Along with Obama, I'm a believer in American exceptionalism.
America is exceptionally violent. It has attacked more countries without provocation than any other country in modern history.
America is exceptionally hypocritical. It accuses all of its enemies, both without and within, of being terrorists, while in fact it is the biggest perpetrator of terror in the world today.
America is exceptionally ignorant. Hypnotized by the half-truths, out and out lies, and the well-crafted propaganda of TV, Hollywood, and the mainstream press, the average citizen in the United States has no clue as to where the real world might be.
America is exceptionally lawless. It regularly violates international law including the Nuremberg principles which it helped define the purpose of executing Nazi leaders after the second world war, and it is in the process of radically dismantling American legal processes that have supported civil rights, adherence to the Constitution, and rule by law rather than by individuals in high places.
America is exceptionally brutal. For many years the School of the Americas has taught other nations how to use torture as a routine political tool, and America has itself practiced the torture and degradation of its prisoners in such places as Abu Graib, Guantanamo, and in dark sites around the globe.
Truly not since... well, maybe ancient Sparta, or perhaps Mongolia under Genghis Kahn, has the world seen the likes of this country.
Once in the dim past men and women had a vision of a different kind of utopia. It was to be one with no fixed parameters except individual freedom and participatory decision-making. In the olden times such a thing was actually attempted, and this was indeed exceptional. You can read about it in your history books.
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