re: #22 Charles Johnson

The fact is the US is exceptional because those same Founding Fathers put together their ideal version of a government, and we’ve been making progress towards those aims - developing a more perfect Union, with equal rights and justice for all.

One has to temper that exceptionalism with the fact that it hasn’t always been pretty (the history of slavery, segregation, gender discrimination-right to vote), and it hasn’t always been peaceful (the Civil War), but we’ve made progress (see Civil Rights Acts, 13-15th Amendments, extending civil rights and protections to more classes of people, etc.).

There’s still a long way to go.

Pointing out these things doesn’t make you pine for being in a 3d world country, or ignore history or American exceptionalism. It’s all part of our nation’s history.