February 15, 2012--Apologizing for America

In his book--note the title--No Apology, Mitt Romney repeatedly claims that Barack Obama rejects the notion that America is "exceptional" and asserts that he has an almost uncontrolled impulse to apologize for America. Especially when travelling overseas.

Doing this is about the biggest transgression for an American while out of the country. If we have critical things to say about the United States, we should do so only when back home. Thus, Obama's propensity to apologize is more than inappropriate. Further, this charge, if true, feeds a subliminal theme that Obama, with his exotic, mixed-race background, is not really American.

The operative phrase is "if true."

I thus decided to do some fact checking to see if Romeny's charges are true, particularly since they are echoed by Newt Gingrich and the new GOP front-runner, Rick Santorum.

As with so much of the shrill criticism of Obama this claim of disloyalty does not hold up to even casual scrutiny.

This narrative began before Obama was elected--recall how he was criticized for apologizing for America when he made a trip to Europe while still a candidate; but this attack was fully launched by Karl Rove less than three months into Obama's presidency in a Wall Street Journal article titled, “The President’s Apology Tour.”

The Washington Post blog "Fact Checker" tracked down every statement Obama uttered that partisans claim was an apology, and concluded that all of them had been misquoted or taken out of context. (Article linked below.)

One example from Mitt Romney. In his book and while on the stump he often cites a statement Obama made in April 2009 while in England as evidence that he does not believe in American exceptionalism. Asked by a British reporter whether he thought the United States was uniquely qualified to lead the world, Obama answered: “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” But as Romney put it in his book, this “is another way of saying he doesn’t believe it.”

Obama in his full response in London went on to say, “I’m enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world.” He continued: “If you think of our current situation, the United States remains the largest economy in the world. We have unmatched military capability. And . . . we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.”

Sound exceptional to me. Though I know Karl Rove and Mitt Romney made note of that "imperfect." America, after all, is perfect.