ARROGANCE OF "EXCEPTIONALISM"

Normally, I would post only one item today, but a story in the Washington Post this morning put such fire in my belly that another seemed to be in order. The original post on ASIAN ARTIFACTS OF WORLD WAR II follows the one on "exceptionalism".

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ARROGANCE OF "EXCEPTIONALISM"

While the media attention today is on WikiLeaks and the possible effects on U.S. diplomacy, the Washington Post carried a far more troublesome article, "American exceptionalism: an old idea and a new political battle."

The heart of the "exceptionalism" idea is that our country is superior to other countries in the world and, adding on, to deny that means you are both un-American and godless. A few quotes from the article:

"The reorientation away from a celebration of American exceptionalism is misguided and bankrupt." -- Mitt Romney past and likely future candidate for President in his pre-campaign book.

"America the Exceptional" -- title of a chapter in Sarah Palin's new book.

"To deny American exceptionalism is in essence to deny the heart and soul of this nation."-- Mike Huckabee another past and likely future candidate for President in an interview.

This sampling of a new era of jingoism/chauvinism has two things in common: 1) they are from very conservative right wing Republicans who wannabe the next President; and 2) they are barely disguised attacks on President Obama who speaks of the country's greatness but has shied away from the term "exceptional" in defining this country's place in the world. As the various Republican wannabes gear up their campaigns, they will be competing for whatever the superlative of "exceptionalism" may be (perhaps "exceptionalismest"), egged on by right wing talk show cheerleaders such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. "Exceptionalism" ("E") will take its place alongside God, belief in God, God's work, etc., as a theme already prominent in right wing rhetoric.

There is no question that the United States is a superpower and as such has an international responsibility that exceeds that of most other nations, a responsibility that must include restraint and sensitivity, not just hubris. But to think of ourselves as exceptional is to equate our self-interest with what is good for the rest of the world, a meaning implicit in "E". That is arrogant. Other nations have their own self-interests and they are not subordinate to ours, a distinction we often ignore. This is particularly evident when we translate our "E" and arrogance into military adventures such as Iraq. There, in pursuit of the mythical weapons of mass destruction and in seeking to implant our model of democracy in historically inhospitable soil, we have not only failed or are failing in both objectives but also have left the entire region more vulnerable to our own version of the "great satan"--Iran. Ditto for much of what we have done and are doing in Afghanistan.

Here it is time for another quote to balance the jingoism of "E". This is from the book "Arrogance of Power" written by the late Senator William Fulbright in the context of the massive U.S. intervention in Vietnam in the l960s.

"Power tends to confuse itself with virtue and a great nation is particularly susceptible to the idea that its power is a sign of God's favor, conferring upon it a special responsibility for other nations -- to make them richer and happier and wiser, to remake them, that is, in its own shining image. Power confuses itself with virtue and tends also to take itself for omnipotence. Once imbued with the idea of a mission, a great nation easily assumes that it has the means as well as the duty to do God's work."

The most frightening point of Fulbright's argument is what he sees as the U.S., in pursuing political, military, and ideological objectives, is prone to also see itself in the Biblical role of doing God's work. Onward Christian soldiers. That is, we are God's chosen nation and as such we have been annointed to go forth and do what we want knowing we have his blessing. Thus does the arrogance of "E" wrap itself in messianic robes and pronounces the non-believers of "E" as un-American and godless.

The culture wars within this country and abroad have become ugly enough, as evident in the growing anti-Muslim attitudes in the U.S. Now this newly emboldened "E" view held by the right wing threatens to poison our relations even with our friends. The WikiLeaks will create some difficulties in pursuing our diplomacy, but "E" is a far more insidious toxin that is likely to seep into our relations in the international community. "Exceptionalism" diminishes us.