with the lie. America is exceptional, and Americans are concerned that there are a group of people in Washington who don't believe that any more." Some, however, wonder whether Obama's conservative critics are sounding an alarm about the United States' place in the world - or making an insidious suggestion about the president himself.
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Democrats have become more squeamish about the idea of exceptionalism in the wake of the George W. Bush years, when spreading American values was used as a justification for unilateral action on the world stage.
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The proposition of American exceptionalism, which goes at least as far back as the writing of French aristocrat and historian Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1830s, asserts that this country has a unique character.
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It is also rooted in religious belief. A recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found that 58 percent of Americans agreed with the statement: "God has granted America a special role in human history."
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Pfeiffer contended that the new criticism of Obama on the subject says more about the race for the Republican presidential nomination than anything else. The GOP contenders know that this kind of argument - with its suggestion that Obama is undermining American values - was "a huge piece of what Sarah Palin did in 2008," Pfeiffer said. "They want a little bit of Sarah Palin magic, because she has a lot of enthusiasm and support among the base."
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Sadly, religious extremism and prostituting themselves for votes rather than the good of the country is now the GOP norm. Pretending that America is special above all other nations is merely a way to distract the sheep from the fact that the country is seriously off course in large part because of GOP misrule.