Senator Lieberman will battle non-existent isolationists at a U.S. think tank.
Senator Leiberman is going to the American Enterprise Institute to do battle with the dark (and non-existent) forces of neo-isolationism. In making the announcement, AEI's President Arthur Brooks made the following observation:
"Senator Joseph Lieberman's knowledge, deep commitment and vision for American greatness is all too rare in Washington."[Emphasis mine.]
The idea of American greatness is "rare" in Washington? What Washington is Brooks referring to? The notion of American exceptionalism is one of the most rigid orthodoxies around. Kishore Mahbubani addressed this point at a recent Asia Society event with a telling anecdote: as he moderated a panel on American power with U.S. politicians and policy-makers, he discovered that "no senior American figure can have words coming out of his or her mouth" acknowledging even the possibility that America could be number two in the world.
Needless to say, the idea that America in general and Washington's political class in particular is suffering from an insufficient dose of self-flattery doesn't pass the laugh test.
(AP Photo)
