America is not great: What the Baltimore riots exposed

The idea of American exceptionalism took a mighty blow this week

Police detain a protester in Baltimore.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton))

I love my country, but I'm tired of hearing about what an "exceptional" nation we are. Not just exceptional in the sense of different, distinctive, unique. We are that in lots of ways, many good, some quite bad. What I mean is the sense of "exceptional" that permeates the speeches of our politicians, especially Republicans, and the rhetoric of our right-wing rabble-rousers on talk radio and cable news.

Patriotism — love of one's own political community — is a natural human sentiment. But if it is not to be childish, delusional, partial, blinding, it must be tempered with a willingness to face facts, even when they're ugly.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.