Author Topic: Kerry: I Get 'A Little Uptight When I Hear Politicians Say How Exceptional We Are'  (Read 447 times)

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Offline mystery-ak

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http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/blogs/kerry-i-get-little-uptight-when-i-hear-politicians-say-how-exceptional-we-are_796629.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Kerry: I Get 'A Little Uptight When I Hear Politicians Say How Exceptional We Are'

Jeryl Bier

July 15, 2014 7:06 AM

As John Kerry travels from country to country on various diplomatic missions as secretary of state (almost half a million miles so far), he often addresses the staff and their families at the U.S. embassies in the countries he visits. Remarks at these informal gatherings are often more casual than the usual speeches or press appearances, and Kerry often jokes with the staff and recognizes employees of long standing with the State Department. Monday, Kerry had one such opportunity in Vienna, Austria, the last stop on his most recent trip, and towards the end of his talk he recalled his two Yale commencement speeches, forty-eight years apart, where he discussed "sort of the world we’re in" and America's place in it:

Quote
...I was privileged to speak to the graduating class of Yale this year, and it was particularly a pleasure because it happened to turn out to be, literally, I hate to say it, 48 years to the day that I was privileged to speak as a graduating senior to my own class. And I talked to them about sort of the world we’re in right now, but at the end I tried to remind them all, which I remind you of, we are – I get always a little uptight when I hear politicians say how exceptional we are – not because we’re not exceptional, but because it’s kind of in-your-face and a lot of other people are exceptional, a lot of other places do exceptional things.

Despite his profession of uptightness on the topic of America's exceptionalism, Kerry went on to close out his remarks explaining what he believes makes America uniquely exceptional:

Quote
But we are exceptional in a certain way that no other nation is. We are not defined by thousands of years (inaudible) of history. We are not defined by ethnicity. We are not defined by bloodline or by anything except an idea. And that idea was expressed in the Declaration of Independence and in our Constitution, the idea that people are created equal and that all people have a chance to aspire for greatness, for anything they want. Pretty amazing, right? So think about that. It’s the only country that is literally united and formed around and whose rule of law is based on that idea, one idea, and it’s pretty special. So thank you for representing it. Thank you. (Applause.)

Kerry used similar language in his 2014 Yale commencement address, noting that the American idea is what makes America different: that all are "created equal and all endowed with unalienable rights" and that "America is an idea and we – all of us, you – get to fill it out over time."

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Offline PzLdr

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I can understand Kerry's remarks. Throughout his life, he's been exceptional about nothing. Except marrying rich women. And betraying his betters from Viet Nam.
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Offline Chieftain

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I feel his pain, because I have the same reaction whenever I see his face, hear his voice, or see about some other ass-hattery he's responsible for.

 :smokin:

Offline musiclady

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I feel his pain, because I have the same reaction whenever I see his face, hear his voice, or see about some other ass-hattery he's responsible for.

 :smokin:

You have a point.

One might wonder how any exceptional country could end up with a dolt like him for SoS.....
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Offline rb224315

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I can understand Kerry's remarks. Throughout his life, he's been exceptional about nothing. Except marrying rich women. And betraying his betters from Viet Nam.

^^^^^^This.  It's true not just about Kerry but about a whole bunch of other leftists.  They've gotten themselves into positions of power not on the strength of their ideas or values but on their ability to fool people.  As such, they see everyone else's success as ill gotten, just like their own.

Concerning his closing comments--he doesn't believe what he said.  He believes in the rule of law when it helps the left advance their cause.  Speeches where platitudes are expected don't reveal a person's true beliefs.  Kerry's actions have revealed his true beliefs for a long time now.
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Offline mountaineer

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I do wish Kerry and his boss would explain why, if the USA is not exceptional, so many people from $#!thole countries so urgently want to move here?
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Offline GourmetDan

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Can we have someone who actually loves this country to represent us?

Please?


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Offline mountaineer

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SHAPIRO: Why John Kerry Hates American Exceptionalism
Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super…no one will be.
7.15.2014
Truth Revolt
  Ben Shapiro 
 
On Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Vienna, Austria, where he explained that talk of American exceptionalism could offend others. “I get always a little uptight when I hear politicians say how exceptional we are,” he reportedly intoned, “not because we’re not exceptional, but because it’s kind of in-your-face and a lot of other people are exceptional, a lot of other places do exceptional things.”

In the words of Syndrome from The Incredibles, “Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super…no one will be.”

Kerry’s words parallel Barack Obama’s own on the topic of American exceptionalism in France in 2009: “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”

But American exceptionalism is exceptional. No one can really state what the French stand for, or what the Greeks stand for, or nowadays, what the British stand for. American exceptionalism is a different story. American exceptionalism stands for the proposition that liberty from government and property rights, combined with an underlying Judeo-Christian ethos, creates freedom not just at home but the hope for freedom around the globe. American exceptionalism is the philosophy of self-confidence that freed Europe. Twice. That ended slavery at the cost of hundreds of thousands of American lives. That fought for the freedom of Koreans and Vietnamese and Iraqis.

But American exceptionalism is being undermined, at home and abroad. The Obama administration sees America as exceptional in a negative way: we are the only civilized country on earth that hasn’t bought into a massive gun control regime, the only civilized country that remains largely religious, the only civilized country that retains popular support for Israel, the only civilized country that hasn’t bought wholeheartedly into European-style socialism. On foreign policy, America is exceptional only in that we routinely invade other countries to impose our will, or to seize oil, or whatever the leftist meme of the day dictates.

And so American exceptionalism must be stopped, lest it offend. Because it’s inherently offensive. The same folks who say Americans should avert their eyes if they are offended by pornography in public state that Americans should stop touting America, lest American pride intrude on others’ sensibilities.

It is not “in-your-face” to declare what America is, and what it has been historically. It is deeply offensive to run from our better selves so as not to offend those who don’t believe in our values – our superior values.
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