"We don't even take the trouble to be united."
exceptionalism, clarified...
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We are Americans, and so until recently, we knew that we were the best. Because so many people wanted to be us, we could act as we pleased — and we did, because we were the Great Exception; we were America the Blessed. Hence...it's tough swallowing a heavy dose of truth on a sunday morning...
- [O]ur complacent belief, so long borne out by the facts, that American movies and American brands would always sell.
- [T]he Kyoto Protocol did not apply to us, so that we could spew out all the greenhouse gases we liked, and use a pig's share of the world's resources.
- [W]e could seize war criminals in any part of the globe and whisk them off to The Hague.
- [W]e insisted that should we ever commit war crimes, we would remain immune to prosecution in that court.
- [T]his president and his two attorneys general have quite literally legalized torture
- Bull your way ahead. If you meet obstacles, overcome them with arrogant bluster. If this fails, proceed to vicious, mendacious brutality.
- Americans not only voted for [George Bush], but after he proved himself to be a criminal, they reelected him.
- Why not do whatever suited our whims?
- "They hate us," we whisper to one another in amazement.
- What if we had to follow the rules that everyone else does? Well, why not put off that pain as long as possible?
- [W]e don't even take the trouble to be united.
- Alaskan towns are tilting in the melting permafrost, but who cares down in the Lower 48?
- Republicans and Democrats hate each other.
- Automobiles isolate us.
- Generations of advice-givers have made us believe that profit best defines the successful life.
Labels: Alaska, capitalism, conspicuous consumption, Democrats, George Bush, Kyoto Protocol, Republicans, The Hague, torture
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