Monday, October 06, 2008
A recent Palin quote:
"We see America as a force for good in this world. We see America as a force for exceptionalism..."
It's exceedingly interesting that A: she doesn't seem to have a clue about what "exceptionalism" means in that context and B: she seems to be promoting precisely the moral blindness that actually IS referred to by the word 'exceptionalism'
Whenever being "a force for good" is assumed by your identity rather than strived for by your ideals, then you are well on your way toward ceasing to be a force for good. This is the number one failure of the current Republican playbook. As soon as you are unable to evaluate your own actions or stated another way, as soon as the suggestion that your own actions might be wrong becomes taboo, then evil follows as assuredly as night follows day.
Even if they weren't taking the Obama quote out of context, the refusal to consider that we ourselves may doing harm is not only harmful, it's morally bankrupt.
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2 comments:
Hi Paul,
I think that this is extremely well expressed, and certainly true about America being "a force for good" with respect to the ideology of current Republican leadership.
At first I thought it's a waste to wrap so much intelligence around the words of someone who is also apparently intellectually bankrupt, but there are almost certainly critical thinkers within the Republican party, lurking in the background somewhere. Or so we hope.
It is my fond hope that for every religious zealot, reverse sexist, and anti-intelligence right winger Palin gained for McCain, she lost him a realist, a sexist, and a scholar.
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