"Exceptionalism" Raises Some Hackles

A reader responds to an earlier post:

Your essay on Obama's not having used the word "exceptionalism" makes me crazy...

First, I never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never heard the word before Sarah Palin.  I thought she made it up.  (And, linguistically speaking, I am no dope.)

A superficial examination of the history of the use of the word showed me that early in the twentieth century it was used by the Communist party to discuss America.

This word is such a hash of rhetoric, I believe it should be banned from public discourse by Lake Superior State College.  Come on –  take a noun like "exception" --  meaning "an object or being made or designated or thought of as different from the ordinary."  It does not inherently mean or imply "better," merely "different."  Add "al," to make it an adjective to describe a object or being as somehow special and different.  Add "ism," and what the hell have you got?  It is a crappy word, and should not pass the lips of a thinking person. 

Hitler thought the Germans were superior to other nationals.  "Exceptionalism" is a long, concocted word … which would have appealed to a thinker like Hitler, who:
1. actually believed his people were superior and
2. spoke German, in which language the compounding of words into longer words is so endemic it is the subject of jokes.

Of course, this reference to Hitler supports "Godwin's Law" – we just can't help it, it's so appealing.

I can't help but cut to the chase.  In this, we are fighting a duel of wits with unarmed opponents.  Trouble is, most of them are probably packing!!!

The fact that Obama has to date refused to say Americans are the best people on earth is probably one reason the U.S. has risen in the esteem of the world at large, and he is held dear by many foreign nationals.  He values humans, American or otherwise.  What would be wrong with that – if we weren't trying to argue with Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck?  They are beneath contempt, but they believe they are exceptional, yea superior, by virtue of where on the globe they happened to be born.

What I object to is the fact that Palin and her many minions in the right-wing media grab a word. . . decide their own significant definition of that word, and make it the word the duck is carrying in its mouth when it drops out of the sky.  "Say the secret word, and you win a hundred dollars." [Hat tip: Groucho Marx] Fail to say the secret word, and we'll tell people you are an illegal alien.

Obama knows how to say their lousy word.  But he's smart enough, he knows better words.  And he knows how to use them.

Screw them and their magic word.

Source Image Credit:

Title Card for classic TV game show, "You Bet Your Life"