Not Even Most Republicans Think America Is The Greatest Country

by Deborah Montesano 

Rudy Giuliani stirred up a crock of shit last week with his questions about whether President Obama loves America. It’s no surprise that his rhetoric stinks.
Even the conservative media has called out Giuliani for his dishonesty. Megyn Kelly  of Fox News made the amazing statement that even if some people don’t believe in American exceptionalism, “that doesn’t mean they don’t love America.” Daniel Larison of The American Conservative called the former NY mayor’s rant a ‘tedious lecture’. He criticized Guiliani’s misperception that the president is supposed to be the ‘national cheerleader’ who shields the population from any criticism of the country.
These conservative commentators are surprisingly on point. The reason why can probably be found in Monday’s column by Charles Blow of the New York Times. In using the Giuliani kerfuffle as an instructive moment, he pointed to the results of a Pew Research poll from last summer. The poll showed that the number of Americans who believe in American exceptionalism — the idea that the United States is the greatest country in the world — is on the decline. Not even a majority of Republicans believe we’re the greatest.
According to the Pew Research Center, 38% of Americans across demographic and political lines thought that America “stands above all other countries in the world” in 2011. By the summer of 2014, only 28% thought so. For Republicans, the 2011 figure was 52%, in 2014, 37%. For Independents, it was 33% in 2011, 26% in 2014. For Democrats, the number was 33% in 2011, 25% in 2014. Still, a majority of Americans across all lines — 58% — think America is “one of the greatest countries in the world, along with some others.”
It’s this difference between believing we’re ‘the greatest’ or ‘one of the greatest’ that Charles Blow addressed. The largest group of people believing in American exceptionalism is made up of conservative Republicans — that 37% that still believes we are THE greatest. They use their belief to censure President Obama and anyone else who doesn’t see things the way they do, who doesn’t wave the flag as proof of patriotism or of love for country. As the columnist puts it, the conflict is a battle over basic ideologies. Conservatism preserves; progressivism changes and adapts.
If America were originally intended to never change, we would have a different Constitution. A process for amendments wouldn’t have been included. Blow expressed what is at the heart of America with these eloquent words:

“America is a living idea. It isn’t only the tenets of its founding, but also the terms of its future. Every day, we make America.
“Seeking to preserve and enshrine one vision of this country from one period of its past robs it of what makes it magical: its infinite possibility for adjustment.“

Every day, WE make America. We, the people. Conservatives would preserve the country in formaldehyde, stopping all the living processes that make America a vital place. That way, they could take it out of its jar once in a while and admire its familiarity. That’s not love. That’s control. Anyone who’s been in an abusive relationship would recognize it for such.
Believing in the possibility of change and taking actions to support it are proof of love, whether in regard to a person, an idea, or a country. Author James Baldwin, quoted in Blow’s New York Times article, put it perfectly. He said:

“I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

It’s odd to think that some Republicans, like Megan Kelly or Daniel Larison, might agree. Odd, but encouraging. After all, America is, at heart, a country designed for change