McCain's 'exceptionalist' campaign strategy will fail

Obama supporters must be praying that Senator McCain takes Brett Joshpe’s campaign advice (America’s identity 7-25-08) in running for President. Mr. Josphe’s and his inspiration, Natan Sharansky’s ‘exceptionalist’ “identity” have done more to harm America’s future in the world, than any multicultural supporters. The only thing more damaging to our freedom and security in today’s hyper interdependent world is American’s unexamined identity of ‘independence’.

The US Constitution is an exceptional document forwarding basic principles like protection of inalienable rights and a sensible balancing of power that should be applicable to all the world’s people and nations respectively. Unfortunately that idealism hasn’t been applied in U.S. foreign policy and still isn’t practiced by the Bush Administration that often talks about freedom and democracy but continues to support domestic policies and foreign governments that undermine these universal ideals.

It is this profound hypocrisy that had Bush’s father in the late 1980s providing Iraq with WMD which our ‘ally’ Saddam Hussein used in warring against Iran and mass murdering Kurds. Even post 9-11 President Bush supported undemocratic governments in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and China in hopes of gaining some short term US advantage like lowering oil prices, killing suspected terrorists or buying cheap manufactured goods.

The International Olympic Committee slogan “One World, One Dream” is closer to American idealism of “liberty and Justice for all”, than Joshpe/Sharansky exceptionalist ideology of ‘might makes right’ or ‘my country, right or wrong’.

Obama ‘multicultural’ types don’t “regard all nations and governments as equally righteous”. Most of us do believe however that all the world’s people are deserving of equal protection for a basic set of universal rights. To the degree that past or current US foreign policy ignores this fact is the degree to which people like McCain will justify attacking Iran yet refuse the use of US military force in stopping genocide in Darfur. We will apparently go out of our way, and risk Armageddon to protect ourselves and our exceptional ally Israel from an unlikely genocide -- yet won’t lift a single rifle to stop the ongoing genocide of poor black people with no oil under their feet.

Joshpe should realize that “E Pluribus Unum” means 'Out of many, One.' Not ‘one (or two) over many’. I’m guessing Obama sides with our founding fathers ideal that “we're all in this thing together' and any identity different than that is both un-American and un wise.

‘Yes we can’ do more to put into global practice what our founding fathers preached. Not because the United States or American’s are exceptional, but because the universal ancient ideals that were used to create this great nation are. McCain is a good man, but if he can’t make this simple yet profound distinction he doesn’t deserve any American vote.