Some pushing this new theme might seem to infer that Obama does not share the view that America is inherently superior to the rest of the world in some deep-rooted way and was probably not born here or is not sufficiently "American". The use of this term is beginning to parallel the white supremacy arguments of our earlier days only now perhaps applied to the highest office holder who is not considered mainstream American or of the stock.

They don't infer it, they come right out and say it.

To this president, "exceptionalism" does not refer to the uniquely American culture founded in freedom and pledged to the pursuit of human aspirations. To Mr. Obama, it is mere nativist subjectivity, in which every society thinks it is somehow "special."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/9/obama-and-americas-decline/

You're absolutely right about the intent to make the President seem not sufficiently "American", a strategy that's been pursued from the moment he began to appear as a viable Presidential candidate.

But, really, the right doesn't intend this as a debate over what Obama really believes. Rather, it's part and parcel of a larger effort to advance an argument about Obama's cultural roots and identity.

While respectable right wing commentators are careful to disavow the "birther" movement, the suggestion that Obama is not really one of us subtly permeates virtually every aspect of the right's critique of the Obama administration and its policies. Republican officials have openly argued that Wall Steet reform and health reform risk remaking our society and economy into something that's no longer recognizably American. While officials making this claim may very well believe to varying degrees that this constitutes a meaningful critique of Obama's approach to domestic policy, the intended subtext of the argument is unmistakable.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/what_the_rights_american_excep.html

It's important to recognize that in the minds of Conservatives it isn't enough to win the next election. They need to find a reason why the election of 2008 wasn't even valid, thereby invalidating everything done by Congress and especially the White House.

really johnb - one op ed piece against another? Looks more like they have a difference in opinion on what the definition of exceptionalism is.

Perhaps you can enlighten us on your opinion on why obama is an american?

Why do you apply such spin and paint with such a broad brush when you say...

It's important to recognize that in the minds of Conservatives it isn't enough to win the next election. They need to find a reason why the election of 2008 wasn't even valid, thereby invalidating everything done by Congress and especially the White House

Other than your personal opinion what makes it any better or more valid than republicans wanting to see a republican in office as potus. Does not the left wing continue with their own attempts at invalidating right wing goals?

"Perhaps you can enlighten us on your opinion on why obama is an american?"

Ummmm, let me think...BECAUSE HE WAS BORN HERE!

And you're still ignoring the fact that this thread is ABOUT an op ed piece.

With a more intellectual sheen than the false assertions that Obama is secretly a Muslim or that he was born in Kenya, an argument over American exceptionalism "is a respectable way of raising the question of whether Obama is one of us,"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/28/AR2010112804139.html?hpid=topnews

BTW, comparing opposition to a point of view the Left doesn't hold with attempting in court to prove the President of the United States isn't an American citizen is false equivalence. Good luck in your continued quest to repeal the 20th Century.

johnb - sorry, this thread is directly related to to the "american exceptional debate" presented by first read as it relates to liberal vs conservative opinions and how obama may be portrayed. you post 5.3 verifies this when you said...

Ah, but that's not what this piece is about. It's about an argument that President Obama -- and by extension ALL Liberals -- aren't fit to have a place at the table of democracy.

you aren't fit to have a place at the table of democracy? Where did you dig this up from?

How about answering my other questions...

Why do you apply such spin and paint with such a broad brush when you say...

Other than your personal opinion what makes it any better or more valid than republicans wanting to see a republican in office as potus. Does not the left wing continue with their own attempts at invalidating right wing goals?

Asking you so directly for your opinion doesn't bother you does it? BTW keep in mind the timelines between our posts on1.2 etc and 5.1 etc.

The Washington Post’s Tumulty: “‘American exceptionalism’ is a phrase that, until recently, was rarely heard outside the confines of think tanks, opinion journals and university history departments. But with Republicans and tea party activists accusing President Obama and the Democrats of turning the country toward socialism, the idea that the United States is inherently superior to the world's other nations has become the battle cry from a new front in the ongoing culture wars. Lately, it seems to be on the lips of just about every Republican who is giving any thought to running for president in 2012.”

“Some, however, wonder whether Obama's conservative critics are sounding an alarm about the United States' place in the world - or making an insidious suggestion about the president himself.”

If you choose not to address the subject at the top of the page, read the page it links to, or address the point I've made in this subthread it isn't my problem. Keep pretending that "American Exceptionalism" isn't a dog whistle for excluding people other than Conservatives from the label "True American". Everyone else knows better. One more reason why the Tea Party will one day be remembered in the same vein as the "Know Nothings."

You, w bush, have hit the nail right on top of its exceptional head.

Americans were out in the street marching on Washington, screaming at their elected officials, how dare they give health care to all Americans, but said nothing about the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan. No one said a word about the failure of Wall Street, wiping away main-street wealth like a thief in the night -- I did see some screaming about bonuses to AIG, short lived as it was. No screaming or marching about this money that the US is going to borrow from China to give the wealthiest of us a tax break. No screaming or marching when money from only God and the Chamber of Commerce knows where came pouring into our elections! What about our infrastructure? No screaming/no marching. Our Education System -- no child left behind -- no screaming/no marching. Our poor people -- no screaming/no marching. We watched as our jobs were outsourced all over everyone else's lands -- no screaming/no marching. No one is saying anything when FoxNews is allowed to tell "untruths" and run with those stories as if they are fact -- no screaming/no marching. No screaming/no marching when cablenews hosts can target individuals, calling for their murder.

We, the people, make America exceptional. And when we do nothing for the least of us -- our exceptionalism goes out the door with the baby and the bathwater.

I notice that Conservatives on the board are remarkably uninterested in this topic. If I had to guess I'd say they recognize that American Exceptionalism as practiced by Conservatives puts them uncomfortably close to something that can easily be seen to be an ugly sort of nationalism. They can't win this ground in the larger society and they know it.

uninterested johnb? not hardly.

I for one believe that americans have become to complacent in their belief that america is still number 1, for they are not. Today perhaps, but 5 years down the road, no.

Many Americans are too self possessed in their need to have the latest toys and with it their inherent bragging rights. They want to claim political correctness over the discipline required to increase the size of the economic pie and with it social and economic growth for all. Others want government to hold their hands from the cradle to the grave trying to convince us that this is what is best.

Americans have forgotten how to set goals in their lives and to understand the affects that competition plays. America had the russians to look at for competition in the 50's, 60' and 70's. Who do we have now??

Ah, but that's not what this piece is about. It's about an argument that President Obama -- and by extension ALL Liberals -- aren't fit to have a place at the table of democracy.

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, contends in his speeches that Obama's views on the subject are "truly alarming."

In an interview in August with Politico, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee went so far as to declare of Obama: "His worldview is dramatically different than any president, Republican or Democrat, we've had. . . . To deny American exceptionalism is in essence to deny the heart and soul of this nation."

And last week, Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, told a group of College Republicans at American University: "Don't kid yourself with the lie. America is exceptional, and Americans are concerned that there are a group of people in Washington who don't believe that any more."

Some, however, wonder whether Obama's conservative critics are sounding an alarm about the United States' place in the world - or making an insidious suggestion about the president himself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/28/AR2010112804139.html?hpid=topnews

That's a direct quote from the link provided by our hosts here at FR.

au contraire johnb - It is about what perceptions people have about obama, not just one side or another...

“Some, however, wonder whether Obama's conservative critics are sounding an alarm about the United States' place in the world - or making an insidious suggestion about the president himself.”

And there are other posters who wish to paint others with a very broad brush and then redefine what they meant to suit their agenda.

I notice that Conservatives on the board are remarkably uninterested in this topic. If I had to guess I'd say they recognize that American Exceptionalism as practiced by Conservatives puts them uncomfortably close to something that can easily be seen to be an ugly sort of nationalism. They can't win this ground in the larger society and they know it.

But again we are probably talking about a difference in our definitions of "exceptionalism". Guess obama is just too "general" in his remarks, but again most politicians are, and those who aren't are attacked.

I see nothing unamerican in the following;

In addition to the world's largest economy and its mightiest military, Obama said, "we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional."

He added: "I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity and recognizing that leadership is incumbent, depends on, our ability to create partnerships because we can't solve these problems alone."

Johnb: You came remarkably close to the truth; but let's take it all the way.

Conservatives aren't "uncomfortably close" to "an ugly sort of nationalism."

Modern American Conservatives, such as the ones on the board here, have fully embraced the same fascism that overtook Germany, Italy, and Spain in the 1920's and 1930's. It is only their own self-important sense of denial, their vast ignorance, and their sheer arrogance that enervates them to scream "fascism!" at the other side.

And then, of course, their self-delusion is validated by the anarchistic talking heads at News Corp. And I say News Corp, because it's more than just Fox; it's any media outlet that Rupert Murdoch runs. And he's quite proud of the fact that he's running the US into the sewer.

pjb - by definition I think the liberals have a greater leaning to fascism than conservatives.

fascism - often capitalized :

a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism

naturally your own arrogance, ignorance and inability to think for yourself doesn't help your argument either.

johnb - you imply that I think obama is unamerican or were you referring to joic's comment? I just think he has shown poor leadership and communication skills to the american public. The November 2 election results has shown that and his own quote from the washington post has as well...

"I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity and recognizing that leadership is incumbant, depends on, our ability to create partnerships because we can't solve these problems alone."

To bad he didn't apply this belief to his dealings with the republicans and the american people in 2009 and 2010.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/12/fineman-what-went-wrong-for-obama-and-the-dems.html?GT1=43002ml

I also find it fascinating that for the 2004 democratic convention he corrrectly quoted the phrase

'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'

but latter, on two separate occasions he misquoted by saying...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that each of us are endowed with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-misquotes-declaration-independence-again_511412.html

What is remarkable about these two ommisions is that one was of a video of him appearing to be quoting off of a teleprompter (?), falling silent for a short time untill he picked up again on the quote. One time can be simply a public speech gaff, but twice?

I hear you, "I know nothing." The dog whistles are calling for you.

ever think about answering the question at hand? or do you still wish to proclaim that you know nothing.

If you don't get it by now there's no point in my trying to explain it to you. Clearly your weight/volume ratio is unusually high.