{"id":520,"date":"2012-07-25T21:16:14","date_gmt":"2012-07-26T01:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=520"},"modified":"2012-07-25T21:16:14","modified_gmt":"2012-07-26T01:16:14","slug":"mitt-romney-and-american-exceptionalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/07\/mitt-romney-and-american-exceptionalism.html","title":{"rendered":"Mitt Romney and American Exceptionalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney just addressed the 113th<\/sup> gathering of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.<\/p>\n

The former governor of Massachusetts endeavored mightily to draw a sharp contrast between himself and his rival, Barack Obama.<\/p>\n

Establishing an inextricable link between the economy and national defense, Romney contended that the President\u2019s poor handling of the former has been coupled with a weakening of the latter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President\u2019s policies have made it harder to recover from the deepest recession in seventy years,\u201d Romney said. As a result, he has \u201cexposed the military to cuts that no one can justify [.]\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is worst of all, according to Romney, is that Obama has \u201cgiven trust where it is not earned, insult where it is not deserved, and apology where it is not due.\u201d\u00a0 Translation: Obama has not embraced the doctrine of \u201cAmerican Exceptionalism\u201d (AE).<\/p>\n

Of course, exactly what <\/em>Obama or anyone else is expected to affirm\u2014or deny\u2014when they endorse AE is anything but axiomatic.\u00a0 However, to listen carefully to its self-avowed champions\u2014like Governor Romney himself\u2014is to become at least a little clearer as to what AE is intended to signify.<\/p>\n

Let us attend to Romney\u2019s words.<\/p>\n

For starters, Romney identifies himself as \u201can unapologetic believer in the greatness of this country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ah. Taken alone, this remark is not only uncontroversial; it is virtually meaningless.\u00a0 What could it mean to be \u201can unapologetic believer in the greatness of this country?\u201d Does such a person mean to deny that other countries are \u201cgreat?\u201d\u00a0 What does it mean to say that any country is \u201cgreat?\u201d\u00a0 Would Romney ever think to deny that Americans are susceptible to the same imperfections that have plagued the human race from time immemorial?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is only when we look at this comment within the context of Romney\u2019s speech, though, that it begins to assume meaning.<\/p>\n

Immediately following Romney\u2019s self-identification as an unabashed defender of AE, he says:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not ashamed of American power.\u00a0 <\/em>I take pride that throughout our history our power <\/em>has brought justice where there was tyranny, peace where there was conflict, and hope where there was affliction and despair\u201d [emphasis added].<\/p>\n

Now we are getting somewhere.<\/p>\n

You see, AE is the doctrine that Americashould seek to deploy its military forces\u2014its power\u2014<\/em>to remake the world in its own image. It is the doctrine that America is <\/em>and should always be <\/em>\u201cthe leader of the free world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

If there are any doubts about this, Romney proceeds to dispel them. He is unequivocal:<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not view Americaas just one more point on the strategic map, one more power<\/em> to be balanced. I believe our country is the greatest force for good<\/em> the world has ever known and that our influence is needed as much now as ever<\/em>\u201d [emphases added].<\/p>\n

Romney claims that he is \u201cguided by one overwhelming conviction and passion: This century must be an American Century<\/em>\u201d [emphasis added].<\/p>\n

Romney\u2019s insinuations to the contrary notwithstanding, one who rejects the doctrine of AE need not, like our beloved President, regard America as a nation in need of redemption.\u00a0 In other words, the only other alternative to the notion that America is uniquely great is not the idea that she is uniquely wicked.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of us\u2014most of us, I suspect\u2014who will readily acknowledge the greatness of our country while just as readily rejecting Romney\u2019s concept of AE.\u00a0 The reason for this should be clear enough: we look upon our country in terms, not of \u201cthe power\u201d of our government, but the goodness <\/em>of its people and its institutions.<\/p>\n

Republicans and other proponents of AE seem to either forget or ignore the fact that the United States military is <\/em>a part of the United States\u2014i.e. the federal\u2014government.\u00a0 Hence, demands for an ever larger military\u2014a military with the capability to \u201cfundamentally transform\u201d the planet into a bastion of \u201cjustice,\u201d \u201cpeace,\u201d and \u201chope,\u201d as Romney says in his speech\u2014are nothing more or less than demands for a national government more expansive and powerful than any that the world has ever seen.<\/p>\n

The logic of this reasoning is inescapable: the bigger the military, the bigger the government.<\/p>\n

What this in turn means is that calls for \u201climited government\u201d are incompatible\u2014radically <\/em>incompatible\u2014with calls for a military of the sort for which the advocates of AE wish.<\/p>\n

There is another consideration against AE.<\/p>\n

Some of us reject AE precisely because <\/em>we love our country so.<\/p>\n

The interminable enterprise of deploying American military personnel to lands around the globe to imperil their lives for the ostensible well being of non–<\/em>Americans is neither virtuous nor, at least in spirit, constitutional.\u00a0 Think about this for a moment: American public servants <\/em>confiscate the hard earned resources of American taxpayers <\/em>so that they can send American soldiers <\/em>to fight and die for non-<\/em>Americans.<\/p>\n

This is what the doctrine of American Exceptionalism entails.\u00a0 This is supposed to arouse our enthusiasm and fuel our most patriotic of feelings.<\/p>\n

No thanks. \u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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