Wednesday’s New York Times carried an article by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin castigated Obama and ridiculed the notion that America was an exceptional nation. He’s wrong of course, as wrong as he can be. Wrong about America, that is.
America was founded on ideals that “…all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The following video is one tiny example of America’s exceptionalism: an impromptu fleet of boats, hailed by the US Coast Guard, transported half a million people off the island of Manhattan after the towers fell on 9/11/01.
“On the morning of September 11th, when the towers came down, millions of people ran for safety. Hundreds of thousands of them ran South to the water’s edge. That’s when they realized that Manhattan is indeed, an island.”
There have been thousands of examples of America’s exceptionalism over the years, including the winning of world wars on foreign lands and subsequent assistance with rebuilding, but not occupation.
But no finer example can be found than that of Americans helping one another in times of crisis — praying, feeding, doctoring, housing.
Putin understands the heavy hand of the KGB. He will never understand the helping hand of God-fearing Americans who believe, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
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