I think the United States of America is exceptional. American exceptionalism is a little harder to swallow.As I understand it, American exceptionalism proclaims that the United States stands athwart history, yelling "Stop!" It is a country like no other, the world's first and longest-lasting democratic republic, a beacon of liberty, a superpower impervious to the fate that befell Rome and the Ottomans.The Republican Party defines American exceptionalism in its 2012 party platform as "the conviction that our country holds a unique place and role in human history," guided by the doctrine of ...