LEIBSOHN & LOWRY TALK ABOUT "AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM"

Liebsohn defined it as the claim that our values weren't just for us but were truly universal and Lowry agreed. They both agreed that Pres. Obama doesn't recognize this. Now, our values must include the Bill of Rights, so if these two clowns really think that our values are universal, then they should have no objection to giving terrorists the same rights Americans have.

There is some debate about exceptionalism on the NRO, starting with this post by Lowry and Ponnuru. Here is their definition:

Exact renderings of the creed differ, but the basic outlines are clear enough. The late Seymour Martin Lipset defined it as liberty, equality (of opportunity and respect), individualism, populism, and laissez-faire economics. The creed combines with other aspects of the American character — especially our religiousness and our willingness to defend ourselves by force — to form the core of American exceptionalism.

Equality for women, blacks and others was NOT present in the original Constitution and to this day we still have some way to go. Populism was specifically denied in the Constitution by having the State legislatures elect U.S. Senators. And laisser-faire economics as Lowry and Ponnuru understand it didn't exist when the Constitution was ratified. Even the term "laisser-faire" didn't exist in English until 1825.