David Swanson Discusses Curing American Exceptionalism

His new book is Curing Exceptionalism; What's wrong with how we think about the United States" What can we do about it?

I love this book. It is so, so needed.

[ljones]

Great interview with a fantastic journalist. Thank you.

[billrood]

David leaves some important truths out of the book. In discussing the Evian Conference (pp98-104), he repeats the trope that Franklin Roosevelt "chose not to make the necessary efforts to aid Jewish refugees, before, during, or after the conference." On page 29 of "Against Our Better Judgement, " Alison Weir debunked that claim, "When FDR made efforts in 1938, 1943, and the British in 1947, to provide havens for refugees from the Nazis, Zionists opposed these projects because they did not include Palestine." She backs that thoroughly in the footnotes, citing John W. Mulhall, CSP, and Alfred Lilienthal. Notably, the Zionists who opposed Bernard Baruch's 1938 proposal included Brandeis and Frankfurter.

I realize David's subject matter is American Exceptionalism, and brevity is important to capture a larger audience. It's important to correct our own faults rather than point fingers at others, so perhaps he should not be expected to pull a more general discussion of being "chosen" by God, and the similarities between the US and Israel into the discussion, but I have a responsibility to correct misinformation.

[jansteinvonsquidmeirsteen]

How banal. Lotsa cliche here. Learned nothing new.