Author Archives: shmoover

America is not exceptional because it has long attempted to be a force for good in the world, it tries to be a force for good because it is exceptional. – Peggy Noonan It is extremely dangerous to encourage people … Continue reading →

Christian nation mythologists pump themselves up with narratives of American exceptionalism and Christian domination. But sooner or later even their most devoted followers should begin to see that also depicting it as vulnerable to non-existent threats undermines the myth itself. … Continue reading →

Like generations before us, we have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom. This is the everlasting dream of America. – George W. Bush I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being. – Barack … Continue reading →

America remains the indispensable nation…there are times when America, and only America, can make a difference between war and peace, between freedom and repression. – Bill Clinton I laughed to myself…”Here we go. I’m starting a war under false pretenses.” … Continue reading →

I’ve always believed that this blessed land was set apart in a special way. In my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in … Continue reading →

Their strictly Puritanical origin, their exclusively commercial habits, even the country they inhabit, which seems to divert their minds from the pursuit of science, literature, and the arts…a thousand special causes…have singularly concurred to fix the mind of the American … Continue reading →

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star. – Friedrich Nietzsche Re-reading this essay seven years after I first posted it, it occurs to me that Trumpus (Trump = Us) was barely a blip on … Continue reading →

Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance. – Henri Matisse Why is art so … Continue reading →

To become an American is essentially to divest oneself of a past identity, to make a radical break with the past. – Herman Melville …the world’s fairest hope linked with man’s foulest crime. – Herman Melville What is this standard … Continue reading →

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. – Pablo Picasso Whatever white people do not know about Negroes reveals precisely and inexorably what they do not know about themselves. – James Baldwin As long as we are … Continue reading →