Friday, December 10, 2010

Demanding American Exceptionalism

By Don Monkerud
December 10, 2010

A plethora of wannabe presidential candidates is beating the drum again for American exceptionalism, a warmed-over rehash of bravado, jingoism, and chauvinism.

Read on.
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

American exceptionalism will work for another 10 more years. After that I will move to Canada, learn Chinese, or look up my distant relatives in Europe.

Fri Dec 10, 09:48:00 PM 2010
Unknown said...

http://parachinar.net/tradition.htm

Why don't you try watching this movie
"The Man Who Would Be King"

Directed by John Huston.
Starring Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer

The Last prince of Kalash
The Film which needs money to be made
Sha Khan is a member of the Kalash, the last animists in Central Asia, living high in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Last Prince of the Kalash is the story of his battle to regain the title of ‘Prince’ during the ritual snow hockey match; a chaotic struggle played on a steep mountain side.

This film documents a fight for identity and self-determination in a remote land still reeling from the worst floods in memory.

Where is Nuristân, and Who Cares?
The region called Nuristân is one in a chain of ethnic refuge areas that line the mountains of the Indian Plate collision zone from Afghânistân to Southeast Asia. Nuristân lies in the Hindu Kush mountains of northeastern Afghânistân, spanning the basins of the Alingâr, Pech, Landai Sin, and Kunar rivers. It is the homeland of a unique group of Indo-European-speaking tribal peoples, now called Nuristânis, who fled and resisted Islâm as it spread eastward. In 1895-96 the Nuristânis were finally conquered by the Afghân armies of Âmir Abdur Rahmân Khân, and the people were obliged to abandon their ancient religious beliefs in favor of Islâm.

Nuristânis are today such devout Muslims that they were the first citizens of Afghânistân to successfully revolt against the communist overthrow of their government in 1978. Their success inspired others throughout the country to rise up and bleed the Soviet Union to death through thirteen years of war. The straw that broke the Soviet Union's back sprouted in Nuristân, and we must acknowledge the pivotal historical role that the Nuristânis played in nurturing the seed.

Sir George Scott Robertson K,c.s.i.
Wrote a book in 1896 called
The Kafirs of The Hindu-Kush
I think it is a very good read.

Fri Dec 10, 10:48:00 PM 2010
rosemerry said...

Do you think any of the politicians have read Howard Zinn's "People's History of the US"? I think it should be required reading for all Murcans, and they could not possible keep on with their insane ideas if they read it well. I suppose this is a bit much to ask with the situation your education "system" is in.

Sat Dec 11, 03:55:00 PM 2010
strefanash said...

It is American exceptionalism that makes America the national eqivalent of a cult. The country and the self righteous delusion that there exists any such thing as a good and great people (there is no such thing) are the objects of slavish delusion, exactly as a cultist worships the fetish his cult is built around.

I see something similar in some churches where it is an article of faith that they the membership are perfect and sinless. Of course they aren't, and the self deceiving rhetoric only masks their manifest evil

It is this nonsensical belief that America is chosen by God that makes it the laughing stock of the civilized world.

If they were indeed chosen they would show it by humility and service, not by arrogance, perpetual war and contempt for the poor of all nations including their own.

If America is exceptional it is only in its evil, as their hubris inflates their evil to a degree greater than other nations.

Of course this happened to the empires of the past.

And they all fell

Let them cry that they are great and good while commiting war crimes, murdering civilians, torture, etc

I will simply laugh them to scorn

Sat Dec 11, 06:53:00 PM 2010
Unknown said...

Also Friday, police said nine people were killed by mortar rounds fired by suspected Sunni extremists in two attacks in the northwest. The presumed targets in Hangu district and the nearby tribal area of Kurram were Shiite Muslims, said Hangu police chief Abdur Rasheed.

In Hangu, three mortars missed a Shiite mosque, hitting a house, killing six and wounding eight. In Kurram, a mortar hit a house, killing three, he said.

Anti-Shiite militants in Pakistan predate al-Qaida and the Taliban, which are also Sunni. These days, the groups are firmly allied and have overlapping memberships. They generally believe it is acceptable, even meritorious, to kill Pakistan's minority Shiites because they consider them heretics.

Fri Dec 17, 05:58:00 PM 2010

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