by Jonah Goldberg
In 2008, when asked if he believed in American exceptionalism, President Obama responded, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”
This reminded me of the wonderful scene in Pixar’s “The Incredibles” in which the mom says, “Everyone’s special,” and her son replies, “Which is another way of saying no one is.”
But at least the president made room for the sentiment that America is a special place, even if he chalked it up to a kind of benign provincialism. Not so Michael Kinsley, who recently penned an essay for Politico titled “U.S. is not greatest country ever,” in which he mocked those who traffic in this exceptionalism nonsense.
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