A Brief Defense of American Exceptionalism

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There is a lot of confusion surrounding the topic of American Exceptionalism these days, and much of it stems from the remarks of two Presidents.

Reagan referred to American Exceptionalism with the following profound words:

…I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it and see it still…

Contrast this with President Obama’s response to a reporter’s question about American Exceptionalism at a news conference in Strasbourg, France, in April 2009. The President’s response was, “”I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism,” Clearly the two men see a different America.

So what it so exceptional about America anyway, and are we being egotistical to laud this land as a beacon beyond any other?

I would encourage you to read the full entry at wordIQ.com because it presents many of the gray areas, and contrasting views surrounding the use of this language, but I present here only the first paragraph of that article to illustrate the way most Conservatives view American Exceptionalism:

American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States and the American people hold a special place in the world, by offering opportunity and hope for humanity, derived from its unique balance of public and private interests governed by constitutional ideals that are focused on personal and economic freedom.

To many of us, this great experiment in Liberty continues to be that shining city on a hill of which Reagan spoke, and it continues to be the last, best hope for a free and prosperous world. Those who are quick to see America’s faults, but somehow miss her greatness do not see it this way.

It would seem that Progressives see America and her faults, and ask, “How dare she call herself Exceptional?” Conservatives, on the other hand, see America and her faults and ask, “How dare we allow America to be less than Exceptional?”

The Obama Strategy: If You Can’t Go Through Congress, Go Around Them

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Barack Obama does not like to take no for an answer. Progressives, in general, are so convinced of their own superincumbent acumen, and equally persuaded of the abject fatuity of anyone to their political Right that they seemingly find a way to justify anything they do as being for our greater good.

And so we find ourselves with the formidable task of somehow stopping this Administration’s end-run around Congress to accomplish what they believe, even if few others do, is right for America.

The threats to our liberty and to the very existence of Constitutional, Congressional oversight are legion, but the mention of a few should be ample motivation for freedom loving Americans to burn up the lines to the White House and their elected representatives – the very representatives who are presently allowing themselves to become obsolete.

Surely with the resounding disapproval by both Congress and the American people Cap and Trade would have to be considered dead, wouldn’t it? One might think so, but there are no failed Obama policies, only the constant creep of Government by unelected bureaucrats who rule by regulation. The threat of the EPA pushing Cap and Trade through regulation is real, so real that a Bill was recently introduced to stop the EPA from doing just that.

What other pet projects of the Left have been dead on arrival at Capitol Hill? You know, the place where people actually have to answer to their constituents (See last November)?

Congress isn’t buying, but the Left longs for a way to control the media. Some would argue that outside of the Fox News Channel and Conservative talk radio that this point might be moot, but they would be forgetting the single greatest weapon we’ve got to preserve our liberties – the Internet. And now they are coming for that. A recent Wall Street Journal article outlines how net neutrality, a concept that has no chance of passing Congress, is in the process of simply being pushed through by regulation.

This is merely the tip of the iceberg. With Obamacare in place, they have established the framework to control who receives what health-care, and dozens of other failed policies are now being pushed by regulation. So much for checks and balances. If we don’t stop it, so much for our freedom.

Contact Congress and the White House today, and demand that unelected bureaucrats not be allowed to legislate by regulation, and that Congress not allow itself to become an anachronism.