Are we exceptional?

In Washington Post column, Kathleen Parker wonders why Obama won’t say that we’re exceptional while acknowledging at the same time that he’s said it more than once. Mostly the column strikes me as wanting it both ways: Sure, Obama’s said it, but he hasn’t said it enough to satisfy some people, and he even said Britain and Greece think they’re exceptional! How dare he compare us to other nations! But on the other hand, we’re in such a mess maybe we’re not exceptional but people want to hear it anyway so it’s worth a column (carefully calibrated to make it sound like Parker herself doesn’t have an issue with it, it’s all some other, less perceptive people).
None of which changes my opinion that this is one of the right’s more absurd flashpoints. As Parker points out, announcing we’re exceptional isn’t going to fix the economy or win the war in Iraq; I doubt anyone outside the Republican right would care if the Repubs weren’t making an issue of it.
And why does the right make an issue of it?
•It feeds into the general discomfort some whites, as I’ve noted in the past, feel with Obama. Not so much outright opposition to a black man in the White House but feeling it as one more sign that the white status the alpha male used to have no longer exists (certainly it brings benefits, but not as much as it used to). The idea Obama doesn’t love America enough gives them a comfortable explanation for their discomfort.
•Obama’s a Democrat. Obama doesn’t embrace Republican policies. For a large chunk of the right wing, that, in itself is proof he hates America and despises it, so everything he does is seen in that light (and let’s not forget, he has Muslim relatives and doesn’t want to wipe Islam from the Earth). If he proclaimed American greatness upon arising every morning, he’d still have Repubs muttering that he clearly wasn’t sincere—why whole hours go by without him mentioning American excellence.
•Politics. If Obama spread his arms and flew off the capitol dome, Sarah Palin would probably be tweeting “Obama does bird imitation. Big deal.” It doesn’t matter what he says, there’s too much mileage to gain from telling the country that Obama hates America/white people/capitalism/kittens.
•Religion. Some religious conservatives are firmly convinced that God does love America more than any other country. Obama suggesting other nations might also be exceptional is clearly anti-God.
•Ego. For some people, the greatness of America has some direct correlation with their own self-worth—much the way some warhawks seem to equate our military prowess with the size of their penises. We are the champions of the free world. We have the right to decide everything, everywhere: In any dispute, from Russia vs. Georgia to who gets to be president of Venezuela, we’re entitled to get our way. The American Empire exists in practice, if not in name.
For the world to treat us with anything less than reverence is a personal insult. To not proclaim our exceptionalism—let alone not to believe in it—is to hate America. If Obama bows to some foreign leader, if he doesn’t reassure us that we’re better and cooler and smarter and more powerful than everyone else, it’s only a step away from wiping his bottom on the Stars and Stripes.
For a lot of exceptionalists, this slides very naturally into the secular version of antinomianism (a heretical belief that if you’re saved by faith alone, not by your actions, then you don’t have to worry about the morality of your actions). America is great. America is the champion of democracy. America is God’s favorite. The fact that we’ve overthrown dozens of democracies, supported terrorists, suspended habeas corpus since 9/11 for hundreds of innocent people and resorted to torture is irrelevant: All that matters is, we’re America. So we should get a free pass, right.
As I’ve said before, America is exceptional when it does exceptional things. When we do exceptionally wrong things, we get no free pass.
For those who think otherwise, this quote from Richard Aldington: “Patriotism is a lively sense of collective responsibility. Nationalism is a silly cock crowing on its own dunghill and calling for larger spurs and brighter beaks. I fear that nationalism is one of England’s many spurious gifts to the world.”