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I am more liberal than conservative and I do think America is exceptional.
However, I do not think the continuous declarations of America's exceptionalism are necessary.
Think about it like this. If you go to a party and meet someone who is well dressed, speaks well, drives a great car, and is high up in a field (surgeon for example), if you walk up and they start telling you how great they are, you will think they are a narcissistic douchebag most likely and want to get away from them. Someone else with the same attributes that doesn't bother telling you how highly they think of themselves will most likely get your respect.
Thats the way I see it with America's exceptionalism. When you are truly great, no bragging and self boasting is necessary. When you are bragging and exclaiming how great you are, don't be surprised when people walk off looking at you like a douchebag.
The only reason people need to be reminded of this is the constant onslaught on Natural Rights protected in the Constitution by the Progressive Left. Liberty and freedom are things that need to be constantly protected. Nobody is saying the U.S. is "better" than other countries, but the concept of our founding and protections of Natural Rights are unique and exceptional. DO NOT TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED, or they will go away.
Because the other allies were involved there too... or didn't Hollywood teach you that.
My Canadian father-in-law flew 67 missions in Lanc's and Lib's, most of them in the far east flying over the hump. His Squadron was based at the same airdrome as General Chennault's Flying Tigers. He was on at least two missions that saw them bombing the Bridge on the River Kwai and any number of missions dropping Sikh agents way behind Japanese lines. The British, Canadians, Indians, Ghurkhas, Australians, New Zealanders and the Russians were all involved to some extent in the war in the Pacific. AND..... they were all VOLUNTEERS … no draftees. Get it?
Geebus, read a frikken history book or something, anything not published by an American entity would be a good start to broadening your abysmal knowledge of all things WWII.
There is this false notion in America that somehow this country fought the war by itself when nothing could be further from the truth.
Lets talk about the Pacific then. While the US was instrumental in defeating Japan, we definitely were not fighting alone. Japan lost 40% of all of there manpower battling the Chinese. Then you have the Burma theater which was mostly fought by Chinese, Indian and British soldiers which costed the Japanese at least 200,000 dead. To suggest that America's sacrifices in WW2 were somehow greater then other allied nations is simply not true.
did i 'suggest' America's sacrifices were greater, particularly with regard to lives lost? i don't recall saying that. i understand that your job is to minimize this country's role. i just don't get why.
did i 'suggest' America's sacrifices were greater, particularly with regard to lives lost? i don't recall saying that. i understand that your job is to minimize this country's role. i just don't get why.
Because our actual role in the war is vastly overstated in the minds of most Americans. This inaccuracy helps perpetuate the lie that is American Exceptionalism. Also its extremely insulting to our friends and allies to diminish their contributions to the war effort.
Am I to take it you think child pornography is free speech?
You can't legally copy a commercial DVD and sell it, that's not an infringement of you right to free speech. You have no legal right to that material to begin with. Nothing is preventing you from expressing your views about it though.
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Or that we ought to have the right to commit reckless endangerment by speaking stuff liable to panic someone?
Clearly if the direct result of what you are saying is going to cause direct harm to someone or the public it doesn't apply. the common example is yelling fire in a theater.
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Slander or Libel or defamation of character (true or not is irrelevant, the relevancy is that it damages one's reputation in realms not directly related to their job). How about harassing speech in the work place? Or bullying speech in schools?
These are civil matters.
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There's plenty of reasons not to be a free speech fundame - uhhh -- absolutist.
I'm not an absolutist but let me be clear. If you can't for example criticize a religious figure you do not have free speech.
On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld her 2011 conviction for “disparagement of religious precepts,” a crime in Austria. The facts of what E.S. did are not in dispute. She held “seminars” in which she presented her view that Muhammad was indeed a child molester. Dominant Islamic traditions hold that Muhammad’s third wife, Aisha, was 6 at the time of their marriage and 9 at its consummation. Muhammad was in his early 50s. The Austrian woman repeated these claims, and the Austrian court ruled that she had to pay 480 euros or spend 60 days in the slammer. The ECHR ruled that Austria had not violated her rights.
And there are already laws against hate speech in Europe.
The issue Phil is who is defining hate speech. Once you go down that road you no longer have the freedom of speech because the legality of your opinions or views are being defined by someone else.
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