Dissing American Exceptionalism, Again

Another commentator, radical leftist Tom Engelhardt, misses the basic thesis of American exceptionalism. It's not all about power, which is how most of those who cheer American decline conceptualize it. See, "The American century: That was then":

As a 67-year-old, I grew up in a post-World War II era that, by any measure, was the height of the first American century. As much of the rest of the developed world struggled to rebuild devastated cities, the United States couldn't have been more exceptional, a one-of-a-kind country in producing the big-ticket items both of peace and of war, often from the same corporations.

Back then, there was no need for presidents or presidential candidates to get up and repetitively reassure the American people of just how exceptional we were. It was too obvious to state. After all, when you've really got it, you don't have to flaunt it.

So, the next time you hear any politician insisting that this country is American century-style exceptional, think of it as a kind of secret confession that we aren't. These days, you can feel the uncomfortably defensive snarl (or whine) that lurks in the insistence that our country isn't just another powerful nation in political gridlock and economic trouble.

Actually, we are, but Engelhardt's too much the bloody idiot --- surrounded by bloody communist idiots --- to understand why.

PREVIOUSLY: "Harvard's Stephen Walt: 'The Myth of American Exceptionalism'."