Talk of American exceptionalism has become headline news, with loud sputtering from Rudy Giuliani, who suggested that President Barack Obama doesn’t love America in the same way that the rest of us do. Giuliani wants to dwell on our exceptionalismthe idea that we’re different from other countries, and much better.
It’s an old idea that Obama took on in the second year of his presidency, when he said: “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”
That comment annoyed those who wished him to say: “America is the best country in the world, bar none!”
Somehow the drumbeat for exceptionalism continues. This month, Oklahoma politician Dan Fisher introduced a bill that tried to ban Advanced Placement history classes in his state because the guidelines for teachers didn’t talk explicitly about American exceptionalism. The bill passed the House Education Committee in his state by a 11-4 vote but has since been pulled back for a rewrite, the Tulsa World reported last week.
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