The American Exceptionalism Rant

The United States of America has frequently been referred to as an exceptional nation and is thought to be exactly that by, not surprisingly, the vast majority of American citizens as well as by the millions upon millions of folks clamoring to get here from literally every other country on the planet. Most of us I believe are unabashedly proud of our country’s accomplishments especially in light of the fact that from a historical perspective, we are still so very, very young. We recognize with pride that we are qualitatively different and, dare I say it, superior to virtually all other countries on the planet. Well, how’s that for the height of hubris and political incorrectness? How’s that for the ultimate in American bragadociousness? Do statements like these endear us to our neighbors around the world or do they merely reinforce the old stereotype that we are no more than pushy, conceited, self-centered hicks, louts, and boobies from the world’s hinterland? Are we just “young pups” flexing our over developed muscles and egos in the hope of countering our image as the most unsophisticated, uncultured, and grossly materialistic entity in world history?


Much if not all of the world seems to hold these extremely low and negative views regarding the United States and take great delight in letting us know in no uncertain terms exactly how we are perceived. We make our global neighbors, to say the least, feel uncomfortable and inadequate. By looking at us, their own failures and comparative lack of progress are brought to the forefront and are brutally unmasked by the harsh and glaring light of truth. They look at our history and accomplishments and clearly see what could have been. It’s not unlike meeting an individual who we see as obviously superior to ourselves. Many, if not most of us, begin to feel quite uncomfortable in their presence and we become somewhat jealous and resentful even though they have done nothing to earn such opprobrium. It appears to be a natural human trait and one that is difficult to suppress. All of this can easily be borne out by simply viewing the antics displayed at any gathering of the United Nations General Assembly. These guys constitute no more than an anti-American, anti-Western club whose membership may accurately be described as a rogue’s gallery of the world’s leading, most banal, and venal Thugocracies (see the United Nations Rant of 12/22/08).


The above noted views of America, however, are not merely held by those from other nations. Unfortunately, a not insignificant number of our own citizens feel the same way. They are ashamed of their own country and are convinced that any success the United States has achieved is illegitimate, undeserved, and comes at the expense of the globe’s less fortunate and weaker populations – especially third world “people of color.” We are viewed by these Americans as rapacious, racist, callous, and cold. We are accused of stealing and looting the planet’s natural resources for our own selfish purposes thus preventing the rightful owners from using them to ameliorate the horrific conditions that they find themselves in. That’s obviously our fault and we must be forced to right these wrongs we have purposely inflicted on the poor and less fortunate denizens of the planet. I’m sure you have heard the charge, for example, that we have gone to war for such things as oil and have brutally stolen that precious commodity on a planetary scale. As diligenyl as I have tried, I cannot for the life of me discover any hard, or soft, evidence to support such a claim. I’ll just have to dig deeper.


Americans who feel this way are not difficult to find (see The Americans Who Hate America Rant of 1/21/11). Just walk onto any college campus or for that matter any high school and you’ll be inundated with anti-Americanism for it’s become the predominant culture of so-called academe (see The Anti-Americanism In Our Public Schools Rant). The “Lamestream Media” is overwhelmingly of this persuasion. Hollywood and the entertainment field in general contain more examples of these types of “Americans” than you could possibly swing a dead cat at and all of the above are members of what I call the LFE (Liberal Fucking Elite).


They seem to take some form of perverse pleasure in denying America’s historically and overwhelmingly positive role over the centuries and that without the United States the world would be a far lesser place. This country in just over two hundred years has amassed more wealth and power than any other in world history. Is this what makes America so exceptional? No, of course not. All ages and eras have their wealthy and their powerful. It’s always been that way and probably always will. No, our power and wealth do not define the concept of American Exceptionalism, but rather how we have used them. Historically, the world’s most powerful and wealthy nations have used these attributes to dominate and subjugate as much of the planet as they could for as long as they could. The peoples and places they controlled suffered horrendously and immeasurably and the cruelties that they endured are literally unfathomable to folks like us who have grown up in freedom and prosperity.


The United States, conversely, has used its vast wealth and power to liberate rather than subjugate, to enrich the lives of others rather than to destroy them. Yeah, yeah, I know. I can hear it coming. What about such things as slavery – huh, what about that!?! Nice try, Sport, but that bird don’t fly and that mule don’t plow! I am not referring here to American Perfectionism but rather to American Exceptionalism. There is a huge difference. We never have been nor will we ever be perfect for the very real reason that perfection is unattainable at least for us mere mortals. Yes, we had slavery and we treated those poor folks in a horrific, brutal, and inhumane fashion. The question is, do we still have slavery today? Thank you, for that is but one example of American Exceptionalism. Unlike most of the world, we are capable and willing to recognize and rectify our past mistakes and misdeeds. Yes, we held slaves, it was wrong, we realized it, and it’s gone! That’s been and still is a very rare, rare commodity in world history. Care for but one more example? Certainly. I’m sure you’re aware that at one point in American history, women couldn’t vote. You did know that didn’t you? That was wrong and it’s gone. Our willingness to right past wrongs that we perpetrated on undeserving others absolutely sets us apart and above from most of the world’s history and that is indeed exceptional.


Additionally, one of our most outstanding characteristics as a nation has been to defend freedom all over the globe whenever and wherever necessary. We did not have to do this. We paid a terrible and awesome price in both treasure and American lives to set people free. Even the most cursory examination of just the Twentieth Century more than bears out that statement. We have liberated more people than any other force in the history of the world. Hell, we even liberated our own slaves! With the very brief example of our own foray into imperialism beginning in 1898, the only land we have ever asked for from other countries is enough to bury our dead soldiers in the far off places they fought and died defending the freedom of others. Without our sacrifices, much more of the world would be speaking either German or Japanese today. I’d call that pretty damned exceptional, wouldn’t you?


Many who hear and read statements like those offered above view them negatively, to say the least. They view those who make them as archaic and anachronistic. They are seen as evidence of a false and misplaced pride that goes far beyond mere nationalism but rather as full-blown jingoism. Those of us who feel this way about our country are seen as out of step with the world-wide Liberal emphasis on Globalism and One-Worldism. They are convinced that the concept of the nation-state is at the very least passé, outmoded, and not just useless but rather dangerous in the 21st Century. It is out-moded, and horribly old fashioned in our fast-paced, complex, and interconnected world.


These are the same Far Left Lunatics who eschew the concepts of national sovereignty and the sanctity of well defined and defended national borders. They see themselves as citizens of the world and not of any particular country. They owe their loyalty, their fealty as it were, to international organizations like the United Nations and the World Court. They ridicule and mock notions or ideas like patriotism and love of and loyalty to country. These are the pathetic folks who decry, denounce, and disdain concepts like American Exceptionalism.


The on-line encyclopedia, Conservapedia (www.conservapedia.com), defines American Exceptionalism as, “an intuition about the United States, a country that occupies a special place among the nations of the world primarily because of its unique origins.” Furthermore, the “concept of American Exceptionalism may be defined as the notion that the United States, by virtue of its origins and ideals, its struggles and accomplishments, stands apart from and, in some eyes, above other nations.” Another on-line source explains that, “”American exceptionalism refers to the theory that the United States is qualitatively different from other states. In this view, America’s exceptionalism stems from its emergence from a revolution, becoming the first new nation, and developing a uniquely American ideology, based on liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, and laissez-faire (http://en.wikipedia.org).” (see related video)


The same source notes historian Gordon Wood as saying, “our belief in liberty, equality, constitutionalism, and the well-being of ordinary people came out of the Revolutionary era. So too did our idea that we Americans are a special people with a special destiny to lead the world toward liberty and democracy.” Read that last sentence again – slowly. Good. Can anyone seriously doubt its veracity? Not if you’re honest about what America has meant to the world. The revolution we began in 1776 served as an example to be emulated all over the world. The French, those folks in Latin and South America, the Russians, and even the Chinese followed us and overthrew those who kept them in chains. The results in each of these nations may not have been similar or equal to ours, but nonetheless our example served to set them free. We have indeed led the world in liberty and democracy and we have been a special people with a special destiny. (see related video)


One Seymour Martin Lipset, a leading scholar in the field of American Exceptionalism, defined the term as, “liberty, equality (of opportunity and respect), individualism, populism, and laissez-faire economics. The creed combines with other aspects of the American character – especially our religiousness and our willingness to defend ourselves by force – to form the core of American Exceptionalism.” America is, in fact, far different and a definite cut above the other nations that cohabit the planet with us and we have always invited them to share our experiences, our prosperity, and our purpose. That purpose has always been to make the world a better place and to allow all individuals no matter who they are or where they are from to reach their full potential and level of excellence. We welcome this and are happy and proud to serve as an example for others to learn from. We want and desire this for by following our example the world will become a far better, wealthier, healthier, and happier place. The deadly divisions that have so often ravaged the world will, over time, grow ever more distant if more of planet’s population were allowed to adopt our exceptional model. After all, you really can’t argue with success and by any objective or subjective standard you wish to apply, America is the most successful sovereign entity in world history.


Does this sound overly “Americanish” to you? Does this go too far over the top? Does it sound bragadocious? Does it sound dismissive of the accomplishments of other nations and people? If you answered yes to these queries, then may I suggest that you are a denier of American Exceptionalism, that you are in fact embarrassed by America’s astonishing success without which the world would be in far worse shape than it is now. The definitions of American Exceptionalism proffered thus far are not meant to belittle or detract from other nations and peoples. Instead, they are meant to serve as a beacon, as a light that shines through the darkness to illuminate the path to a better, more prosperous, and more satisfying destination. To those of you who answered these questions in the affirmative, I can only conclude that you are embarrassed by America’s accomplishments and historical role in the world. I am convinced that you agree with our LFE and our current political leadership that believes America has been a force for evil in the world and that we should abandon our position of leadership and ceaselessly and constantly apologize to the world for our very existence. If you have concluded that I’m being just a tad judgmental here, I congratulate you on your perceptiveness!


When one claims to be exceptional, then much is expected of you and that statement applies to nations as well as individuals. This country has never fallen short of these expectations but instead America has always risen to every challenge it has ever faced. While it is certainly easy to point to examples of our technological and material success, these cannot come without a firm basis or foundation and in that regard America is indeed exceptional. In an article entitled, “American Exceptionalism and Its Enemies (http://newledger.com),” the author posits that the, “United States is an exceptional nation. Most Americans would not regard that as a controversial statement. And there is good reason : it is true.” The author goes on to say that the, “U.S. is the world’s oldest and most stable capitalist, liberal democracy, older even than Great Britain, which did not become a mass democracy until the late Nineteenth Century.” The writer informs us that America, “was the first nation founded in an act of rebellion against a colonial power. It was the first nation founded on the belief that the rights of man are inherent and God-given, and that the powers of government derive from the consent of the governed.” Now that’s one Hell of a first! Concepts like that had never been heard and articulated before this nation proclaimed them from the highest mountain.


Additionally it, “was, therefore, the first nation to recognize that the state must be limited to the powers granted by the people, and to recognize explicitly that the state was founded to secure their rights.” In fact, “Ours was the first nation to be based on a separation of powers, and on the clear subordination of the military to civilian rule. And it was the first nation to state all of this in a constitution that was publicly debated and democratically accepted.” Indeed, “the U.S. exemplifies these virtues in their purest form. That is why it is exceptional.” This is the foundation that truly set men free. For the first time in the history of the planet, the heretofore all powerful state and rulers wore the shackles rather than the individuals being governed. This was absolutely and utterly radical and revolutionary for its time. The founding of the United States liberated man’s potential and freed him from the chains of authoritarianism. This foundation more than anything else freed the individual to follow his or her dreams and rise as far as their talents, capability, and energy could take them. This foundation set free the entrepreneurial spirit for which this nation is so famous and which accounted for America’s becoming the wealthiest and freest society in the history of the planet!


To many, American Exceptionalism translates into the concept of American Conceit. Other nations and peoples view us as pushy, arrogant upstarts who are in reality still wet behind the ears. We have not been around long enough, in their view, to have earned our high opinions of ourselves and we apparently do not comprehend the practice of deferring to our elders if not our betters. That other countries and people may hold this negative opinion is perhaps understandable. The fact is, however, that far too many native born citizens share this view. Due to no more than an accident of birth, they live in the wealthiest, most powerful, freest, and most benevolent society to have ever existed in the history of the planet. To see and hear these scurrilous buffoons denigrate and castigate the United States at every turn for everything is baffling, shocking, and in many ways horrifying. It belies both the facts and all sense of logic and common sense. It reeks of an amazing lack of gratitude for those who came before us and led the foundations for America’s fantastic progress over the years. It is an embarrassing and shameful display of a bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you mentality which is entirely wrong-headed and undeserved. Who are these folks? Generally speaking, we call them Liberals and it seems that one of their main priorities is to deny and then destroy the creed of American Exceptionalism.


These people seem to be particularly dissatisfied with their lot in life and literally despise all those they perceive as having more than they do. They view any material success obtained by others as having been unfairly and ruthlessly obtained by stealing from those at the bottom. They are incapable of looking inward and reflecting on their own short comings or to recognize that it is their own poor decisions and mistakes that have prevented them from realizing what they claim is their due. They are champions of a redistributionist mentality which can only serve to exacerbate and intensify their own failures and forever reinforces the envy, jealousy, and even hatred for what this country stands for. They are the central proponents and primary examples of the vile class warfare that is best exemplified by those of the Far Left Liberal Elite. They will not rest or be satisfied until everyone is brought down to their pathetic level until literally no one person shall have anymore than anyone else. They are nothing more than full-blown Socialists who simply cannot recognize or accept the fact that Socialism has failed everywhere and every time it’s ever been tried. They are nonetheless devotees of this system because they have proven to themselves over and over again that they simply lack the skills, energy, and intellect to compete in our Free Market Capitalist system. Rather than blame themselves, they blame those who have succeeded.


This attitude, curiously enough, can also be said to be an element of the concept of American Exceptionalism. An aspect of its material manifestation is that the individual can rise to that level he is capable of attaining but there are no guarantees of outcome. In our system, you have an absolute right to succeed and to that end government should facilitate your efforts. It should not, as it has under Liberalism, throw more and more roadblocks in your way. The government should get the Hell out of your way to go about your life as best you can so you can succeed – or fail – on your own. In our country, you see, while you have the right to succeed you also have an absolute right to fail. Does that sound somewhat strange to you? When looking at world history, it might seem so for in most societies failure was indeed not an option and it simply wouldn’t be tolerated. When the powers that be demanded something from citizens, failure could be a deadly business and usually was. The right to fail, then, is exceptionally American and therefore part of the concept of American Exceptionalism.


The Liberals amongst us want to change all of this. They emphatically desire to destroy any vestige of American Exceptionalism and have come dangerously close to succeeding in recent years. An article entitled, “An Exceptional Debate (www.nationalreview.com),” begins by explaining that, “Our country has always been exceptional. It is free, more individualistic, more democratic, and more open and dynamic than any other nation on earth. These qualities are the bequest of our Founding Fathers and of our cultural heritage. They have always marked America as special, with a unique role and mission in the world: as a model of ordered liberty and self-government and as an exemplar of freedom and a vindicator of it, through persuasion when possible and force of arms when absolutely necessary.” The authors, however, note that under our current leadership the, “level of spending, the bailouts, and the extent of the intervention in the economy contemplated in health-care and cap-and-trade legislation have created the fear that something elemental is changing in the country. At stake isn’t just a grab bag of fiscal issues, but the meaning of America and the character of its people: the ultimate cultural issue.”


The American people are correct in their fear that something elemental is changing our country and this is no accident but rather part of a long-held and adhered to battle plan to destroy the United States as presently constituted and envisioned by our Founders. The LFE and their hordes want to destroy our very Founding notions of a limited government with only a very few and clearly delineated set of powers. They knew first hand how crippling and deadly an overreaching and all powerful central government is to the very concept of liberty which stands as the cornerstone of what many call the American Creed. The Founders clearly, “knew what men were capable of, in the positive sense if their creative energies were unleashed and in the negative sense if they were given untrammeled power over others.” It is the “untrammeled” aspect of power that makes the Liberal Statists among us salivate excitedly and this is their ultimate goal.


They wish to see a government that literally seeks to control all aspects of the lives of the citizenry which will obviously destroy our liberties and freedoms. This is their primary agenda. The Founding Fathers understood that by its very nature government tries to centralize more and more power unto itself and they also had extremely keen insights into human nature. James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 51 that it, “may be a reflection on human nature . . . that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither would government be necessary.”


Our Founders purposely limited the power of government to protect America’s newly won liberties and freedoms and this is what the Liberals-Statists amongst us want desperately to destroy for in a very real way they constitute a central tenet of American Exceptionalism. What these saboteurs completely fail to comprehend is that, “In the latitude provided by this relatively light-handed government, a commerce-loving, striving, and endlessly inventive people hustled its way to become the greatest economic power the world has ever known.” This characteristic of American Exceptionalism is but one more of America’s accomplishments that the Liberals can’t abide. Other exceptional aspects of the United States identified by the authors include: our attitudes toward wealth and its creation; the fact that at least 31 percent of Americans expect to become rich; the fluidity of American society as evidenced by the fact that more than half of those in the bottom quintile pull themselves out of it within a decade. In addition, “Politically, we have always been more democratic, more populist than other countries.” Furthermore, we, “have managed to preserve a remarkable national spirit,” and, “Americans are more religious than Europeans.” The authors conclude that, “All of this means that America has the spirit of a youthful, hopeful, developing country, matched with the economic muscle of the world’s most advanced society and the stability of its oldest democratic institutions.”


Yeah, I’d call all that and more pretty damned exceptional. So how do those on the Far Left and their Grand Poobah-in-Chief react to all of this exceptionalism? According to the Bastards, “America was special only in its misdeeds and failings; all cultures were to be celebrated except our own.” They have “worked to trash our Founding, to wipe out our historical memory, and to create a guilty conscience among our ruling elite.” El Jefe himself, “has signaled again and again his unease with traditional American patriotism. As a Senator he notoriously made a virtue of not wearing a flag pin. As president he has been unusually detached from American history.” Additionally, he “has all but denied the idea that America is an exceptional nation. Asked whether he believed in American Exceptionalism during a European trip last spring, Obama said, ‘I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” Yeah, this guy is just a great example of a proud, confident American who truly believes that America has been an overwhelming force for good in the world, isn’t he? Does this nonsense coming from an American President disturb you just a bit? It shouldn’t based on who the guy is for, “Given the liberal gestalt, it is perhaps unsurprising that every aspect of American exceptionalism has been under threat from President Obama and his allies in Washington. Obama has frankly and correctly described their project as one to change the country fundamentally,” and even on, “those occasions when Obama places himself in the context of American history . . . with, that is, the gradual replacement of the Founders’ design. He seeks to accelerate it.”


Why would any segment of our population want to deny the obvious exceptionalism of an obviously exceptional nation? On its face, this makes absolutely no sense at all. These folks constitute, it seems to me, a growing segment of our society’s disaffected and disillusioned who seem to feel that they are somehow owed something by somebody. Our elected officials who pander to this mob are merely looking for votes and therefore qualify as nothing more than political whores. They don’t stand on principle for they are completely unprincipled. They can’t fall back on logic or reason because they are wholly illogical and overwhelmingly unreasonable. Guys like me are constantly baffled, amazed, and confused by their lack of understanding of what America is and what it represents. We view them as completely unpatriotic and as traitors to the American Dream. They are, in effect, life’s losers and therefore can’t abide by or deal with life’s winners.


You know, those of us out here that believe in the ideal of the United States and are willing and eager to live that American Dream. Those of us who work our asses off to provide our families with what they need and desire. Those of us who fully understand that America does not and cannot guarantee success but only the opportunity to succeed and that has always been our nation’s most singular success. This concept exists in far too few places around the world and, it seems, that the Liberals amongst us want to destroy it here too. There are those of us out here who want nothing from government: we want no hand-outs, no bail-outs, no stimulus deals, and no entitlements. We want government to behave strictly and only according to the tenets and restrictions set forth in our Founding Documents and that’s ALL we want and expect from our government!


Not so for those on the Dark Side. They want and need government to provide them with everything from cradle to grave. They want to live a life free of all risk yet they insist that they deserve any reward they feel entitled to. They don’t recognize the concept of American Exceptionalism nor do they believe that this nation has been anything but a force for evil in the world and that without the United States the planet’s population would be better off and far more sanguine. These folks want and need to be controlled by an all powerful Nanny State that relieves them of life’s responsibilities for they are fully cognizant of the fact that they are simply incapable of succeeding on their own. They are afraid of even trying but rather have surrendered to the lure of the comfort provided by the soft tyranny of Big Brother.


They deny that anything like American Exceptionalism even exists for they themselves do not qualify as Americans, not in the true sense of the word. They completely deny and eschew such defining aspects of Americanism like self-reliance and rugged individualism. And they WHINE! Americans do not whine because whiners never accomplish anything. Whiners don’t work, don’t innovate, don’t contribute, and don’t succeed! They whine. Americans do not whine, they get things done – amazing things – as long as the damned government behaves itself, gets the Hell out of the way, and leaves us alone!


Members of the LFE like Obama are positively embarrassed by America and those who I term real Americans. In fact, “Obama is turning his back on the overarching vision of freedom,” that this nation has always stood proudly for. Indeed, that vision has become synonymous with the United States of America. He is positively loathe to advocate American ideals and a, “deep naiveté informs his policy. He believes that our enemies can be persuaded, merely through sweet talk and blandishments, to abandon their cold-blooded interests and their most deeply held ambitions.” In fact, “under the sway of Obama’s anti-idealism, the U.S. is less interested in serving as a champion of liberty, his policies will also reduce our power, and thus our effectiveness should we choose to wield it again.” This, of course, is exactly the point. Reducing, if not completely destroying, our power and effectiveness is now and has always been at the heart of the Liberal Playbook. This has been the case for at least half a century and Obama and his minions represent just more of the same. The major difference today for those of us deemed to be Evil Right Wingers is that this time they damned well may succeed in achieving their dream of destroying this country!


The authors of the piece cited above correctly recognize that in, “many of Obama’s performances overseas . . . there has been a dismaying defensiveness. It’s almost as though he doesn’t think we deserve to stand up for our ideals or for our interests, and he believes that our record of sins, hypocrisies, and affronts make a posture of apologetic passivity the only appropriate one. This posture raises a disturbing possibility: that the waning of America’s self-confidence is part and parcel of the change Obama is effecting.” Possibility, my sorry old ass! It’s part of his Liberal game plan and psyche. The article notes what is going on in Europe and seems to imply, I think correctly, that the same fate awaits America if the Charlatan-in-Chief is granted another term. They explain that in, “Europe we see a civilization that is not willing to defend itself: nations that will surrender their sovereignty, cultures that will step aside to be supplanted by an alien creed, people that will no longer make the most meaningful investment in the future by reproducing. There is a sense that history is over and Europeans are just waiting for someone to turn out the last light in the last gallery in the Louvre.” If that sounds just too apopoplectic for you and your initial reaction is something like that’ll never happen here, then remove your head from your ass and smell the freaking coffee! It is happening here. It’s being purposely foisted upon us, and is cause for celebration in the current Oval Office!


The idea of American Exceptionalism is not just some vague notion, some ethereal, lofty concept just floating around out there in the miasma. It is real, tangible, and palpable. It is something to be cherished, nurtured, and celebrated. It does in so many ways set us apart from the rest of the world and world history that it simply can’t be denied. It can be distorted, maligned, and corrupted as those on the Far Left have done for decades and continue to do. They seem quite uncomfortable and even threatened by its mere existence as well they should be. It constitutes a complete anathema in their collectivist, Socialist world view. That view encompasses an all-consuming arrogance and condescension that is utterly boundless. In their minds, America must be taken down a peg or fifty and we must be humbled and prostrated on the world stage. We must openly allocate to our crimes against our less fortunate neighbors and agree to be governed, as citizens of the world, by international organizations that are deemed more worthy and competent than our own unique and uniquely American institutions. They would have us abandon the idea of American Exceptionalism in favor of some kind of twisted, sick, and perverted concept of American Self-Flagalationism as we seek and beseech the world’s forgiveness and acceptance.


That there are citizens among us who actually advocate this course of action and mind-set is a clear signal that they have not one iota of a clue what American Exceptionalism is or what they would lose by its blind, unthinking abandonment. In a piece entitled, “Liberty and American Exceptionalism (www.huffingtonpost.com),” we are reminded that on the Fourth of July, “we don’t only celebrate the birth of our nation. We celebrate American exceptionalism – everything that makes the United States the greatest nation on earth.” The author also explains that in, “celebrating this, we reject President Obama’s blueprint for the kind of country he seeks to make us.” Author Ken Blackwell reminds us that all those years ago we, “we embarked on a grand experiment to form a self-governing democratic republic,” and the leaders of that movement, “were risking their lives. Had they failed, they would have been hanged as traitors, their lands confiscated by the Crown, their fortunes forfeited, and their families left disgraced and destitute.”


Yes, they risked it all and because they succeeded, “the freest, safest, and most prosperous nation in the world was born.” Blackwell notes that when we celebrate our independence, in fact, we celebrate everything for which the United States stands. We, “celebrate the right to speak what we will, no matter how unpopular, without fear of government reprisal. We celebrate our right to worship according to the dictates of our conscience. We celebrate our right to bear arms in defense of ourselves and our freedom.” Additionally, “we celebrate our right to be secure in our homes and our families, and should we become entangled with the law, our right not to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process, which includes everything from our right to a jury trial, to our right to a lawyer, to our right not to incriminate ourselves or to be tortured.”


Look around the world. The vast majority of people on the planet today and throughout history do not and have not had these or any other rights. Can you possible imagine living your life without these rights quoted above? I know I can’t. Yet these damned saboteurs, these sonsabitches, who constitute the LFE would abandon them in a heartbeat. Why? In their warped vision of America’s future, they will be in charge of all of us little folk and all rights will emanate down from those at the top. They, therefore, will not need rights as we currently understand them and the rest of us will have our rights severely curtailed or destroyed. Ours will have become a government not of laws, but rather of government of whim! This is what they want and have been working so desperately to accomplish! As Blackwell notes, that while, “many of us take those rights for granted, the reality is that they are rare, both in history and even around the globe today.” We do and should celebrate American Exceptionalism and we should be inordinately proud of our exceptional achievements. We believe that, “America is something special. We are a shining beacon of light throughout the world and throughout the annals of history. We are the exception, not the rule.”


Those amongst us who deny the concept of American Exceptionalism have no idea of how really dangerous they are for they cannot fathom or possibly understand the consequences of their actions and attitudes. They are what might be termed as “presentists” who have only a sense of “self”. They have no grasp of history and how very unique America is not only as a place but as an idea and an ideal. They are completely incapable of placing American accomplishments within the context of how the world has operated within the last ten thousand or so years. The planet has always been ruled by the aggressive use of force, that is until we came along. We’re the reason that people world-wide have yearned to be free for that is man’s natural state. We are the example that all others have followed and still follow today. There has never been a nation like ours and I dare say, there never will be again.


Yeah, yeah, I know exactly how that sounds to those who deny and want to destroy the concept and fact of American Exceptionalism. It outrages and infuriates them. It causes them to gnash their teeth and rend their garments. They are enraged at the fact – and it is a fact - that the United States has been such a gift to the world and especially to those who have lived for thousands of years under the yoke of tyrants and dictators whose only claim to legitimacy has been the jack-boot of tyranny on the necks of the common citizen. For the first time in history, the world had another option. Oppressed peoples could come here and experience actual freedom as well as something else never before seen on the planet: a relatively benign government whose main duty was to safeguard the rights of citizens. Those that didn’t come here followed our example in their own countries and ended the tyranny that had enslaved them since the dawn of time. Our example actually made the tyrants of the world nervous and afraid. Now that’s truly exceptional!


An article entitled, “The Demise of American Exceptionalism (www.andyrutledge.com),” insists that, “The United States of America is currently in the throes of a civil war of sorts. There are facets and nuances to this war, but the fundamental conflict is between those fighting to preserve liberty and those fighting to expand the scope and reach of unmitigated tyranny.” Sadly, throughout history the latter has been the hands-down winner in this battle to the detriment of liberty and freedom. America, at least up until now, has once again been the singular exception but the vital issue is how much longer can and will this be the case in the face of the Liberal-Socialist onslaught we face? Author Andy Rutledge continues that the, “list of imperiled liberties, idea, definitions, obligations, industries, societal mechanisms, and constitutional foundations is long and growing almost daily, but there’s something more. There’s a growing threat to that which these precious and imperiled things comprise. At stake is nothing less than American exceptionalism.”


He’s right folks and sadly, he couldn’t be more right. We are in a war and that conflict is a culture war in which the stakes are nothing less than the meaning of America and the American ideal. To those of us who believe in the concept of American Exceptionalism, we realize that it’s extinction and demise does not merely have dire consequences for the United States but rather for the world as well. The author explains that, “Too many people in the U.S. and elsewhere lack any tangible grasp of what American exceptionalism means and what it means to the world.” He continues that without, “American exceptionalism, the world will become a comparatively dark place. Without American exceptionalism, human beings will be less than they are now and the world’s very definition of ‘hope’ will change to mean less than it does now. Yes, American exceptionalism is an imperative responsibility we hold not just to ourselves, but to all peoples of the world.”


Our country has always taken this “imperative responsibility” very seriously although we certainly didn’t have to. The fact that we felt and still feel an absolute obligation to spread the light of freedom beyond our own borders speaks to the altruism of the American ideal. We have always believed and acted upon the idea that freedom is not the province of but one people or one nation. We have always fought tyranny and repression wherever it reared its ugly visage and we continue to do so. It is, after all, our historic mission. The article continues that the, “United States of America has since its founding been the exception in the world. Our nation stands alone in the world in ways at which other nations can only marvel. Our society has long preserved individuals’ hope and opportunity to a degree that the rest of the world has never enjoyed.” I don’t believe that there exists any impartial observer of American history that can honestly and objectively argue with or deny these facts of America’s identity and character. Additionally, “No nation on earth has as its core such righteous indignation and intolerance towards tyranny, combined with wise provisions for the preservation of individual liberty, as does the United States of America. Our Constitution recognizes and preserves individual liberty to a degree found no where else in human history, and in this respect our nation stands alone as the lone exception in the world.”


Those members of the LFE in our country deny all of the above and more. They will never, ever admit that America is indeed both great and exceptional for they would immediately be stripped of their status as bona fide members of the Far Left and as true haters of their own country and its historic role. They have absolutely no appreciation nor use for the country that has provided them the tools and wherewithal to espouse views and actions that would have not all that long ago earned them the moniker of traitor! Do you think that they would agree with the idea and the fact that, “no nation in the history of human existence has shed so much of its own sons and daughters’ blood fighting to preserve and defend the freedom of peoples of other nations,”? You know the answer. Do you think for one moment that they appreciate the fact that, “Throughout history, we have rightly recognized that it is our responsibility to defend liberty worldwide, for those who possess the means have a moral responsibility to act in the face of evil”?


You know the answer to that too, because those Bastards believe that it is we who are evil and that we constitute nothing less than the world’s most malignant and deadly force ever known to human kind. And yes, they really do believe that. The author of the piece referenced above accurately notes that our, “force for good in the world has liberated millions upon millions of people from the crushing weight of tyranny. In this and so many other ways, we are the light of liberty the world looks to. It is no exaggeration to observe that but for the United States of America, terrible powers of evil and chaos would exercise their malevolent will throughout the world on a daily basis.”


Yes, America is and has always been an exceptional nation but we must seriously ask how much longer will it last? There are forces in our midst that are even now fervently plotting, planning, and working to bring this nation down and destroy the very concept of American Exceptionalism. These are the Liberals amongst us and they are deadly serious about destroying our nation as presently constituted and envisioned by our Founding Fathers all those years ago. Can they succeed? Rutledge notes, “Now, imagine the world without all of this; without the shining light of our nation’s example. Such a possibility should chill you to your core. Sadly, such a world may not be left merely to our imaginations for much longer. Our ongoing civil war poses the very real possibility that these and other facets of American exceptionalism will vanish. They are, in fact, vanishing at this moment – falling like dominos as the forces of tyranny work to reshape our nation, deny its heritage, and destroy its foundations.” You just might want to read that last again.


Much Luv Y’all and Have a Great Day!
The Fifth Horseman
(Dr. David M. Rich, Ph. D.)