Cufflink of LA said it best: we keep crowing about how great we are and forget all the monstrous things we have done to non-Americans and Americans. It's the crowing that irks so much. America would be great if it just kept its mouth shut more often. And Mr. Biggest Bigly Mouth at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue should just shut up and return to just fleecing people.
201
Stephens says: "Other countries rise on strengths that ultimately become their failings, sometimes their downfall."
It's not just other countries. It's us too. America's unique strength is its exceptional faith in the power and potential of the individual. That faith—combined with the fact that America began as a large and thinly populated territory, rich in resources, with its economic potential largely untapped—led to the peculiar entrepreneurial optimism that has always made us great.
But our strength has a dark side too. We've always had a tendency to fall for scammers and con men—a love, as Dickens put it in 1840—of "smart dealing." Individuals who "make it" are admired, even if they are moral scoundrels: exploitive and predatory. And those who fail are blamed for their failure, looked down upon as lazy, lacking in virtue, undeserving. The rich are elevated because they confirm our myths of individual prowess, and the downtrodden reviled because they challenge those myths. We tolerate a lot of cruelty under the guise of loving freedom.
The challenge America now faces is that our economic opportunities are constricting. The country is no longer thinly populated. Its resources are no longer immense in proportion to its population. The untapped potential has largely been filled and new opportunities are harder to come by. Individualism won't carry us through this period alone. We need community. And we'll soon learn whether the ability to renew is truly a strength.
72
As happens all too frequently in reporting the news, the political enemies of truth have taken a comment which was wholly true, sliced it and diced it in order to achieve a meaning totally the opposite of the intent in which it was spoken.
In this age of sound bites and five word television headline ribbons, Cuomo's remark is a textbook case of slanting a speaker's intention. It is up to us, who still ultimately decide the political fate of our leaders, to look beyond the headline.
Republican Party operatives will stuff Cuomo's "American isn't great" sliver down the throat of anyone who cannot, or will not, look just a bit further into this story.
Was Cuomo's comment a gaff? Of course it was. Could he have been more careful with his choice of words? Without a doubt. We will be hearing about it well into the next presidential election. Trump, Fox News & Co. will see to that, probably shooting "Cuomo said 'America isn't great'" into the air like a Fourth of July rocket for the next 18 months.
If one reads Cuomo's entire speech, one comes away with a completely different, and far richer, understanding of what he was saying than "America isn't great."
94
What are country's leaders are striving for:
We are working to remove guarantees of health care coverage.
We are suppressing voting.
We are removing worker protections.
We are trashing our environment.
Many of our states cannot educate our children.
Our leader is a pathological liar who colluded with a foreign power to win an election and 1/3 of our country does not care.
We separate refugees from their children at the border and put them in cages.
Maybe we aren't so great right now.
But you raise an important point. Everyone needs to get out and vote so we can become better.
175
Gosh Bret, your sub-head says pretty much exactly what the "Gov" said after uttering that sentence. You Republicans sure get a lot of milage out of Democrats who think and speak in paragraphs. I guess Democrats, especially after the "deplorables" episode, should know to keep their thoughts down to single sentence fragments so you guys can stop misrepresenting them so thoroughly.
75
All politicians say stupid things and too many politicians are stupid. Why waste a column on Cuomo when the clear and present danger of the ever-bolder Trump cult grows more threatening by the day.
44
America great? Slavery, massacre of native Americans, Tuskegee experiments, LSD experiments on US soldiers, eugenics program, Chinese Covenents, Jim Crow, child labor, lynchings, theft of Hawaii, racist Supreme Court decisions, Iran-Contra, children in cages, firing on WWI veterans seeking benefits, THE OPEN LYNCHING OF BLACK SOLDIERS FOR WEARING US UNIFORM...READ THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY
65
Whatever you think of silly vapid Conservative Republicanisms like “American Exceptionalism”, or “innate American ‘greatness’”, or “Make America Great Again!” (not much, beyond “red meat tossed upon the fire to feed the red base”, in my estimation) you don’t play into their hands by affirming the obvious like Andrew Cuomo just did.
Strategically, it might not matter much because Trump probably could still “shoot somebody on 5th Avenue and get elected”; or at least keep most of his supporters inside his slowly shrinking tent. But tactically, wooing independent voters (who must be won over if we are to rid ourselves of this corrupt, mentally unbalanced, noisome wannabee tyrant before he destroys the United States) — how incredibly stupid. You don’t hand your enemies a knife they can stab you with.
He merely confirms something that most distant observers already grasp about him: that he isn’t remotely like his father. Borrowing some “Peter Principle” terminology, he’s well above his level of competence risen in New York’s Democratic hierarchy and should find a way to gracefully exit the stage before he’s simply thrown out.
14
American exceptionalism or if you like arrogance and hubris blind us to our faults and exaggerate our strengths. We are a country of immigrants founded on the ideas of European intellectuals whose potential for good has been tempered by ignorance, economic greed and religious fanaticism. That our vices are not exclusive to us should tell us that neither are our virtues. We are as much a product of geographical chance, natural resource opportunity and social dominance as our society is the consequence of “first principles”. Unfortunately that doesn’t play to the jingoistic patriotism impulse that drives American exceptionalism so we get opinion pieces like this. Pieces that seek to downplay our “crimes” and disparage those who would have us live to those first principles with a dose of humility and the understanding that we are not the exclusive font of all things good. After all those “first principles” existed before America and may exist long after America is just a topic in a history lesson.
41
It's sad to say this, but it seems the American Experiment has failed. Our president is a proudly ignorant, dangerously narcissistic sociopath determined to destroy the very institutions that have helped this country strive toward greatness; and some 60 million Americans support him; and the Republican Party isn't lifting a finger to stop him. We're not together. We're falling apart; as the Founders feared we might some day.
43
I’m no fan of Andrew Cuomo, but you’ve ignored context, and made a series of arguments based on platitudes as opposed to facts. Cuomo’s statement was meant as direct retort to Trump's "Make America Great Again" platform which canonizes and extols the racism, sexism, and discrimination which existed as a matter of law for over 100 years (de facto discrimination), and persisted in practice under cleverly structured laws (de jure discrimination.) You're making Trump’s argument for him Bret, namely that a White Supremacist America, an America with slavery and Jim Crow, an America Before Blacks and Women could vote, was "great." Trump mourns the loss of all those “beautiful statues and monuments” to White Supremacists and the “great” America they made, yet you choose to attack Cuomo. In an April 2016 statement the Anti-Defamation League detailed the history of "America First," the massive White Supremacist "America First Committee" and Party. It was made of Nazi sympathizers and anti-Semites before and during World War II. Is that what you want us to go back to Brett, do you believe it "Will Make America Great Again"? White Supremacists certainly do; so does Trump.
Finally, as you wrote this, Thirteen former leaders of the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., including 95 year old William H. Webster, signed an open letter standing against Trump, in favor of freedom of speech and, crucially, for the administration of justice. Why? Because he's destroying American democracy.
45
The reason America has never been great is that the multitudinous past crimes against humans have never been confessed, nor remedied. This country has always put profit ahead of the welfare of people, regardless of our claims that we are a "great country," when we do not welcome legal immigrants and refugees (and shorten the time frame for citizenship, ex. Melania Trump's parents,) fully assist every resident who needs help, insist that our wealthy pay their fair share of the nation's expenses, enshrine workers' rights in the Constitution, make reparations for slavery and Jim Crow, teach the evil of Japanese-American detention camps and compensate the survivors, fully educate all school children about our history (for many years to come, like Germany,) retrain every police officer in the country to eliminate the overwhelming racism, that has caused 100's of innocent deaths, mostly black men, and prosecute guilty cops,) empty the prisons of non-violent, misdemeanor inmates, mostly black men,) BAN cruel private for-profit prisons, close Guantanamo Bay and make dark sites illegal, impeach judges who show obvious political leanings, outlaw big bribery money in politics to achieve one citizen, one vote status, and banish the electoral college, make equal quality education available to EVERY student, eliminate student debt, get rid of the statute of limitations for sexual crimes... There's not nearly enough room here to list the ways that our country is not great. It could be.
29
“Unalienable Rights.”
-- Voter suppression and gerrymandering.
“The consent of the governed.”
-- With lobbyists writing our laws because legislators have to spend all their time raising money for re-election, and with our presidents chosen by the Electoral College.
“The pursuit of Happiness.”
-- Sure you can pursue it, but you have much better prospects of actually attaining it if you're living in Denmark.
“Created equal.”
-- All of the female presidents we've had would definitely agree with you there. Oh, and then there's the race issue....
Cuomo was right. Enough empty, mindless cheerleading for America -- it's time we faced the harsh realities of what we've become and started dealing with them as adults.
48
Gov. Cuomo is emblematic of what I detest and hate in the Democratic leadership that sources its ridiculousness back to the Clinton administration.
Every one of the so-called "Leaders" of the Party live in this kind of nit-wit bubble that allows them to say the dumbest things. Remember Hillary's "Basket of Deplorables". Or President Obama's disparaging comment on Bibles and guns? Now we have Cuomo saying America wasn't so great. Not "America wasn't so great for people of color and other minorities." Not "America wasn't so great when it came to treating Native Americans." Not "America hasn't been so great since Trump was elected." Nada.
No qualifiers whatsoever. So he attacked a "sacred" shibboleth and looks like the other "leaders"--a tone-deaf fool who fits the VERY stereotype of Liberals that the right-wing likes to portray "They HATE America! They don't respect America! They deny American exceptionalism!"
Governor, you put it right in their wheel house. I truly hope you don't get the Democratic nomination for President because:
A) You have shown yourself to be a less-than-adequate governor.
B) You've already guaranteed you'll lose to Trump. You'll NEVER escape your toxic, lethal dose of foot-in-mouth disease.
24
First, King Andrew is not really running for Governor of New York, he is firing up his campaign for the 2020 Presidential election. That being said, he has shot himself in the foot with this one. All the explanations, take-backs, and apologies in the world will never erase the stupidity of this one statement.
One can only hope that either he will tone back his remarks to issues relevant to a gubernatorial campaign or that the voters of New York will help his presidential campaign by voting him out of office, giving him more time for the presidential run.
7
I am repeating what Lynn from NY showed us because it needs to be seen:
Cuomo's very next sentence:
“We have not reached greatness, we will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged, we will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women, 51 percent of our population, is gone and every woman’s full potential is realized and unleashed and every woman is making her full contribution,”
(and, of course, as a guest pointed out to Colbert, slavery and discrimination ) The point is continue to go forward, not go back again.
44
It's breathtaking that this defensible but certainly inartful statement will, no doubt, rise above and endure beyond the sea of incredibly unpatriotic and mindless daily utterances dating back well before the Midnight in America inauguration speech.
18
Kurt Godel, Einstein's mathematician, basically proved that constancy precludes completion. Therefore, there's nothing "subjective" about a "MORE perfect union" if the Constitutionality of our formative order is to perpetually preclude any COMPLETE perfection lest anyone's ever totally satisfied. Hence lessons learned from lesser pasts -- if our pastime's to duly instill our better angels -- can only long for the ages what's truly destined in the crossroads of our greater good MOVING FORWARD. Otherwise (per Lincoln), even "the great task remaining before us" of sparing our Gettysburg dead from having died in vain -- "thus far so nobly advanced ... far above [Trump's] poor power to add or detract" -- will sadly "have a new birth of [constancy]" whence our of/by&fors SHALL "perish from the earth."
You can't have your MAGA fake and cheat it too!
2
Spot on Brett Stephens!
10
This is the kind of infantile whistling in the dark about "greatness" and "exceptionalism" that characterises so much of the current insecurity about the US - and what de Tocqueville referred to as American "self-applause." We all know what Stephens is capable of but this is just drivel.
American democracy is a disgrace. It has been bought and paid for by special interests and lobby groups. The electorate has never been so polarised. Truth has never been so irrelevant. And as for immigration? The wonderful Bush and Neocon experiment with militarism created a mess of historical proportions across the Middle East and North Africa... but it hasn't been the US that has picked up the refugees and migrants - it's been Europe. The US slammed the door shut and now Europe is picking up the pieces of the US's failed militarism. Where were the US's "foundational ideals" then? - or even just humanitarian decency?
You don't need to be Sigmund Freud to understand that when someone starts to rationalise a problematic position, what's really going on - what they're really afraid of. What's really wrong is that instead of getting on with fixing things, some idiots need to keep trying to argue for "greatness" and being loved, and special.
Get a dog if you need it that much.
44
Every once in a while, a politician or other such leader blurts out something they truly believe whether purposefully or accidentally. This is one such case. Cuomo, in one short phrase, told us exactly what he thinks of his country. I'm sure he thinks NY is great since he wants to be its governor again before aspiring to an even higher office. But it's clear that he probably thinks little of places like Pennsylvania where the steel was made to win two world wars or the Midwest Heartland which feeds the nation or possibly even California which has been the cradle of technology innovation.
It's an ignorant viewpoint. America has done something no other nation in history has achieved. Americans took a continent of dirt in 1776 and in less than three centuries turned it into the wealthiest, most prosperous and freest nation on the planet. No other nation has come close to accomplishing so much. And while I see other comments below opining that America is great only for rich white men, the fact remains that America remains the first choice of most emigrants. There is so much good in America. What is not great about the country are the voices that strive to divide us.
Future voters know exactly where Mr. Cuomo stands. I have little doubt that he agreed with Mrs. Clinton's 'deplorables' viewpoint. On that basis he will certainly never earn my vote in a national election.
31
@Keith--Read the rest of Cuomo's statement: “We have not reached greatness, we will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged, we will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women, 51 percent of our population, is gone and every woman’s full potential is realized and unleashed and every woman is making her full contribution,”
He was speaking about one specific issue--discrimination against women. That's it.
28
The ability to enslave, commit genocide and usher in the age of WMD has made America great. Even in our greatest global triumph, victory in WWII, at home, Jim Crow and the effects of the Great Depression plagued our society. Since then the rise of the MIC, the ascendancy of the oligarchs and the broken promises of the Civil Rights Movement have provided evidence that the USA is along way from being great in the moral sense. As an aspiration, we ought to retire the adjective great which has been used to describe conquerors and despots for millennia and replace it with kind. Sunday school, at least in my humble church, emphasized kindness and sharing. Come to think of it, Romper Room's Miss Jean also did, with no mention of religion. Secular and sectarian actually agreeing on something, imagine that!
46
Here here. Alex De Tocqueville said the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.
69
Just about note perfect.
It’s dispiriting to read so many of the comments from the left. I’m reminded again that by choosing PC and identity politics over an outlook that places our common humanity and human dignity at the center of their thinking and their feeling it’s as if many on the left prefer Ptolemy to Copernicus.
We should fully consider the facts of history in either case. But maxims such as the golden rule and the categorical imperative provide a better path to harmony among races, ethnicities, and genders than verbal sand castles constructed by would be arbiters.
By writing out or dramatically deemphasizing the principles in our foundational documents that have served as a basis for our striving and self-correction, the left removes or deemphasizes the written foundation that in turn provides an intellectual and emotional foundation for common political action that could achieve much of what they presumably desire.
Why?
12
Great column untill Bret started conflating illegal aliens with legal immigrants. But of course the NYTs does this as a matter of policy.
9
It was a dumb and tone deaf thing for Cuomo to say, and I'm sure he regrets it. But then he's not the inspiring statesman his father was.
4
America is a great nation - not a perfect one. You show me 300 million perfect people, and you will have your perfect nation.
17
Dude, we've got bigger fish to fry.
14
Did you here Trumps inaugural address. America is losing and headed by a bunch of losers. After Trump in the white house just less than two years, he is right.
12
Stupid lines like Cuomo's make me wonder at his judgment. He is playing to these who seem to hate the U.S., the so-called "progressives," as he wants their vote. I don't particularly like Cuomo or Nixon. So who am I to vote for? I'm a centrist Democrat and it may be unbelievable that I still read the NY Times which I feel has gotten, for many news items by "journalists," quite slanted. Sad.
I'm tired of those who pull out the "but, slavery" trope. We've done some bad things? Uh, yes. Good thing nothing like that has happened anywhere else in the world. Right? So, is there nothing about American that you like? If so, why don't you ever mention those things? Why does it make you so obviously uncomfortable?
I'm also equally tired of people who write here and continually attack someone because he's white and male. As if that person doesn't have the right to an opinion that is worth listening to. Or that that person is is to be defined solely by those two attributes. Please grow up.
14
I’m no fan of Andrew Cuomo, but you’ve ignored context, and made a series of arguments based on platitudes as opposed to facts. Cuomo’s statement was meant as direct retort to Trump's "Make America Great Again" platform which canonizes and extols the racism, sexism, and discrimination which existed as a matter of law for over 100 years (de jure discrimination), and persisted in practice under cleverly structured laws (de facto discrimination.) You're making Trump’s argument for him Bret, namely that a White Supremacist America, an America with slavery and Jim Crow, an America Before Blacks and Women could vote, was "great." Trump mourns the loss of all those “beautiful statues and monuments” to White Supremacists and the “great” America they made, yet you choose to attack Cuomo. In an April 2016 statement the Anti-Defamation League detailed the history of "America First," the massive White Supremacist "America First Committee" and Party. It was made of Nazi sympathizers and anti-Semites before and during World War II. Is that what you want us to go back to Brett, do you believe it "Will Make America Great Again"? White Supremacists certainly do; so does Trump.
Finally, as you wrote this, Thirteen former leaders of the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., including 95 year old William H. Webster, signed an open letter standing against Trump, in favor of freedom of speech and, crucially, for the administration of justice. Why? Because he's destroying American democracy.
18
Yes, what Cuomo said was "politically" stupid but a nothing-burger in actual direct harm and consequence to citizens or the United States; Cuomo only harmed himself by putting his foot in his mouth. Trump's coddling of, prostrating and deferring to Putin in Helsinki is an cowardly, egregious action with real consequences in the national and internatal arena.; Playing Putin's gangsta-boy subordinate does not make "America Great".
Where is/was the media's tenacious, pit bull outrage and persitence regarding Trump's lying about Obama being a muslim and non-American; the 'media' gave and blessed this blatant and salacious lie its legs and wings. Trump is the ring master of an insidious, dangerous three-ring circus of vicious lies and distractions. He is the "smoke", what, when, where, how, who and why is the "fire"? Mr. Stephens et al, please be relentless in seeking the facts. the truth and above all and not get distracted by this flame-throwing "fake" president. President Trump, man-up; release your tax return for all of us to see; not just for the "poorly educated" whom you just lovey, wovey, dovey so much. Make America Great Again.
8
Bret, how do you think the reaction would compare if Frances said the Catholic Church were never that great…
First, stipulate that both the governor and the pope weren’t talking about the first few decades – when extraordinary beings did extraordinary things…
With that, grok this…
*ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/24/7-wicked-popes-and-the-terrible-things-they-did
On the secular side…
*ttps://socialistworker.org/2012/04/17/new-orleans-killers-in-blue
“…ON APRIL 11, five officers were sentenced for firing on unarmed civilians on Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2005, and conspiring to cover up their crime...
…
“…Nearly seven years ago, officers killed 17-year-old James Brisette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison and wounded four others…on Danziger Bridge. Minutes later, they arrested two of the victims and charged them with firing at officers.
“…It almost worked. For years, as supervising officers conspired to plant evidence, invent witnesses and rewrite the reports of what happened that day on the bridge, the truth was hidden…
“…It was not until early 2009, when the Justice Department took an active role in the case, that new evidence was uncovered, witnesses were interviewed and the conspiracy came apart. Five officers agreed to testify for the state in exchange for the opportunity to plead to lesser charges...a jury found the five remaining officers guilty on all 25 counts…
PS
“strive” and “shoot for” are synonyms – in some contexts…
3
The governor handed his opponents a perfect bumper sticker. Unfortunately, many voters refuse to engage in thought that is any more complex than that.
11
America is not perfect but it is great. Our freedoms are important to being great despite the fact that freedoms have inherent problems. Why would so many people from around the world want to come to a nation that is not great? Just like the 70% that favor immigration, 70% of Americans are centrists that are not swayed by the rhetoric from the fringes of liberal or conservative ideology. We are a solution oriented nation that despises the current gridlock in government. Although one would not believe it by listening to the media, the vast majority of Americans share common values.
6
I recently joined the Sons of the American Revolution, a patriotic lineage society of people with an ancestor who fought for the American side. I did that in the spirit of Bret Stephens' column: to honor those people who, although far from perfect, set the nation on its course towards ever more freedom, more equality. Each subsequent generation has accepted the challenge to improve, down to the present day.
9
Great feels a little prideful....lets just be decent and fair.
9
With Cuomo's disparaging comments about the USA, he has skillfully managed to set himself up as the democrat front runner in 2020 against Donald J. Trump. His message of American weakness perfectly dovetails into Obama's legacy of apologizing for America for 8 straight years. He is Obama's third term. Democrats, behold your nominee. I give Cuomo credit for his honesty. He managed to say what every democrat thinks and believes.
4
Our national problem is not that Andrew Cuomo doesn't understand "what makes America great." The Governor may not have phrased his remarks "artfully," but he understands that "it's the striving, stupid."
Our problem is that Donald Trump and his followers don't understand what makes America great. Or they do understand, and are determined to put an end to it.
15
Stephens is exactly right. Cuomo’s words were disappointing in every respect. He needs to read the great Langston Hughes poem and try again: https://m.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/let-america-be-america-again.
8
Cuomo was right. We’re not great. In fact, we never were and unfortunately never will be. Our actual motto should be “America DOA.”
8
Let us not conflate riches with greatness.
6
I can think of no politician who is more detestable and incompetent than Cuomo. The subways, for which he is responsible, stink, the streets are crowded with Uber-like vehicles used by people seeking viable alternatives, his Buffalo initiative is an expensive bust, and look at the horrible job he did when he headed HUD where practically, single-handedly caused the mortgage and housing crises of the last decade.
https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/08/05/andrew-cuomo-and-fannie-and-fred...
How are his new casinos doing?
This whining miscreant has had the job of governor for almost 8 years. How are we better off now? The man has not ever done anything right.
I went to a Cynthia Nixon rally last week just to hear what's going on. I disagreed with almost everything she said but I will vote for her in the primary just to get rid of this guy.
It's as simple as ABC - Anybody But Cuomo!
8
Unfortunately the American left has embraced a culture of resentment, anger, hatred and nihilism over the past few years and Cuomo is just trying to win their hearts and votes. It is this dangerous pessimism on the left that put Trump, a deeply flawed candidate, into office...and will keep him there if no changes are made on the Democrat side.
6
@rpe123
"resentment, anger, hatred and nihilism."
Please name the people in our government who consistently express resentment, anger, hatred, and nihilism.
I can think of one. He lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
10
Given what the trump reign of terror has wrought right now I'd settle for a little sanity at the expense of happiness.
5
I believe Mr. Cuomo is more accurate than not. If you are white, born to wealth, and can overlook the fact that this country excludes so many of its sons and daughters, I suppose you could call it a great country...
8
Well thought out article, but to the wrong audience in the wrong newspaper.
9
Well said, Brett
2
Thank you Mr. Stephens for underlining Andrew Cuomo's inability to deliver a sincere and uplifting public speech. Sarcastic in his style, and a bully, behind closed doors, fueled by high-test testosterone, and blunders galore, Governor Cuomo's style resembles that of Donald Trump. Both Queens, New York men from the era of Archie Bunker.
4
One of the things that makes America great is that there are not another 49 whining incompetents out there as governors.
5
Exactly when was America so great? When the Constitution declared slaves were three-fifths of a person so the South would have more power in Congress? When "separate but equal" was the accepted policy on race? When Native Americans were brutalized and drive from their lands? During the Gilded Age when fortunes were made on the backs of underpaid and often endangered workers? During the eras of McCarthyism and the arms race? During the recent futile and unwinnable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Right now when poverty, obesity-related diseases, and ignorance are thriving? When the GOP started dismantling the New Deal? There were some moments of greatness during the administrations of Lincoln, both Roosevelts, and Obama, but now we have a so-called president whose main objective is to return the USA to its worst times. While I can't agree with Cuomo that America was never that great, we should keep in mind that the rare incidents of greatness pale in comparison with the frequency of selfishness and cruelty.
16
What Americans rarely seem to get, and why the rest of the world openly mocks you now is that - if you have to say it (particularly about yourselves, and so mind numbingly often) it isn't true.
17
America is great if you are a corporation, but for the individual who is not wealthy - not so great. We’ve fallen to the bottom of the list in comparison to other rich countries in so many measures. We’re certainly not as great today as we should be and if we keep destroying ourselves from within (w a little help from Trump’s Russian cronies) we’ll be that country that others will point to and say, they may have once been great but they are now no more. Being self centered, greedy, short sighted, mean and unhinged is how I would describe what America is great at being today.
10
Right on, Bret. Here's hoping that all the Democrat candidates and so-called leaders continue to ignore the thoughts you express here.
The irony is that the Democrats now have to ignore Bill Clinton because of his deplorable #metoo problems. If they would listen to him (on all things other than his wife), they could find their way home. Ain't gonna happen until the Dems lose in 2020.
2
Clinton's statement was valid pre-1980, but I fear none of America's 'rights' will ever be able to surmount its 'wrongs'. That is because America has reached past the point of no return.
Cuomo was dead right and, speaking of the dead, the Founding Fathers must be rolling in their graves at a nation plagued by unequal opportunity, racial divisions and plain graft among its congressmen and senators.
Welcome to the Third World.
8
Considering his opponent, maybe this whining, incompetent Cuomo can revive the slogan that he came up with when his dad, also an incompetent, ran in the mayoral primary against Ed Koch.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/cynthia-nixon-roasts-andrew-cuomo-vote-for...
3
Did American slaves live in a great America? Did women, who could not vote, live in a great America? How easy (one might say Trumpian) it is to selectively ignore inconvenient facts about our nation's history.
11
Great column! And I am heartened by the Democratic response, which has been, generally, to disown his inane comment. Rather unlike the general Republican response to Trump’s daily idiocies.
4
The beauty of "MAGA" is that it can mean anything to anyone. When one thinks of a time when America was great, that can be any point in history, depending on your outlook. For some, it could be the time before the Civil War, when White people owned Black people. For others, it could be the time before 1920, when women couldn't vote, or participate in public life in any way. Those were the good old days for some people. Others may think of the 1950's and the mythical "Leave it to Beaver" family lifestyle. Others might remember the 1960's, a time of upheaval and the striving for equality and to be and do better. For, some it's a time in our future when we've figured out how to live with ourselves and the rest of the world. Or, there's simply the year 2000, before 9/11 and the cataclysmic event that rocked our foundation and jolted us awake to the realization that not everyone recognized the American exceptionalism that we took for granted.
It's fine for Stephens to write his opinion of what American greatness is--that's what the NYT pays him to do. But, his opinion is not the definitive answer, which can be different depending on what American you ask. There is no one answer that will fit everyone, which is in itself a defining characteristic of what America is.
7
Great is an overused word. If you look up the definition you find ten separate ways to interpret it. Great White Shark. The shark is large but tuna and surfers don’t see it in a positive light. By stating America is Great we mean Preeminent. So maybe we should use that word and move away from the less precise Great. In the case of Trumpism we could use Alpha Male. That seems to be the best descriptor of what the phrase implies.
6
Plenty of us know that what Cuomo said was politically stupid, and otherwise nothing but fodder for useless columns like this one, in which arguments are made about who has the best lines.
Can we get back to discussing health care, education, defense, and the relentless advance of corruption in state and federal government?
11
What's happened to America is a political belief system centered on Libertarianism. A school of thought that comes out of Emmanuel Kant's beliefs of universal assumptions of freedom. The phenomenal reality of freedom and the noumenal assumption. The freedom people actually experience is highly contingent on the luck of birth even if we and reason that the freedom they "ought" to have are equal to the most fortunate in society.
Ronald Regan began this journey of a celebration of wealth, privilege, and denial of economic and social class distinctions. Newt Gingrich "devolution" enabled even more political focus on the right to attack anything that breathed life into the actual experience of phenomenal freedom.
So effective have they been in warping any national cause outside of making the most gifted, most wealthy, and most powerful corporations that an entire class and political electorate of its victims identify with its abusers. Is there a word for a mass case of Stockholm Syndrom? Yet, even as this country displays the appearance of GDP success little of its greatness does not, has not, and continues not to make it down the rungs of the economic ladder in any meaningful way. This is not an accident. It's simply the objective, empirical, and political reality of the false prophets of idyllic but ultimately destructive Libertarianism.
9
Simple question: Why do we need to debate whether the U.S. is "great"? Cuomo obviously is responding to the Trump mantra, Make America Great AGAIN. It is Trump who's been saying that the U.S. is not great, and only he can make it so again. It's up to the listener to discern when we were great and what has changed. Every person will perceive that differently. Cuomo says that we were never THAT great for very compelling reasons. That is not an outrageous statement.
10
I expect most would agree that it is unhealthy for a person to spend a good deal of time — any time? — pondering what it is exactly that makes him or her so great. Is it any different for the citizens of a nation? What is the upside of wondering what it is that makes us so wonderful? The downsides, especially the blinding arrogance, are fairly evident. As for Cuomo, he’s a politician, not a real leader, so let’s try not to spend too much time gazing at our national navel in reaction to what he says.
6
One of the main things that contributed to American national success (or "greatness" if you feel the need) is something this columnist and Conservatives/Republicans fight tooth and nail against - namely, collective, government investment in our nation.
Here's what made America great: 1. Early adoption of free, universal public education through high school, which meant that more than just the aristocracy had access to knowledge and economic advancement - benefitting individuals and the country as a whole. 2. The establishment of Land Grant Universities, allowing Iowa farm boys (not just the scions of wealthy New York families) to be elite professionals, while also serving as economic engines in state after state, AND making the US a magnet for smart, degree-seekers from around the world. 3.Massive infrastructure spending, like rural electrification and the Interstate Highway system which set the stage for enormous economic growth in all regions of our country. 4. The GI bill, which allowed huge portions of the population to accrue a house and education.
Every single one of these publicly-funded initiatives (while far from perfect or perfectly inclusive) changed the course of our nation for the better, gave us a leg up over the rest of the world and would be rejected out of hand by the GOP today as "wasteful government spending" or "socialism." But the GOP did secure yet another massive tax cut for the top 0.1%, so they're all good. Even if our country is not.
20
As a person who was born in another country and who has been living in the US for the past 35 years, I can unequivocally say that America is a great country. I don't want to compare America to any other countries in the world. America is great in absolute terms, notwithstanding her past "crimes," which progressives are eager to dig up. A couple of quick thoughts about America: This country is great because of the people who built it and continue to build it and its core values. Americans have a strong sense of fairness and are open to criticism. A reminder: the dissenting opinions from the NYT readers here are ample proof of the point I am making! When disasters strike, the first question many Americans ask is "How can I help?" And people act! Also (and this is big!), corruption and bribery are almost nonexistent at the common person's level. People in some other countries have no qualms about lying and cheating. Not so with ordinary Americans.
64
Att: PA,
"The dissenting voices of the NYT readers" don't prove anything. They only prove that a tiny percentage of the population has retained the power of objective analysis and criticism, more so even than some Op-Eds that are clearly ideologically biased.
In practical terms, NYT readers can only debate among themselves. They have been powerless to stop the socio-economic rot and violence that plagues the nation and encourages pushback from the rest of the world.
Only civil disobedience can reverse the trend.
10
The phrase “Make America Great Again” implies that America has previously achieved a greatness that must be reclaimed. In fact, the ideals represented by the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and, intermittently, by transformational Presidents, are a template for American greatness. But, in fact, America could never have achieved greatness during institutionalized slavery. The Civil War, and the greatness of President Lincoln, could not overcome the racial discrimination and sexual inequality which followed for the next 100 years. The glory of American victory in World War Two and the great FDR could not shield America from the blight of racial and economic inequality, the ongoing fight for Women’s Rights, and wars fought for conquest rather than imminent threat. And today, despite all the great accomplishments of America in the 20th and early 21sy centuries, we can never achieve greatness, or anything resembling it, when an ingrate like Donald Trump, someone who embodies all the evils America has struggled to overcome, is elected President and continues to be supported by the corrupt, obstructionist Republican Party and nearly half of the population. Sorry, Brett.
15
Since Stephens insists on using a politically useful misreading of Cuomo as an occasion for affirming American exceptionalism, how about instead of worrying how great America is, we fess up, for once, to its horrors?
Including those promoting by one Bret Stephens?
Or are we all Donald Trump now?
8
The disintegration of the Soviet Union was one of the great head fakes of history. It reaffirmed the "greatness" of the West generally and the US specifically. Developments since then have called into question all manner of assumptions about our politics and the 'arc of history'. And, the smugness of our certitude about our exceptionalism is appropriately rattled. Given the steadfastness of Trump supporters and the lap-dog behavior of the Republican party, it's only reasonable to recognize that power and money outweigh any sense of principle. We're no different than any other country when it comes to the conflict between values and wants.
6
"America" is indeed a great idea. And that idea shames us in the current iteration. What great idea could possibly allow for the election of a scurrilous con-man like Trump, for the tyranny of a morally-bankrupt GOP minority, for a less-than-50% participation by a TV-bred, entertainment-blinded, morally-vacant electorate?
"Great" is an idea still to be realized. And it will not be until no Trump can gain power. That's a fact we must face.
11
"pillars of self-questioning", that's what he was doing which you're extolling.
I believe Cuomo was brave in making those statements. He is being 'great' by saying these things. He is appealing to our higher nature, our intellect, and not our gut bigoted emotions like retrumplicans do.
9
Great, as in great powers, makes some sense as a concept. It means powerful, influential, capable on acting on the world stage. Yes, the USA is a great power in that sense, but as someone who has lived most of his life in "la grande nation" (as France was called in the 19th century) I am very skeptical of the notion of greatness. American democracy has always been deeply flawed and the election of Trump, imo, has once again laid bare the flaws: racism, worship of money, vulgarity, inculture. In comparison to the social democracies of contemporary Europe the US is not a "great" society. I will say nothing of its criminal justice system, certainly one of the most vindictive and backward in the western world.
10
"Make (our country) Great Again" is a trope used by Fascist Dictators throughout history. Implying that something is horribly wrong and the fascist is "the only one who can fix it all by himself." That is what is wrong with the MAGA slogan, not what it says about America; but, what it says about Trump.
8
America is young. The jury is still way out. I laugh when I hear America described as the greatest country ever to occupy a space on earth. They also laugh in those “other countries” , where the history books stretch back hundreds and thousands of years. America looks tawdry and it looks ignorant. It also looks too arrogant to benefit from learning from its many mistakes.
6
What bothers me isn’t so much Americans’ right to decide whether or not this country is “great”, but more the fact that some judge other countries while being completely ignorant of their cultures and institutions. Yes, most countries are unique and strive for their society’s happiness. The US isn’t more or less great than others.
8
“Elsewhere in the world, religious traditions demand certainty, cultures compel conformity, and political systems demand obeisance.”
Well that’s odd. I distinctly recall all of the years that I spent in public schools, and how much of that ‘education’ is grounded quite explicitly in ritualistic affirmations of nationalistic loyalty like the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’, which has had a religious subtext since at least the 1970’s.
Then there was all the perverse hagiographic whitewashing of the life and legacy of Martin Luther, who essentially smothered the Renaissance in its crib. I still have no idea why anyone might view the folk hero status attributed to Luther as anything but an apologist attempt to separate his influence from the Third Reich.
But I suppose if a neocon can evoke the memory of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. without the slightest sense of irony, then America must be so great that we practically need cages to keep all the people from leaving!
9
The resistance can use the same acronym by changing one word:
Make America Guilty Again
2
Lovely op ed Mr. Stephens, if only it were still true. The U.S. gave up the title of “ great” about the time we were assassinating John, Martin and Bobby; about the time we were napalming the Vietnamese; about the time we allowed our nation to change from an economic course that included all men and lifted all boats; about the time we went off the gold standard creating money out of thin air, let a man like Milton Freiedman determine our fiscal policy after first blowing up a couple of economies in the lower America’s in a dry run; after we allowed a few men to determine we would be a “ service economy” with an Uber class of rich and a lower class we would keep afloat with credit to consume and rent all the stuff owned by the Uber class; about the time we shrunk the government, except for the military of course: crumbs left for the ninety percent as the Ten percent gourged on the whole pie; about the time we allowed bought and paid for politicians to drag us into one continual war for special interests, fought of course by those left behind or those just arrived(probably from a place we had a hand in destroying one way or the other). Sorry Brett, take a walk down our city streets, homeless everywhere, take a ride through our boarded up little towns, our closed factories, our downtrodden people in fly over country, then flash forward to pictures of the ebullient Chinese, crowding shops from Beijing to Paris, that was US in the fifties, that’s when we were ALL great!
69
I have never understood the American obsession with this solipsistic notion of ascendancy above its demonstrable problems. The United States has used the largest economy in the world to extend racism, entrench homelessness, ossify white privilege, perpetuate health insecurity, wage global warfare, criminalize poverty, fetishize weapons and enshrine segregation; to name but a few of the "great" things accomplished by the country where black families where destroyed by slavery, when they managed to avoid hanging from trees. Perhaps white Americans would benefit from more empathy, and much less self congratulation. The country's not great just because it's great for you.
136
It’s hasn’t been that great for the mass of them either, if you really look at it. But their delusions will energetically embrace self-destruction in lieu of clarity and honesty.
4
I'm glad that Mr. Stephens included Bill Clinton's statement, which I repeat: “There is nothing wrong with America, that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”
To find that reassuring, however, presumes America is striving to cure. In light of the Republican party's embrace of what is wrong, I can't presume that at all.
10
Agriculture affords America the opportunity to be great. America has little influence over seasonal phenomena, nor the miracle of livestock reproduction. The tenure of this article suggests America does believe in itself; perhaps too much. Perhaps that is why it believes it can alter the earths climate.
2
As a non-American, I really can't understand the difficulty Americans have to self-diagnose, because the problems are very clear.
If you analyse History objectivelly, you can note that the period the USA was the sole superpower was very short, fruit of an exceptional alignment of the planets: WWII had just decimated the old colonial powers and the collapse of the USSR gave an abrupt end to the Cold War. So you have just approximately 16 years 9 months of "lonely superpower" status for America (26 December 1991, September 2008). From 1945 to 1991, the USA had to divide the globe with another superpower (bipolarity) and, before 1945, it was just a regional -- albeit ascendent -- power.
So, objectively, the USA was just "exceptional" in two periods of History: in 1776, when it was the first American colony to achieve independence (which was an inspiration to the colonial world -- many Latin American countries are Federal Republics because they looked at the American example), and in the "End of History" period of 1992-2008.
15
Generally agree, though I would shortened that period to 2001. Our predictable and predicted (by the perpetrators) response to the Sept. 11 attacks began the slide back to the mean or the downfall... time will have to tell about that.
2
Stephens writes: The American birthright belongs, potentially, to everyone. This is unprecedented. Other countries accept migrants on the basis of economic necessity or as a humanitarian gesture. Only in America is it the direct consequence of our foundational ideals.
I hadn’t thought of it that way until I read. Then I contemplated and learned.
And the op-ed pages earn their keep.
Thanks.
11
And so the press has not learned the lesson from the 2016 election and continues to focus on the shiny surface of poorly worded "gaffes" instead of what the speaker meant, which was clearly stated in the ignored next sentence.
As long as the press continues to headline gotcha gaffes instead of substance, empty-headed Trumpian marketing will triumph over thoughtful policy, and our democracy will continue to suffer.
The very next sentence:
“We have not reached greatness, we will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged, we will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women, 51 percent of our population, is gone and every woman’s full potential is realized and unleashed and every woman is making her full contribution,”
(and, of course, as a guest pointed out to Colbert, slavery and discrimination ) The point is continue to go forward, not go back again
This of course, happened over and over again to Clinton.
"Deplorables" was highlighted when in the very next sentence she said that the other basket of Trump voters may not agree with everything he says, but are struggling and count on him to make things better for them.
"put coal miners out of work" was highlighted but, that was just her introduction to a plan to lift up coal communities, eg to enable them to thrive by bringing investment and training so that they could become centers for participating in energy sources of the future.
33
@Lynn--Thanks for this reminder that context is so important. Living in the age of Twitter, most people never look past the short, provocative headline or quote to ascertain the rest of the speaker's intent before condemning or praising it. Mr. Stephens apparently is in this group, and has completely ignored the rest of Mr. Cuomo's statement, making for shoddy analysis.
9
Cuomo's comment about American greatness is true but as a politician it's a verboten soundbite. Americas want to believe in the myths we've created like 'American Dream', or 'American Exceptionalism' and the believe that somehow America was pre-ordained by God for its role in the world. The soon we can get past these nationalistic delusions the better. These myths hold us back from thinking there is real work to be done instead of pining for the days of the 1950s when many incorrectly think things were 'great'.
12
@JeffB
Were you around in the 1950s? Do you have an directly observable data from that era?
1
Let's all stand for the Anthem, recite the Pledge, and loudly chant USA, USA. America is the greatest nation of all time, and don't ever forget it or try to say otherwise. Such is our dogma. Heretics will not be tolerated.
So Cuomo broke the taboo. It's easy to pile on. But let's address Stephens's argument. America is clearly a historically important nation. But is its strength really an atypical ability to adjust, to self-correct, to renew? Is it more flexible than France. Germany, Russia? I'm not seeing it. If anything, the US is slow to change—stability is maybe more a strength than any unusual ability to transform.
A more defensible argument for American greatness is our exceptional faith in the power and potential of the free individual. Through our history, we've been skeptical of rules that bind the individual or put the collective good before individual freedom. And as a large country, with largely untapped potential and abundant unfilled capacity, our entrepreneurial optimism was well rewarded. Individuals could succeed here, largely on their own. America was truly a land of opportunity.
Stephens says, "Other countries rise on strengths that ultimately become their failings, sometimes their downfall." But it's not just other countries. It's us too. As economic opportunity constricts, will faith in the individual be enough or do we need a stronger collective consciousness? Our ability to adjust is now being tested. We'll soon learn if it's really a strength.
14
Beautiful sentiments.Well captured, Mr Stephens.
4
Which America North South or Central?
4
“... there is not a liberal America not a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a white America, not a black America, not a Latino America, not an Asian America - there is the United States of America...” Illinois Senator, later President Barack Obama.
4
Mr. Cuomo's mistake was to apologize. Instead, he should have developed an all encompassing list ranging from slavery, segregation and antisemitism to the present day racism and attempts by Republicans to disenfranchise minority voters. His media access would allow him to hang this list on the White House Gate for every American to see.
12
If America is always so great, why do we need to make America great AGAIN? I guess, according to Trump, America was not so great before he showed up. It was great at some point but it is not clear what this point was. Was it when America had slavery? Or was it when America had racial discrimination? Was it when the US fought war in Vietnam? Or when it the homosexuality was a criminal offence?
6
Oh yeah, and we kill people too. Didn't the Don(ald) say that?
The Rusky do, and so do we.
I don't remember any wingnut denounce the candid acknowledgement.
Mr. Bret left out one small detail from the list of our sins: first we wiped out 30 million natives, and only at that point did we start keeping track of the the good and bad things we were doing.
11
Bret, the striving of which you speak had better get into overdrive, and sooner rather than later, before Trump and his administration of Goths, Visigoths and Vandals wreck the place beyond repair.
10
Cuomo is as cynical as they come. His comment was designed to troll Donald Trump and get himself news coverage. He’s scared of his more progressive opponent.
2
"It is in the striving, and also in what we are striving for."
Yeah. Slavery, slaughter of native people, internment of Americans of Japanese descent, discrimination against Italians, Irish, Poles, anyone not lily white, persecution of Roman Catholics and Quakers, exploitation and subjugation of women.
The striving all depends on being white, male, and protestant.
Cuomo spoke the truth. Now, what are you proposing to change that? Seems we've gone backwards, doesn't it?
10
The problem is that Trump's statements are often inarticulate, possibly deliberately so. When he says "Make America Great Again" he doesn't define "greatness". Prosperous? Just? Militarily powerful? Trump opponents frequently claim it's just code for "Make America White Again".
Then there's the remark about the "fine people" who were allied with the Nazis in Charlottesville. Who are they? How implicated are they in the car murder? Just he just like Nazis?
Orwell once said that sloppy language leads to sloppy politics. At the moment we have the sloppiest administration in history ( to put it mildly).
10
A county can do good things or bad things. But a country can never be a good country or bad country, because that is an over genaralization. All couhtries do goodthings, bad things, and neutral things.
4
Only from a white man of enormous privilege could such a sunny vision emanate. And so ironic that he quotes--on the glories of the pursuit of happiness--V.S.Naipaul, a man who openly cheated on his wife, beat her senseless, and married someone half his age. As long as he was happy, though.
11
We never got past our provincilism, but we have a huge nuclear weapons cache. Depressing.
7
The rich straight white male version of U.S. history is hard to shake.
10
I'm no fan of Cuomo. Still, simply because something is poorly said and impolitic, does not make it untrue. If this is the "perfectly wrapped" gift to the "Trump 2020 campaign", it says more about the depravity of Trump, Republicans, and Trump supporters, than it does Cuomo. Further, it's no accident that a story of a good argument badly made is overshadowing an open letter by thirteen former leaders of the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., standing against Trump, in favor of freedom of speech, and for the administration of justice.
How about some context? Cuomo’s statement was intended to rebut Trump's "Make America Great Again" platform promoting and defending racism, sexism, and discrimination as it existed as a matter of law for over 100 years, and persisted in practice despite a Civil War and a host of Constitutional Amendments. Trump's "Make America Great Again" is loved by white supremacists as it seeks a return to a "great" time of slavery and of Jim Crow, an America Before blacks and women could vote. It's why Trump mourns the loss of all those “beautiful statues and monuments” to white supremacists and the “great” America they lived in.
In 2016 the Anti-Defamation League detailed the history of the century old white supremacist Make America Great movement, comprised of Nazi sympathizers, racists, and anti-Semites. Trump and the Republicans have a lot to answer for in championing and defending that white supremacist "Make America Great Again" movement.
16
Cuomo said the right thing, he just didn't say it well. As in H. Clinton's coal jobs comment. America has always had the potential to be great based on our democratic and constitutional principles, but these principles have been made a mockery of throughout our history, and are now embattled. There are many things right about America--many great things. But the blowhard Trump sees "greatness" in places too many of us don't want to go. Cuomo knows what makes us great.
Insecure conservatives can't handle criticism of a system whose failures are the failures of conservatism. We haven't arrived at our destination yet, so no more crowing.
7
"There’s an equally long literature cataloging America’s many sins, most of them real but very few of them all that particular to us, including slavery, ethnic cleansing, territorial conquest, racism and misogyny."
Such tiny little blips along the way.
5
@Robert Roth But those other places didn't call themselves the land of the free.
2
America certainly is big.
4
Trump on Fox:
"'But he's a killer' O'Reilly said to Trump (referring to Putin). 'There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?' Trump replied. He continued, 'I think our country does plenty of killing also, Joe, so you know.'
6
Let's not quibble about what America was beforehand. The present going into the is the issue:
Threats against judges, intimidation against journalists covering the trials (et al),
The President and his ilk demanding things done his way or he will unleash his power,
Sounds like Russia to me,,,,,unfortunately, it is also now here in the United States.
Forget about Make America Great Again.....it's a hopeless cause until we...............Make America Right Again!
Let's start printing out those M.A.R.A. hats. (Hint: Democrats)
Make it Happen!
12
I’m a die hard liberal, but I will never embrace a liberal or any other ideological message against American exceptionalism . Firstly because it is just dead wrong. American ideals and freedoms have been and will again be (after Trumpism is dead and gone) a singular shining light for the world. Secondly, liberals campaigning against American ideals will only ensure a Trump re-election and a continued decline into American fascism.
BTW, a really stupid message from Cuomo. He deserves the backlash.
11
I have wondered for a while now where the person who wrote the “basket full of deplorables” line for Hillary was working.
I’m fairly certain it’s for Andrew Cuomo.
These lines rival the horrible tweets of our current president. They may even prove more damaging.
12
Samuel Johnson said it best at about the time of the founding of theUSA.”Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundral.” It is also the refuge of many,maybe most polticians. Not to mention an assorted collection of Op-Ed columnists.
22
America is a great country. Yes, it has done horrible things in the past but so has just about every other country that ever existed on earth.
What puts us apart as special is we were the first major democracy in 2,500 yrs. and a majority of the world would live here is given the chance. Just like democracy and marriage, they are terribly flawed institutions, but nobody has come up with anything better than the USA.
What does not make it great, Trump and Cuomo.
One is a bigot, rabble rouser, admitted sexual predator, philanderer, pathological liar, de facto Russian spy, ego maniac demagogue and the other is a extreme left wing radical out of step with America, of questionable doubt whether he is honest or not and gives fodder to demagogues like Trump.
1
The US is still structured for slavery, mired in lies about malapportionment comprising democracy, and failing to adhere to plain and stark constitutional language like "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." It is a land of fakes singing praises to fakeness, purporting to exist under a fake God.
12
Really, not for you to speak, Mr. Stephens, your conservative tax cutting lot has been at it to undercut that particularity of America. As much as I find Coumo's self-serving statement distasteful, criticisms coming from the likes of you, who've helped usher in the Jerk in Chief and now bemoan him, ring hallow.
17
More bombast from Brett, the ideologue manque. He ends up extolling the racist Naipaul, and somehow insinuating that this nonAmerican somehow exemplifies American greatness. Go figure. But not before he glosses over the cruelty and misery of slavery and racism because, you know, everybody does it. Brett pretends to be aghast at trump, but he cozens up to Netanyahu, a lesser trump. No doubt because bibby also embodies “American values “ for him.
9
How great can we now be with a President like Don the con?
6
"Another politician from Queens," a Democrat with a brain, an occasional uncontrollable tongue and frank emotion may be exactly what many Americans "desire" right now.
11
"[America] was never that great." Stupid line.
Truer line: A great nation does not elect Donald Trump president."
16
Trump recycled the Lets make America great from Reagan. Reagan used it as his campaign slogan in the eighties. Trump is not an original thinker. He uses other things from other people. He does not have the mental capacity to create an original idea or thought. But, here is a thought. If you truly want to make America greta again. DUMP TRUMP. Nuff said.
3
From a man whose advice to the Democratic party did not include a word about saving America from the Russians.
5
Whatever America was in the past, it obviously was great enough for Cuomo's grandparents to ditch southern Italy to come here to start new lives in the first place.
6
“New York was never that great.” Andrew Cuomo
2
It's great if you're rich, male and white.
17
The greatness that Barack Obama brought to our country with his policies that protected it's weakest citizens and the land that we live on has been totally eradicated by the monster in the White House. Right now, the last thing that the US is, is great.
14
Nonsense.
We are not all white European Judeo-Christian majority Americans.
America was born in humanity denying black African enslavement and sustained in equality defying separate and unequal black African Jim Crow. No one ever worked harder and longer for less return than enslaved black African property and their black African descendants and heirs.
The current malign and marginalized socioeconomic political and state of blacks in America is the enduring measure of callous cruel cynical hypocrisy. Any White life matters more than any black life. Including the ethnic Slavic communist atheist born and bred Czech and Slovenian models Ivana and Melania Trump.
Despite having a white European ancestor who arrived in Virginia in 1640, free black ancestors in Virginia and South Carolina from before the birth of the nation, enslaved black African ancestors in Georgia in 1830/35 and free brown Native American ancestors in Georgia and South Carolina I am all and only black African American by historical convention.
See "The Half Has Never Been Told : Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism " by Edward Baptist; Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black America from the Civil War to the end of World War II" by Douglas Blackmon; The New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness " by Michelle Alexander; "Dog-Whistle Politics : How Coded Racial Appeals Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class " by Ian Haney Lopez
17
I realize this was written to paper over Mr. Cuomo's stupid remark but none-the-less is a brilliant summation of the strength of our country. Well done!
4
From the pilot for the Newsroom by Aaron Sorkin
It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.
there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies.
(Once) We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons.
We waged wars on poverty, not poor people.
We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy.
We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior.
We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy.
The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world.
18
@Clifford Deutschman
Thank you for the cogent and timely reminder about that speech. Brilliant.
1
I think I know what Gov. Cuomo was trying to say. The fifties and early sixties were our halcyon years. Affordable housing, good-paying jobs, low divorce rate, college educations via generous VA benefits, most married women didn't have to work outside the home unless they wanted to, and their kids could wander around the suburban streets in relative safety. Those were the good old days. But not if you were black, or a Mexican farm worker, or were suspected of being a Communist or gay or an educated and ambitious woman.
5
This is jiberish. The house is on fire and you are giving us platitudes. We have someone who has taken over the reigns of our government through illegitimate means - Russian hacking and backing, cowards and crooks in the Congressional Repubs, trump is slandering people and institutions that have made our country an island of stability for the world for nearly a century, and you are giving us this nonsense. Sound the alarms, don't screw around with the deck chairs. We have hit the iceberg and you are providing intellectual niceties while this most corrupt of all U.S. presidents and his cabal are backing up the ship so we can ramp that big old iceberg, again. And you call this ship, "Great"? Are you nuts?
Climate change and other massive existential beasts are staring us right in our face and this is what you have to offer? This is a joke, just like trump is a joke. But nothing funny about this guy. Every journalist worth anything everywhere in America should be doing what the 350 newspapers did yesterday - loud and clear, again please, and every day until this awful human being is thrown out with the garbage. Yes - America has indeed had some great moments, we have the stuff that can make us a great nation, for all people. It's been a long time - Reagan put us on the path of stupid and corrupt, the Repubs have been working on this for decades and the dems, asleep. So many Americans have been so dumbed down intentionally that 35% actually like trump. Sick. Sad
13
"A capacity for adjustment, self-correction and renewal ... "
Or, as Winston Churchill put it: "You can trust the Americans to do the right thing. After they have tried everything else."
Americans seem to be indulging in a protracted period of trying everything else, even though we know that these experiments failed in the past, both here and in other countries and societies. We can't drive forward while looking over our shoulders at whatever glory or greatness we wish to claim from our past.
4
If Gov. Cuomo ever had any aspirations to run for President then they are officially over. This was a gigantic political gaffe from what I thought was a very savvy politician. This plays perfectly into the Fox News Narrative that liberals and progressives are anti-American. Republicans are good at weaponizing these kinds of quotes and they will at a time of their choosing. Yes I know he walked it back. Yes we know what he was trying to say however clumsy he was. But we also know the GOP is going to amplify this. It will probably follow him for the rest of his career and reverberate in ways no one can anticipate. I hope this screw- up doesn't define him. But the biggest screw-up would be trying to defend this blunder. That's the kind of debate Trump wants and will win.
2
America is pretty rad. Very pretty in many parts. Good food in a lot of places. I give it a B-. Points off for all the murdering and guns and populist nativists.
7
Whether America continues to be great depends on whether Americans vote to contain a racist, xenophobic, and corrupt administration hell-bent on undermining the rule of law. Overcoming gerrymandering, voter suppression laws, and probable Russian interference makes this task especially challenging. If we succeed, then I will buy what Bret Stephens is selling.
3
This column is at the heart of what has kept us separate in terms of political parties over the last 50 years: tribalism. Remember in the late 1960s how it was a dividing line to have long hair vs. a crew cut? If you had short hair you were a patriot and supported the "America is Great" believers. If you had long hair you were a liberal, communist, or socialist and supposedly thought America was evil. Problem is, the division didn't come from sincerity, genuineness and honesty.
It came from a desire for security from an identity with a group, to separate and even hate and be part of a tribe called "America, love it or leave it." A really humble person looks at both sides of issues, and tries not to demonize the other.
So, in this column, Stephens is trying to come off as the humble servant of a great country, just telling i like it is, but in effect he is playing up the very divisions that have wrought so much conflict. Put more simply, the Republicans have used the club of "patriotism" to hit the other side over the head for decades - and not vice versa. That's what Stephens is doing here. That way, his side can rest on the mantle of greatness, and assume a position of superiority over the other side. This is the very politics that has kept us petty and dogmatic, and it has helped to keep us entrenched in our "us vs. them" mentality.
5
Bret, thanks for writing this. I was appalled by Mr. Cuomo's comment that "America was never that great." His comment is pure political pandering. Cuomo's Italian-born grandparents would roll in their graves if they heard such egotistical nonsense from their progeny. Being great has nothing to do with being perfect. You are correct - Bill Clinton's words should be carved in stone: "There is nothing wrong with American that cannot be cured by what is right with America."
1
I have been lucky to travel all over the world for business and pleasure. I see many other countries doing much more with much less. These countries actually listen to their electorate and now have a higher standard of living for their middle class, with universal healthcare, education, great infrastructure, fewer people in prison, much less gun death, more faith in their government and for their future, etc.
Our Lobbyocracy and current government are a disgrace. It's particularly sad because we helped reinvent the middle class. Unless we have the guts to get public financing of elections with matching funds and restrain our Lobbies, we will soon have a feudal system that Europe remembers and is avoiding.
I believe Democracy is much more recent and fragile than we realize.
6
I hope you are correct that our capacity for adjustment, self-correction and renewal is unequaled among the nations. Except for the civil war, we've never needed it more.
1
Your commentary is a complex one as it touches on many different ideas. “e pluribus unum” is etched on our coins, but how many of us really pay attention it or understand it? The America that we know and love was created by driving away the original inhabitants this land and segregating them in what we call “ reservations”. Much of America’s wealth and prosperity was achieved through the labor of African slaves and indentured Chinese labor in tge railroad gangs. In the old glorious days, one looses one’s Humanity if not white. Governor Cuomo is rejecting that idea of greatness which is being championed by our current President.
I was intrigued with the reference to Naipaul’s idea of pursuit of happiness. Though I agree with the great author, but I am uncertain about the what it means by happiness. I would much agree with the late Joseph Campbell that pursuit of our bliss is the real objective. Happiness is too transitory and mostly transactional. America is too concerned about this transactional and transitory idea of happiness. In this process, we are promoting self centered, narcissistic and exploitative culture that the Governor has rejected.
2
America proved, and not for the first time, it “had feet of clay” when millions of Americans voted for a corrupt demagogue and continue to support him. We now find ourselves mired in a Trumpian “primeval ooze” and pulling ourselves out and back to anything resembling “greatness” will only begin when we vote the swamp dwellers out- starting this November.
5
The guy whose father eloquently spoke of the greatness of American is now so full of venom towards Trump, that he rejects his dad's words: “My mother and father came here in the 1920s without skills or formal education, speaking a regional dialect from the mountains of Salerno… with two children, no money, no work… suffering discrimination.”
One of those children grows up to be Mayor of New York. His grandson does the same.
But the grandson is so arrogant and removed from his grandparents struggle that he can claim the Country that chose to move to has "never" been great.
Tell that to every new immigrant here or dreaming of coming here.
1
While America has, throughout history, failed to fully live up to its purported aspirations, it has been great from its inception. It was great when, at great cost, it fought to end slavery. It may have been at its greatest when it helped save the world from the kind of tyranny that is on the rise today. Unfortunately Trump and his accomplices are squandering that hard earned greatness at a pace that most of us could not have imagined.
2
we're great, Bret, just like everybody else. we are great, but we are not great-er.
3
The governors comment threatens the image of the US not one iota. Historical facts point to the many areas where this nation has the potential for growth and development. Claiming that we have not realized this potential yet, is only facing the reality that so much more needs to be accomplished.
We certainly do not need a psychotic narcissists blathering's on the nations greatness by returning to a fictional past. Especially when that return includes treating the narcissist with uncompromising adulation.
2
"most of them real but very few of them all that particular to us, including slavery, ethnic cleansing, territorial conquest, racism and misogyny."
How smug, that he would say none of these are particular tu. What is particular is the declaration of Independence which I don't think thosae other countries have. They also don't have a constitution which which doesn't make a demarcation line as to those who benefit from those freedoms and those who are denied while helping fight for those freedoms in other countries. Greatness is not in slogans but in actual accomplishments and following the precepts not abandoning them. Alos take a look and count the bodies if you dare of those in foreign countries who have died as the result of that nation building you dismiss so blithely. It's a shame Cuomo had to take those remarks back because for a good number of Americans, they ring true.
3
Overall, America is fine (at least, until Trump). Some things are indeed great; others, truly terrible. This is true of all countries, with the exception of dictatorships (see comment above about Trump). But we are certainly not "exceptional," and believing that we are is itself a problem.
False patriotism is not something honorable people should support.
3
‘Great’ is a way to connote size, not quality.
Good to know that Cynthia Nixon has the endorsement of Bret Stephens, though.
1
Governor Cuomo committed a faux pas.
President Trump, with his faux character, undermines all efforts to make America greater.
During this dark Trumpuglican era, President John Adams’ observation is prescient:
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, [or] revenge . . . would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”
President Trump evidences a spirit of avarice, ambition and revenge untempered by either morality or religion.
In November, if we do not push back against this would-be dictator and his legislative enablers, the US Constitution will be shredded beyond repair.
5
This article reminds me of a line from the film True Romance; “‘overcoming by recourse to first principles,’ ha, Bret?” It also reminds me of words attributed to Winston Churchill: “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing — once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” Whether the British Prime Minister actually said them or not those words should be our national motto.
Bret is correct that our crimes are shared by many nations but so are our virtues. In fact, they are surpassed by some who in addition to guaranteeing freedom guarantee greater security for their citizens through social services like a national healthcare system. I wonder when we will get around to that right thing — if ever.
Stephens’ article, a valiant and bathetic struggle to hold down what if anything actually makes us great, just proves that the appellation lacks context and divulges into puffery when applied to a nation. Our overreaction to Gov. Cuomo’s obvious statement demonstrates that deep down we know we are not that great, no nation ever is. In fact, to end on another quote, in the words of the great 20th century philosopher Johnny Rotten, we are “just another country.” The truest thing that can be said about any country.
5
The general principle is that the more politicians talk, the worse they look.
Their goal is their own political power not the benefit of others.
2
We Americans have become silly. I have noticed in other countries politicians start using slogans when they have really nothing really to offer and hope to excite people with slogans. Cuomo’s message was right but no people like to be told that their country is not what they think it is. They would rather ignore the truth and go by false sense of pride which brings nothing to them.
To Trump definition of greatness is military power, white supremacy, anti immigrat rhetoric , politically incorrect statements, bullying other countries. That is what Cuomo was referring to. But alas most people will fall into the familiar trap and condemn him.
3
What is this obsession with Greatness? Who cares?
We have lousy healthcare, crumbling infrastructure, no shared identity, increasing inequality that will have a long term impact on the economy, we have our heads in the sand about climate change, we are technologically stuck in the past and on and on.
Who cares if the country is great or not. This is a silly debate. Instead let’s do something great. Let’s live into a future vision of greatness. Let’s build and adjust and make happen, not pat ourselves on the back and talk about how wonderful we are or were...
23
One could say it depends on your perspective and definition of what the word great means. If you are white, educated and have lots of money and creature comforts, you'd probably say yes. If you are a Native American, a minority, handicapped, elderly on a small fixed income, homeless and many others...well daily existence not so great. The illusion of America The Great is much greater than the reality. Telling the truth is this country is an oxymoron.
2
The times are historically odd and entice seemingly rational people into saying strange and stupid things. Governor Cuomo was so enticed.
The times have given us a President who uses patriotism as a club for issues large and small. From the mouth of Donald Trump, "Make America Great Again" is a call to white supremacy and its multi-faceted racism. It is a call to a time when we ignored the effects of our dominance. It is a call to repeat the mistakes of the past and live beyond our means financially, environmentally, morally.
We live in a morality play with the lead given to an anti-hero.
Language is changed. It is loaded.
Was America "Great"? Can it wrestled into being "Great" again? If you let Donald Trump define "great", the answer to both questions is "No,". It is a loaded question, loaded with blind patriotism, racism, and a view of history so narrow as to be useless. American "greatness" is a force meant to divide.
It divided Gov. Cuomo from his senses.
What has made America a great nation is its ability to adapt and change, its love of the new and respect for the old, the capacity to admit errors and work to not repeat them.
What has made this nation great is everything Trump is not.
1
While the MAGA world has degenerated into overt racism, sexism, xenophobia, religious bigotry, gross inequality, endless lies, trade wars, global distrust, Governor Cuomo offers a reminder that the greatness that Trump is aspiring to is just not that great. In fact, it was pretty miserable for women, Blacks, Browns, non-Christians, the poor, sick, and elderly until Democrats and progressives passed laws to level the playing field despite the opposition of Conservative Republicans. Social Security was established in 1935 despite dire warnings by Republicans and has been under assault ever since as have any and all legislation and policies that provided for basic needs and safety. “Not so great”.
Cuomo’s piercing the delusion of MAGA reveals the facts surrounding racist, cruel, selfish, hate filled policies of the GOP. All Americans should stand with Cuomo against the efforts of oligarchs and Russia to undermine democracy and Constitutional guarantees. Like one legendary Republican Progressive, Teddy Roosevelt, one would hope that intellectuals would end the false narrative of the GOP and join the fight for democracy. While some have renounced Trump, too few have noticed that the GOP has come rely on racists, male supremacists, Christian shariah, fear, hatred, and greed. “Small government”, “balanced budgets” keeping government out of private lives have been abandoned in favor of bigger government, explosive deficits, reproductive surveillance and regulations. Not Great?
5
I give Brett credit for hoping that liberals don’t blow their chance for an historic correction in the best of its tradition. He is no doubt aware that patriotism is too often a resort of scoundrels and that historic course correction itself requires unblinking diagnosis. A city set upon a hill was not meant to gloss human frailty nor idolize human accomplishment. But a political campaign is not a classroom seminar, and the consequences of political ineptness are a cause for concern.
A better phrase would be that America is not as great as it can and should be along with the clarification that Trump is nostalgic for a time when minorities were cheated and exploited and had no rights.
2
America was never greater such that we should prefer a previous version. Everybody knows this is what Cuomo meant, although Republicans are overjoyed by the ease at which it can be twisted to imply something else. Jim Crow America was great, but it’s fair to say it wasn’t that great, and I am sure America will be greater after Trump than it is now.
As our friend Putin says: Those who don’t miss the days of the Soviet Union have no heart, and those who want to go back to them have no brain.
1
"It’s easy to deprecate some of the puffery and jingoism that often go with affirmations of “American greatness.”"
Contrary to what Mr. Stephens writes, it hasn't been so easy for liberals, independents or non-Trump conservatives to get their point across to those they need to reach that Trump, and others before him, have effectively hijacked the American flag and American notions of "freedom" and "liberty."
While prominently displaying flagpins on their lapels, Tea Partiers and Freedom Caucus members disparage anyone who disagrees with their vision of America as "unAmerican."
Hence, Cuomo's trying to point out that for nonwhite, gay and female Americans, 19th or even mid-20th century America wasn't so great, gets subject to a barrage of criticism from the Trump Know-Nothings.
6
Many nations strive. Russia has been striving very hard -- indeed any rational estimation shows Russia as a spectacular overachiever given its population -- the issue is striving for what?
What defined American greatness in the past? Being a colony to achieve independence without a too-horrible anti-colonial war with subsequent dictatorship? (I'd rate that pretty high.)
Our history of early leadership that didn't revert to strong-man governments -- Washington set the pattern and others followed, and we sustained a constitutional democracy? (Remarkable.)
What about the treatment of native americans ... gonna talk about that? Slavery?
Ending slavery and holding the union together? (I'd say yes, a great many Americans don't really agree.) What about the horrible 100 years of Jim Crow and the KKK and "separate and unequal?" Who thinks that was great? Some still do...
Entering the first world war? Being the decisive victor of the second, AND trying to forge a western economic and political world afterwards, putting Japan and Germany back on their feet as democracies?
The American history of invention and science?
OK Trumpers ... what of American history do YOU think was "great?" And why do you think that you are entitled to something based on what dead people did, not what you are doing today?
And just exactly what "great" and for whom, do you want to achieve?
Let's have less silly bloviation and more reality.
5
Words to ponder. But grandiloquence, especially if attached to a given individual's claim to be unique and indispensable to carry out the tasks at hand, is dangerous, as seen when a demagogue 'a la Trump' promises what he/she knows can't be done. Of course, flawed as we all are, it would be catastrophic to expect perfection in what we do. But that does not imply we shouldn't try our best, and show competence for the job at hand. Whenever incompetence is our baggage, corruption is a given. What is difficult to take is that we keep electing unscrupulous thugs, undoing what it took great sacrifices to achieve, and against our own needs and wishes. Remember when we fought for voting rights, women's equality, justice for all, passing laws to guarantee solidarity, only to be taken apart by a runaway thug in a position of power...to abuse it? Why can't we speak with the truth in hand, with as simple a statement as possible, to be understood by all when the facts are displayed, and leave extravagant and pretentious half-truths (if not straight lies) to the charlatans out there (hopefully kept at the fringes of society)?
3
America’s greatness peaked with WWII. We are a great experiment, but genocide ( American Indians ) and slavery were not great beginnings. Then we squandered our WWII greatness with Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. We squandered it propping up dictatorships in South America and the middle east. We can redeeem these mistakes, by owning up to them.. “America was never that great” and by removing the would-be-dictator who will otherwise prove to the world that our experiment has been a failure.
3
Thanks to that unfortunate "America was never that great" faux pas Andrew Cuomo can forget about running for president in 2020.
2
..the problem is Governor Cuomo talks before he thinks - he can't help himself..he's a politician.
Politicians don't really think - but they do a great job pretending they do!
He once had promise as AG; but NY AG's get starry eyed before long, and set their gazes on Albany....then Washington.
The Governor fits the bill perfectly - he's embraced the political machine with all of its corruption, and has made himself quite comfortable with the status quo.
Follow the money - it leads to Cuomo.
2
Sorry Bret. Andy might have just had his own ‘deplorable’ moment, but think about what we are arguing about: WAS America great? Who cares? And I agree with Andy. To be great you cannot live in a phony past. You need to be clear about opportunities for improvement and move forward. That is not what Trump sold. He sold going back to the past which is never what the USA is supposed to be about.
Finally, any country that elects Donald J Trump with a minority of the vote has a lot of splainin’ to do. Not great at all.
9
Mr. Stephens reminds us that the Constitution gives form to the finest and greatest system of government on the planet. Amen. However, the difficulty arises when evaluating America's "greatness" in terms of its historical progress towards a more perfect Union.
Ask Americans of color, particularly those of African descent, how this land of opportunity has worked for their forebears. Ask the families of Jewish refugees, if you can find them, about the US immigration barriers they faced when attempting to flee from the Nazi death camps in the second world war. Ask Native Americans about their history at the hands of the United States Cavalry. Freedom on the reservation... or so it might seem viewed from NYC.
As an academic treatise, this is a fine piece. But the devil is in the details, and the realities of far too many Americans undercuts America's claim to historic greatness, and a more honest if politically unpalatable assessment might conclude that it remains a work in progress.
3
America is a republic where states, through the Electoral College, elect the president. Isn’t this great?
We have a president, who is constantly praising himself and if Americans find that grating, one can only imagine how annoying he must sound to foreigners. On top of that, do we have to keep repeating what a great country we are? Really – with the president we have? The man, who would rather be a king!
So, we have to stop tooting our own horn. Let other countries judge us for greatness and exceptionalism like they once used to. Let our actions speak louder than our words. Let’s strive to make America whole again, by voting a Congress into office this November that will challenge the president’s authoritarian tendencies, defend the Constitution, and save our democracy before it’s too late. If we do, that would be really great!
6
I'm quite liberal and often disagree with Bret Stephens but I find a lot to agree with here. What I think is that America never identified itself as an ethnic nation or by language or religion. We always thought of ourselves as a nation that defended and promoted democracy in all its forms. This is a universal ethical norm and it was at the heart of our power. We of course represented this very imperfectly and with many contradictions but it was and, I believe despite the ignorant amoral cabal in the White House, it is what we still aspire to. That is why so many looked to us for leadership despite our many flaws. What other power justifies its leader ship on the basis of a universal and somewhat indisputable ethical norm. If you think about it what all the others are saying is "follow us because we are best. We have the best history and culture and smarts." No one else says as we do "Follow us because we will respect you and your rights even if we may be a little dumb this way or that". That is what the orange slimeball in the whitehouse gets wrong. He makes us like all the others when he says "follow us because we are the best."
3
Whenever I hear the blockheads chanting "USA, USA..." I think of the great Arthur Schopenhauer who said:
“The cheapest sort of pride is national pride; for if a man is proud of his own nation, it argues that he has no qualities of his own of which he can be proud; otherwise he would not have recourse to those which he shares with so many millions of his fellowmen. The man who is endowed with important personal qualities will be only too ready to see clearly in what respects his own nation falls short, since their failings will be constantly before his eyes. But every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud adopts, as a last resource, pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and glad to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.”
9
Listening to Cuomo, he seems to think that he suffered discrimination as an Italian American. His father was Governor. He is Governor. His brother is a top reporter for CNN. If this is discrimination, I want some.
2
Obviously, the greatness of the U. S. depends upon were you sit. The Gov was saying that in a very "non-politician" sort of way.
1
Easy for you to pounce on things Bret, while you and your party have put our country in peril for generations.
I don't know how they sleep at night, ryan, mcconnell, rand, etc. who you enable.
5
The hallmark of frat brother. sorority sister, evangelical and despot mentality is the unassailable theme of 'we are great' and 'we are right' - against all odds and evidence to the contrary. It's a dangerous, stifling and infantile mentality to live in. Cuomo was indeed inartful but still making a point. This country has shown greatness to be sure (WW II, the 'great generation' comes to mind). But it hasn't always behaved as a great nation...evidence abounds going all the way back to the Salem witch trials. When considering Trump one's brain gets tied in knots... and that's what happened to Cuomo. A not completely inaccurate statement inartfully made.
3
Thanks for this wonderful commentary! Americans of every stripe can rally around such a defense of the American dream. In defense of Cuomo, I think he was expressing the frustration that the inspiring words this column has will never issue from Trump's mouth.
It’s all relative depending on what your are escaping or how big a nest egg you inherit. While I agree that self correction and renewal embody the spirit of America, its loudest supporters seem to revel in limiting America’s reach to those that they deem not worthy. That’s not so great.
3
America was never that great: Native Americans marginalized, decimated and displaced. Africans enslaved and then segregated and never compensated. Torture and clandestine murderous CIA under cover actions. Attacked other nations without justifiable cause. Dropped nuclear bombs on Japan. Elected Donald Trump.
Cuomo points out that America is a nation like any other, sometimes great and sometimes hypocritical, brutal and selfish.
Trump appeals to our worst instincts. There is an opportunity for redemption: vote out Republicans in 2018 and 2020.
7
Growing up in the 1960's was great for me.
Not so much for blacks who had to sit on the back of the bus, use for-black water fountains and bathrooms, and had much less funding for schools.
And the school funding discrepancy hasn't changed much.
7
What makes America great is that we can have disagreements without people like Mr. Stephens become snarky about it.
3
The fact that anyone would sieze on this as a way to bash Cuomo is absurd. Our "president" called our country foolish while standing next to our enemy in front of the entire world. Democrats, do not allow this false equivalence! Defend yet another liberal champion and stop letting trumpers make up their own narrative. Cuomos words were not perfect, but they had a ring of truth. I personally believe that America is great, and has always been even in our imperfection. But I will not allow Republicans to make me turn from any liberal who makes a mistake. The real enemy of the people is the Republican party and its Russian comrades. Don't fall for their misdirection.
3
Let me count the ways America was never that great, slavery, lynchings of African Americans long after the civil war was lost in the South, rising inequality today, lack of universal health care enjoyed by European countries, catastrophic failed invasions of Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, the S&L crisis of the early 90s, the MBS crisis of the oughts, the most carbon polluting country in the world on a per capital basis. I could go on, but the worst thing is to believe your own propaganda. We have been the most powerful since WWII, but power doesn’t equal greatness.
13
Cuomo's comment about America having never been that great was not going to garner a lot of votes. But it's the truth, isn't it?
Have we forgotten our slave-holding past, The War Between the States, Jim Crow Laws and lynching? What about the native Americans that were wiped out in building this country? Or when workers would go on strike and to break the strike a militia would gun down men, women and children? I could go on but I am word-limited.
But according to Bill Clinton and Bret what actually makes America great is: A capacity for adjustment, self-correction and renewal, unequaled among the nations, and inscribed in our founding charter. “Unalienable Rights.” “The consent of the governed.” “The pursuit of Happiness.” “Created equal.”
So actual history and how people have lived here in these United States is not to be evaluated in judging Cuomo's comment? So, let's look at Bret's definition. The *capacity* may be there in the Constitution but it has always depended on the good faith of our politicians to honor that document. That good faith is now missing from all three branches of government. We have a politicized Supreme Court that starts with a desired result and works backwards seeking the legal justification, the hijacking of a Supreme Court seat and Congress' unwillingness to check the abuses of the Trump's administration. And if you want to "pursue happiness" or be treated as if you were "created equal", many of our citizens would be better off elsewhere.
4
Cuomo's poorly worded but important notion reminds me of Obama's 'You didn't build that.' Obama's notion that every American business, corporation did not build their businesses alone but with the aid of American infrastructure fell on deaf ears as media pundits decided to chide the idea and word-choices rather than just the words.
And Mr. Stephens, you fall into that miserable camp. The camp of petty soundbites; the camp of misanthropic tweens (who might be middle-aged); the camp of insular derision. Shame on you.
5
The “founding fathers” were indeed great (well, except for the small matter of owning human beings for the purpose of using them as farm machinery). The founding documents were indeed ingenious, revolutionary, and great (well, except for the part about only white male property owners voting, and that embarrassing “two-thirds” thing). And our indomitable frontier spirit was indeed great (except for the genocide). The list goes on. So I get what Cuomo is saying. America has never been totally great. Let’s just say we’re half -great.
3
When Trump has finally destroyed what is “right” about America, what will we have to fix what is “wrong” about America?
2
Has Mr. Stevens read American history? Is he aware of the genocide of the native peoples? Of the exploitation of workers? Of the immiseration of the laboring masses in the Gilded Age? Instead of the vague puffery about the welcoming of immigrants, he might consider the exclusion of Chinese and indeed all Asians. He might contemplate the Jim Crow south; and weep over the atrocities committed on black people in the south after the Civil War. Or the appropriation of the American southwest after the shameless Mexican War. Open a book, Brett. Cuomo was right, and you are wrong and certainly misinformed.
3
Here's what tell Bret Stephens and his ilk - Republicans who regret Trump. Leave us liberals and progressives and Democrats alone - we are doing what we can. You go to your conservative buddies and tell them, "This time, vote Trump out. This time vote every Republican out."
You got us into this mess; you get us out. This is on YOU!
3
Thank you for speaking truth to the governor of NYC!
1
The United States is mostly a fortunate country. Fortunate in its great resources base, its geographic position in the world with protection from two oceans and no strong enemies on the continent with it, its moderate weather, its generally non-capitalist economy. But it has wasted many of the resources and in the process poisoned much of its land and people. It has also mistreated it neighbors and taken their friendship for granted. It has stolen from its neighbors, particularly those in Central and South America. It has imposed its values on the entire hemisphere with such doctrines as the Monroe Doctrine and the notion of US exceptionalism. In too many instances the US has failed to oppose and often worked with autocratic governments. The US continued slavery for over 50 years after all other western nations had outlawed and remains even today one of the most racist nations in the world. In the 1930s when Fascists and Nazis were on the march, threating the entire world, Americans preferred to ignore the threat and carry on business with the Nazis and Fascists as before. Despite these many failures, the US remains a country with great potential to make the world a better place. If it deals with its demons. Considering who was elected President two years ago and the lack of effective opposition to Trump, I think our demons are about to conquer us, rather than the reverse.
6
Thank you Andrew for handing the GOP their message for the next 2 years. They will use it to beat up each and every Dem running for office. Thank you Andrew.
On the positive side, Andrew will never become President now, so thank you again Andrew.
2
Bret Stephens' broad-brush rebuttal of Andrew Cuomo's words is a deliberate misreading and reminds me of that scene from Animal House when the Deltas, backed into a corner for drunken anarchy, change the subject: "We're not going to sit here and watch you bad mouth the United States of America!" Cuomo's words bring to mind the poet Langston Hughes, who wrote "I, too, sing America." Bret should read it.
6
Define Great in American terms.
2
Thank you, Bret. I’m not coming back to this comments section for the deluge of Anti-American hatred about to come from those who’ve benefited from it’s flawed but superior system of government (and will surely skip your central point). Thank you for this very rarely shared opinion in intelligent circles.
2
Of all of the things that make America great, that Andrew Cuomo will never be President should, I fervently hope, rank high among them.
1
Have you seen Oprah's piece in the 60 minutes last weekend about the lynching museum in Montgomery, Alabama? Watch it and then rewrite your column whether America was great in the past or not. That is what Trump supporters understand when he says MAGA.
2
Thank you for this article. It sheds à little Hope or rather you so aptly remind us what has made America great in thé past.
Charles de Gaulle once saïd "one mustn't confuse/amalgmate the French people with France" I think this could bé applied to thé US. But how did we stoop so low so quickly?
It is frightening to sée how quickly we have gone from being an example to other countries "thé City upon thé Hill" to thé laughing stock of thé World. Has democracy dug us this hole? Will thé values of our founding fathers and our institutions allow us to bounce back? Or is Trump thé Real America ?
Thoughts from an Américain living in France
2
Ever the right wing attack dog, Bret Stephens can't resist sinking his fangs into a Democrat's ankle, even as Trump wrecks the government.
5
Freedom of Speech is at the top of the special qualities that make up American greatness. That includes politically inept speech. A "basket of deplorables" will be remembered as much for its truth, as it is now for its clumsy phraseing and unfortunate consequences.
1
The Guv, one of the infamous Three Men in a room or was it a stall has bigger fish to fry Bret. His “brother” and late Fathers most trusted advisor Joe Percoco heading to the klink. Shelly and Skelos, the other two in the stall klink bound as well. The anti corruption Moreland commission disbanded before they finished their work. The Buffalo Billions fiasco and pay to play indictment along with Ms. Nixon breathing down his neck. It wouldn’t look that great either from the Guv’s periscope.
1
It sounds like a description of Canada.
2
I'm with Cuomo, we're not great ... Maybe we've come close at times, but nope, not great. The tragedy, we could be, but we're not, and what's playing out with Republican's and the farce in the White House is a gross display of why not. I applaud the Governor for being real, yeah it doesn't play out well as a sound bite, but sound bites are another huge reason why America is not great.
5
"There’s an equally long literature cataloging America’s many sins, most of them real but very few of them all that particular to us, including slavery, ethnic cleansing, territorial conquest, racism and misogyny."
I'm beginning to love Bret more and more. He is always grasping at straws. Something probably he never did too much before when he was all so sure of things.
2
Anyone who thinks Cuomo should be drawn and quartered for his comment ought to read Trump’s inaugural speech. You’d have thought America was a failed state, teetering on collapse.
Cuomo is under attack by the Republican propaganda machine for having the temerity to channel Trump.
4
“Great” is a subjective term. It means different things to different people. What measures up as “great” to me may seem “mediocre” to others.
There’s an old saying that “you’re only as good as your last time at bat!” America may or may not have been great in the past but now the person at bat wearing America’s Uniform is Donald Trump. How “great” will America be when he finishes his turn at bat is all that counts!! After seeing the way he handled the first few pitches, if I were manager I’d call “time out” and put in a pinch hitter (ANY pinch hitter!!!)
4
Although I agree it was a politically stupid remark the controversy is more about semantics than anything else. I also agree with your assessment that it is really about the striving for a more perfect union that makes us different. However, is there ever a point at which just the striving is not enough to justify our self anointed “greatness”?
1
American exceptionalists blast Cuomo for saying "America was never that great" and foment a form of deviate patriotism. They ignor mass incarceration of people of color, separation of immigrant families and elevating the sloganism of America is great. Which part of America is great the genocide against Native Americans, the enslavement of black people, the interment of Japanese Americans, the colonization of Puerto Rico and sterilization of one-third of Puerto Rican women, the lynchings of Blacks and Mexicans while whites picnicked and brought their children to witness the dehumanization of people of color? A country while applauding Aretha Franklin ignore she had to offer to use her money to free a wrongly imprisoned Angela Davis. Malcolm spoke for many of us in part when he said "I don't know the American dream, I know only the American nightmare."
6
donald trump's america was never great, bret. It was racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, militaristic and self-polluting. That's what those red caps stand for and very little else. Governor Cuomo's statement addresses that -- it is a more forward looking and a lot less regressive choice of words than you and others make it out to be. But, I guess making it a big deal is really just fodder for your column.
4
Yeah, no. What made America unique was that it was a new country that, in concept, lacked historical baggage. And with that, historical grievances, and the corrosive effect those grievances have on efforts to achieve a common purpose. Of course, we ignored the genocide of native Americans. We didn’t ignore slavery, but we did try to bury our heads to its lingering effects. Uniquely capable of replacing reality with an ideal, we only looked ahead. Our immigrants came here for the very purpose of escaping the cultural or economic oppression of their home countries, so they too embraced the American ideal and became fully engaged in the cultural experiment of an emerging nation. Fast forward to today, to a mature country waking up to its less-than-ideal origins. We are splintered by historical grievances, we self-segregate through identity-based grievances, and we appear to reject a common destiny. All of this may be a necessary reckoning on a path to the ideal we thought we had. But through it all, we need that ideal if this country wants to maintain a comparative advantage over the older, baggage-laden cultures our immigrant groups sought (seek) to escape. I think we have it but don’t really see it through all the noise. Ironically, it’s Trump who is making us see what we have by showing us how we might lose it. And that is where Cuomo’s superficially unfortunate statement - the whole statement - actually rings true.
12
Want to know what makes America not so great, Bret Stephens, look no further:
1. Criminal Justice (Only North Korea incarcerates more people than we do.)
2. Gun Violence (We are number one in the world in firearm-related murders.)
3. Healthcare (We are the only developed country that does not guarantee health care to its citizens._
4. Inequality (We are leading the OECD countries in terms of income inequality.)
5. Infrastructure (Our crumbling infrastructure needs $3.6 trillion investment over the next six years)
It was Lincoln who said, "Actions speak louder than words, and are more regarded."
30
What is America? This is an idea, a culture created by the fusion of American constitution, American Capitalism, American institutions, American pop-culture and the deep culture of American people. The forces these diverse handles exerts to create America over the last 50 years are changing America. At the present moment two great shifts happened in this scenarios - social media and American capitalism. Media Narratives no longer controlled by the elites and thinkers - it is now controlled by tribes of social media. These tribes are exactly following the rules social studies findings of subalternism theory not nationalism. On the other hand, American capitalism no longer is controlled by capitalists and cronisism, it is now controlled by innovators and Enterprinoirship. This shift from cronyism to meritocracy has tremendous impact on society - today American capitalism and American culture is on conflict, either American culture will change, or American capitalism will be destroyed. Social media represents the cultural forces and technology represents the American capitalism. We do not know the final outcome - it is futile to make prediction on long historical trends - there is no history of this battle.
2
@Kalyan Basu, The US is an interlocked directorship that cherry-picks the efforts of entrepreneurs.
3
@Kalyan Basu
Your rhetoric is bit harsh -- dramatic, but your analogies are very good.
Let give you an example: You note, "or American capitalism will be destroyed.". Then you state, " ... it is futile to make prediction on long historical trends."
Again, your insights are very keen, quite probable, and definitely worth considering; though you frame with a flair for the stage. Yes, all the world is a stage, but not every outcome is as stark as construction or destruction. (I.e., life or death -- for the dramatic.)
Mr. Stephens makes some good points about American greatness. We are the new Rome, British Empire, Chin dynasty. He is right pursuit of happiness, the 14,15,etc. amendments etc and a more perfect union are all factors. But maybe our greatness started at the Gettysburg Address when Lincoln articulated our difference. We achieved world hegemony after the World Wars when Europe destroyed itself and we became the strongest and richest nation. But we also became the cultural leader of the free world. We helped our enemies return to health, we advocated and fought for democratic freedoms consistent with our values. The world is now flat. Europe and Japan are as vibrant and China has solved market based commerce. It is not just strength but our cultural hegemony that gives us greatness. Lincoln's words "a nation conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." and " that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth." should still guide us. We don't need to be made great again, we need to remember who we are and Remain Great. I posit that Obama understood this better that Mr. Trump, who seems to be dividing us. Lincoln said "with malice toward none and charity for all,...let us strive..... to bind up the nations wounds...."
10
@William Trainor, this fraudulent system is too badly malapportioned to call itself a representative democracy. The US is the greatest at outright lying.
2
@Steve Bolger
- not a representative democracy
- greatest at outright lying
Two different thoughts, hard to make a point in a tweet, can't figure out what you are trying to say.
So, bind up the nations wounds or tear it down?
Sure, the statement is not very, um, politically correct. Yet it has a self-deprecating tone that, if said by some individual who was, say, the President of the United State, might ring of humility and self-awareness. As a nation, just as individuals, we must be careful of overselling greatness, and instead remain humble. This is where true greatness lies, and it is the path of so many great people in history, but not so much great nations.
11
But it’s important to remember that we live in an age of sound bites. I don’t believe Gov. Cuomo had a shot at the Presidency in any case, but if he were the Democratic nominee in 2020 all we’d see on our TV screens is this three-second comment. And we all know how Trump’s base would respond.
America under Trump and a Republican majority in Congress is nothing to be proud of and won't be until they're swept aside.
20
Bret,
Great is a relative term, so by what metrics do you use to determine greatness compared to other countries? Here are a few to discuss...
Health and wellness of the overall population? By many metrics we are somewhere in the 20s and our medical costs are 50% percent higher than the next country.
Income equality? Over 50% of American's live check to check and we all have seen the flow of wealth to the top %'s over the last 40 years.
Violent Crimes & Incarceration? Our gun deaths and incarceration rates are orders of magnitude higher than other countries.
Educational attainment? While our university system is great the cost is outside many people's ability to pay. Once again we fall in the 20s for most standardized tests compared to other countries.
The level of freedom we have? I have several friends that say they don't want the government to infringe on their freedoms. I personally would love to be free of financial machinations threatening my savings, companies polluting the water and air, and worrying about families health care that I'm tied to a specific job rather than entrepreneurial pursuits.
Are we the land of opportunity? There is no doubt we are innovative and can do great things, but the benefits of the innovation flow to the few. If this is the metric we use the justify greatness in what is a great country and society? One that a few on the top reap the gains while the rest support them?
What metrics Bret? What am I missing?
50
@JRH, Entrepreneurs only last until one of the giants makes them an offer they can't refuse.
1
A huge and supremely powerful military. From that, many things follow.
I didn't follow the Cuomo kerfuffle. I'm not a big fan of Cuomo. But I bet he'd take back those words in a heartbeat. Give him a heartbeat and move on.
6
I am now hoping to see Mr. Stephens address exactly what the Trump team means by MAGA, just to be sure it lines up with the delightfully optimistic rhetoric posted in this column.
22
Couple of considerations maybe too fine for political discourse:
1) Cuomo's statement doesn't deny greatness, it limits it, that's what the word "that" in front of great does.
2. If Trump can become president by denying the present greatness of America (Make America Great AGAIN), why can't Cuomo deny previous states of greatness.
3. Cuomo immediately explained why he put limitation on the idea of greatness and he should be judged on that.
4) As he goes on speaking and he is asked about the statement, he should ask his audience; Was America great when it destroyed the Native American society? Was it great when Blacks were slaves?
Was it great when women worked in sweat shops for ten hours a day?
Was it great when women couldn't vote? Was it great when Jews were excluded from universities? Was it great when Irish needn't apply?
Was it great when farmers lost their farms and Blacks couldn't eat where they wanted to it or couldn't vote? That's what that word THAT is doing there. It reminds people never to be self-satisfied and that there is always work to be done.
49
@Frank Casa Thank you for writing my comment for me and ever so much more eloquently than I could have.
I am at odds with my family about my refusal to say the pledge of allegiance, but I can't bring myself to stand up and recite a lie.
3
We live in a country that elected Donald Trump President. Nuance, obviously, means nothing.
2
@Frank Casa
Dear Frank Casa,
Bravissimo! Well said & to the point. No nation can call itself Great with the kind of historical baggage you so aptly list. Do we believe we are already what we hope to be merely by saying "we are great?"
It doesn't work that way. Greatness requires consistent, steady, & determined acts of kindness, help, openness, encouragement & availability of & accessibility to life's material and spiritual offerings. Greatness requires that we instill & practice the kind of democracy we say we are - for all who were born here or choose to come here.
We have a doleful history of discrimination against peoples of color, women, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, immigrants, the incarcerated, LGBQT persons, the working class, & the poor!
So - our greatness is merely aspirational, not a hard fact of achievement. We must continue to strive for greatness in the hopes that we remain merely GOOD. How can we possibly overlook all the items on Frank's list & make that sham claim of greatness?
We are besotted with the idea of exceptionalism. We'd do a lot better by being realistic & opening our eyes to our history & to our shortcomings, which are many. America the Good is, for me, the better place to be than in the never-was & never-will-be America the Great.
My family emigrated three times in the 20th century to reach a place that was GOOD. That's why I'm here. Even the goodness is slowly dribbling away in face of a possible fascism - neither Great nor Good.
1
By accepting what Trump is doing to destroy this Nation hour by hour and day by day . Cuomo's words may not have been the most artful , but his message was crystal clear and perfectly apropos as to the downfall of this nation in the eyes of our allies around the world . What is happening is disgraceful. Collusion with Russia and admiration for the dictators of the world. At the same time , the very foundations of our society and our intelligence community are being eroded by Trump's effort to escape the ever tightening noose of the Mueller investigation. The behavior of this administration is unprecedented and does not comport in any way with what America is all about.
13
Governor Cuomo's remark was unfortunate. It, like so many of the same genre was fodder for opposition.
Mr. Stevens has done a good job of pointing out an alternative definition of what makes America great.
I take exception to one paragraph however. "Elsewhere in the world, religious traditions demand certainty, cultures compel conformity, and political systems demand obeisance. The American tradition rests on pillars of self-questioning, self-actualization and disagreement." In the recent past and including the present, I believe that this paragraph should be turned around. The current pilars of the American system religious traditions demand certainty, cultural conformity is compelled, and obeisance to political systems is demanded.
5
@tagger "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" is the most scoffed-at law directly applicable to that body of utterly dishonest fakes.
3
I have a little pillow, yes a pillow that I keep by my desk, which a purchased during my visit to FDR's estate. Emblazoned on a patriotic background are the following words, "We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone...but for mankind."
Each day I read and repeat these words to myself in silent agreement with the president.
3
@electrcshepherd
I hope you mean you are in agreement with FDR not Trump the President of "America First."
2
Many people interpret Trump’s MAGA as taking us back to a time when we marginalized gays, formally separated races and women needed a man’s signature to get a credit card, and support him for it.
This is what Gov Cuomo was so unclearly referring to.
Brett here makes an excellent argument that both the Governor and the President should take to heart.
2
It is not unexpected that Mr. Stephens would take the path of least resistance in harvesting the low-hanging fruit of a Democratic contender for president having made a faux pas on his first step out of the gate. But did Cuomo really veer that far off the politically-correct path?
One, as a politician, must be careful not to say anything too nuanced, something that might require a moment's thought to understand the latent content of what was being said, and certainly nothing that could be reframed - reducto ad absurdum - and re-parroted over Fox News (where absurdum reigns supreme).
Most, if not all, of these compelling slogans that Mr. Trump has co-opted from Reagan are actually empty vessels: What does "Make America Great Again" actually mean? When was it great? During the Civil War? Or during the Gold Rush?
America is an extremely fortunate country (as in lucky): geographically, with two oceans separating it from the conflicts in Europe and Asia, with incredible amounts of land, water, and natural resources, a vibrant hard-working culturally-diverse immigrant population, and a few very enlightened leaders over the years.
What we are seeing now, with Mr. Trump and his legion of sycophants, opportunists, stooges, and enablers, is the undermining of all those things that have made America great. And the striking part is how little meaningful resistance there has been in America to a president and a presidency that is literally and simply, an unmitigated disaster.
8
A nice column that glosses over the real struggle. Stephen, Lincoln knew that a civil war was needed to destroy slavery if the principles were to hold. This is no cake walk. The petty mad kingish (shall we call him Spanky?) we have today got enough support because those principles that you proudly cite are not widely shared, not even close.
I like to think that all that is wrong with America can be cured by what is right in America, but I do not take for granted that it will be cured. Count me among the optimistic, but also among the rational people. Sometimes, the disease wins.
3
Too many Americans are excluded from any possible pursuit of happiness for America to be considered to be a great country. One quarter of all the world’s prisoners are in American prisons. Every year 36,000 Americans are killed by bullets. Nine days out of ten there is a mass shooting. Last year five million Americans had to declare bankruptcy because they could not pay their medical bills. Americans should spend less time trying to convince themselves that they live in the best country in the world and more time trying to create a minimum of social justice.
12
Bill Clinton did have a way with words. Poor Andrew Cuomo. He just doesn't have the gift. But, in his own New York-ish way, he said exactly the same thing.
If I were standing there, hearing the gasps, I would have added: "so, when is it that you all think America was great? When we wouldn't allow black people to sit at lunch counters? Or, was it further back, when we kept human beings as slaves? Or, when we slaughtered the native peoples on this land? Were we great then? Think about it."
We live a myth. It's okay, all countries do.
As you so eloquently present, it's the ideals we hold dear and strive to achieve that make us great. We don't always live up to them. We just showed the world an immense lack of values by electing the current president. We should all say our prayers, and hope we can hold our heads high again in the near future.
I think Mr. Cuomo will not suffer politically from this. He simply told us, in a blunt manner, that we have not lived up to our own ideals. Honest people will reflect on that. I believe most people in this country are still honest. We will see.
10
@CF
He may not suffer politically (questionable) but I’m afraid the Democrats will. Remember the flak Michelle Obama took for an even milder remark?
When confronted with the endless rhetoric of American exceptionalism and the carefully selected incomplete history used to make this argument, an argument tailored to minimize mistakes and failings of our nation, it is easy to slip into the contrary assessment that ‘we were never that great’. I get it Andrew, but as a politician it’s something you can never utter. Dumb. As an American when thinking about our country’s history and role in the world, even as a skeptic, one must ask ‘greatness compared to what’? America has on balance been great in so many respects in comparison to any other republic or empire in history. It’s foolish and self defeating to not see ourselves clearly.
7
A perfect gift--wrapped and ready to deliver to the Trump campaign. I couldn't agree more. I wish to the Lord the Governor had never spoken those words.
It happens, from time to time, that a president--a governor--a candidate hits on just the right words.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
"Ask not what your country can do for you. . . ."
"And therefore, with charity towards all, with malice towards none. . . .."
But at other times, they put their foot wrong.
Mr. Obama certainly did with his peremptory challenge, "YOU didn't build this. . . "
There he stood! Tilting a lance against the folly and arrogance of the Ayn Rand's. Who laud the achievements of a gifted few--and slight the toiling millions who made those achievements POSSIBLE.
And I say, "PREACH it, brother!"
But don't preach it quite like THAT. Pick your words a little more carefully.
And Mr. Cuomo! We all know what he was getting at. Don't we?
In the best sense of the word, he and many others are LIBERALS.
The way, perhaps, I am a LIBERAL.
We see things WRONG with our country--a country we love, and yes! a country we're proud of.
We want to FIX those things. Nothing more. Nothing less.
But the words didn't come out right.
And apologies, explanations. . .
. ..don't help.
Unfortunately.
12
Cuomo made the biggest faux pas of his political career. Maybe. The question now is can he use that statement to create the proper debate. You kind of gloss over the context for that statement. We have a president who makes statements just as egregious, even more so, on a nearly daily basis. And they fall off him like dandruff flakes. And that statement "Making America Great Again" means what actually? What does it mean to those wearing the hats: that they will matter more than anyone else in America: bring me your racists, bring me your anti-immigrants, bring us back to a time when there were no regulations hindering profit making, bring us back to a time where just having a job was what you should expect and be grateful for, when we let poor folks be poor folks and not have government programs to try and alleviate their plight, and so on. I think Cuomo's statement was wrong in and of itself. But in the context of the Trump philosophy, I absolutely get where he is coming from. I think in the effort to "Make America Great" Trump and his supporters feel we have gone too far and need to go backwards to get back there. Cuomo's statement points out that going back is not an option. The major take away is not what he said, it's that Cuomo is not the one to lead the fight against Trump. The saddest part is : one guy can make offensive statements on a daily basis, but all the opposition has to do is make one. "We" have to be better than that. "He" does not.
36
@Walking Man
Also, MAGA implies that America is not great at this moment. But as you point out. Trump is not held to rational standards by his minions. Let's just hope that his minions get drunk and forget to vote.
Pray for a spate of clogged arteries.
2
Mr. Stephens concludes with a rousing quote from V.S. Naipaul, regarding The Pursuit of Happiness:
“It is an elastic idea; it fits all men ... “
This idea is apparently not sufficiently elastic to include women.
No surprise.
7
Put aside consideration of outcomes of what Governor Cuomo said. What makes America great is that just like all Americans, Governor Cuomo has the right, guaranteed in the Constitution, to freely speak up and say whatever is on his mind. The right to express ourselves includes the right to criticize America and our government. That right calls attention to government abuses, helps correct national missteps.
And today more than ever Americans need to exercise their right of free speech to speak out against the transgressions and dangers of the Trump Administration. And Mr. Stephens, rather than take Governor Cuomo to task for his honest, but perhaps easily malappropriated statement, why not take the Trump Administration to task for attempting to curtail our right of free speech?
Just this past week Trump revoked the security clearance of John Brennan and has threatened the same for others. The reason? Mr. Brennan has exercised his right to speak out against the Trump Administration and Trump doesn't like it.
Trump has denied journalists the right of the free Press to cover stories he does not like. He has threatened to bar specific Press from covering him and he has raised the idea of suing the Press for stories that are unflattering.
Trump has encouraged his supporters to beat up people who use their free speech rights to speak out against him.
Trump is trampling what makes America great - our right to say what we think, especially to criticize our leaders.
12
Mr. Stephens provides a brilliant reminder of why any country can call itself great. It’s dissatisfaction with the status quo. In American terms, it’s watching the horizon because that’s your destination. And the destination is not a place, it’s a process.
We are never happier than when we are on the move, both physically and politically. The greatness that is America is the journey. Do we know where we’re headed? Not really. Do we really care the exact destination? Not so much.
We celebrate the movement itself. That’s why we cherish the painful progress of the past whether the New Deal or Civil Rights. It’s what animates #MeToo and #Resist. We don’t know the destination except it’s not where we are now. We gotta move. Now.
2
It was stupid to say that. But, the context was talking about the role women play here in the good ol' exceptional USA. And it's certainly true that, in that context America was never great.
I'd also point out that the USA has more inequality and less opportunity than other developed nations. Even if you can manipulate statistics to undermine that argument, it's hard to deny that inequality is increasing and opportunity is declining. Schools in poor communities are underfunded. Student debt in the US is deplorable.
Wages, even in this booming economy, are stagnant. CEOs are getting richer by leaps and bounds.
Cuomo was stupid because his statement, like Hillary's comment on coal mining, will be taken out of context. I think it may prevent him from being a credible candidate for the presidency. I don't feel bad about that.
I used to think that the trajectory in the US was toward liberty and justice for all. The rise of the far right and then Trump changed my feelings about that. We are no longer "striving" for what makes this country truly great.
6
I feel Trump is kicking American exceptionalism out of us as a nation---yes, we have had a number of lackluster Presidents, but, the level of ignorance and just plane nastiness coming out of the Oval Office is transforming the symbols of greatness in that office into little more that a Tony Soprano meeting in back of his strip club. Even my rationalizations that Trump is merely and outlier soon to be thrown into the dustbin of history, become muddled when I catch a Republican legislator or neighbor, who see nothing wrong with a country, that on a daily basis looking like a banana republic instead of that city on the hill. To restore American exceptionalism, we desperately need a Lincolnish like figure in that Oval Office next time around---but, so far, I am not seeing such a figure in either party---
1
The problem with the concept of "American greatness" is that far too many Americans think that it is true without having a clue as to how the US actually compares to the rest of the world. Stephens' assessment of other countries' failings has some merit; on the other hand, he too easily dismisses the reality that the ideals he claims are so unique to the US were articulated by hypocrites. It is valid to point out that other states have the failings of racism and slavery, but no other state relies so much on the slavery and genocide to account for its founding; the European settlement of the Americas was built on what is, easily, the greatest genocide in human history. Can a state ever be "great" when it is built on such foundations and refuses to acknowledge them? The original American sin of racism continues to define US politics today. African Americans continue to face systematic discrimination; why should they ever be patriots to such a state? By most measures, the US is a far worse place to live than most other Western states. Americans anesthetize themselves with the mantra that the US is "the greatest country on Earth." But Americans will only start realizing their country's potential when they let go of these jingoistic myths. Cuomo's comment may have been impolitic, but it was a necessary correction. Can any country that elected Donald Trump as President really be that great?
8
" But the consistent theme of American history has been one of continual overcoming by way of direct recourse to first principles — principles that are timeless and universal, even if they were laid down by hypocrites."
I wonder when the " overcoming " will happen now given the current atmosphere fostered by Trump, the R's and the propaganda arm of the right wing- Fox news. Don't hold your breath.
4
"Most of us have achieved levels of affluence and comfort unthought of two generations ago. We've never had it so good, most of us. Nor have we ever complained so bitterly about our problems."
mario cuomo
6
As an NYT subscriber, I want Bret to be providing some rationale for what Republicans are doing to this country. For the most part, I'm willing to put up with that Republican high school debate kid sanctimony just to hear something approaching reason, but this goes too far.
There was a lot to talk about this week, and Republicans have a huge task continuing to explain how Trump's policies and practices are in any way benefiting Americans. To take four words out of a Democrat's speech and start knicker twisting is a deflection.
30
I'm just glad he isn't writing about how climate change and Clinton's 2016 campaign have the same level of certainty, like in his first column. Bret isn't a man to let small things like facts and context get in the way of a good story.
2
A great country would never have allowed the venality on the GOP to take us hostage in the name of the oligarchs. And don't get me going on the fact that the White House has been fouled by the Trump tragedy. Great? Look again.
8
Great? Really? Here in NY senior citizens are taxed out of their homes because they can’t afford to live here anymore. Is that a great country. Our seniors choose between medication and heat. They chose to live in their homes they built with love and sweat all for the great state of New York to tax you out. Is that a great country? Malarkey is what it is!
9
@Mickey - You are complaining about NY state taxes, which are extraordinarily high. Talk to your local state rep.
Cuomo told the truth, but he did so with a sound bite that can be so easily turned to a cudgel against progressives. That was stupid of him; extremely so.
America can be imperfect, 'not so great', and still be the best that humanity has conceived. Mr. Cuomo, this must be stated with deftness, not reactionary simplicity. Let's not let our antipathy to Trump* turn us into simpletons.
Scraping away the pontifications and generalizations, America is great about many things, and also not so great about others. Instead of fighting over the bombastic statements in either direction, let's keep it specific. Right now we'd be better if more people were involved and thriving. And if a buffoon weren't tweeting nonsense every morning further dividing us.
7
America against the world is like a global corporation, often heedless of its impact on the many for the profit of a few.
You mention the bottom-up flow of information that contributes to adaptibility and creaivity. I assume that means the consensus of the people. Just in my lifetime if our country had listened to its people we would have avoided so much suffering.
We wouldn't have gone to war since WW11. We would still have strong unions and a strong social safety net. We would still have strong regulations on our financial industry to protect our economy for the benefit of the people.
But we listened to those who profit from destabilizing countries and installing their own sycophants. This has nothing to do with the will of our people who want to live in a world of peace and prosperity.
Cuomo is a politician running to get re-elected. You can't usually gain much wisdom from such a person; but he's right in calling out the mistakes of the corporate predators of the past who do not represent us as a people.
28
"There’s an equally long literature cataloging America’s many sins, most of them real but very few of them all that particular to us, including slavery, ethnic cleansing, territorial conquest, racism and misogyny."
The fact that these are not "all that particular to us" - that we share them with other countries - doesn't neutralize the crimes.
The people who want to label a country - brag about a country - aren't allowing for its past and present crimes, they're whitewashing them.
And Donald Trump is WHITEwasher in chief.
6
Nationalism is a blight, and there isn't any way to sugar coat it. It is the celebration of illusions.
23
What the governor should have done was preface his remark about the word Great! What is great? Compared to what? I think what Mario was trying to say was pretty evident to a normal citizen of the United States. It surely didn’t bother me at all. I got it. Great is a relative term. It’s what you strive to be. Before you say things like “Make America Great Again”, please tell me when we were Great and then became UnGreat if there’s such a word. We’re a growing country, and like anything that is growing, it means that it’s NOT complete. It means that we continue to make mistakes that have to fixed. That’s what Mario really said to most intelligent, non-partisan human beings.
10
"Elsewhere in the world, religious traditions demand certainty, cultures compel conformity, and political systems demand obeisance."
Has Stephens ever visited Europe or even Israel whose virtues he never ceases to extol?
5
When Mr. Stephens says, quoting a June Gallup poll, that 75% of Americans believe in the benefits of immigration, it misrepresents the actual disparity in views among Republicans and Democrats of which Americans are split roughly 50/50.
A poll by Pew Research reported in June 2018 shows that while 40% of Democrats supported an increase in immigration and only 16% supported decreasing it, only 22% of Republicans supported increasing immigration while 33% wanted to decrease it. This polarity speaks much more to the reality on immigration views in America today.
As for V,S. Naipaul's view of the "pursuit of happiness" as an "elastic idea" that cannot be "reduced to a fixed system". that is not the view Jefferson based the phrase on but rather the writings of the European philosophers of the time, of which, Jean-Jacques Berlamaqui's 1763 "Principles of Natural and Politic Law" extolling the "noble pursuit" of "true and solid happiness" when discussing natural rights had an obviously distinct influence.
Finally, as to the period when America was "great" that Trump wants to bring us back to, it turns out that it all depends on when you were born. In a May 2016 article in the Atlantic, it's pointed out that those born in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s see the 1950s as America's time of "greatness", while those born in the 60s and 70s look to the 1980s and those born in the 80s and 90s look to 1990s. That pretty well explains the cultural split between Republicans and Democrats.
3
"The U.S. has also endured reversals, crises, malaise, and committed its share of crimes"
More than its fair share. No other nation has used nuclear weapons on civilians or indeed on anyone else. And no other nation has set about defoliating the forests of another nation.
The repeated use of sanctions to destroy the economies of other nations will eventually have a payback.
Before America can rise to greatness, it will first have to rise up to normal decency.
6
Embarrassing! I thought the Governor was smarter than handing a talking point to the radical right and its leader, Trump.
1
Cuomo's tinny exhortation and its counterparts jumping to tangle with words to preserve this ugly concept that one side wins and the other side loses. Political victory is a hollow master depriving everyday citizens the creed from our Preamble. Both sides cast aspersions to be King or Queen of the hill, and in the end the nation suffers. Americans must defy John Adam's lament that people who toil do not possess the reasoning power to push reforms. Only the landed and super educated were capable of making decisions. It is past time to throw off these yokes and understand our lots depend on each other. We must dismiss tribal warfare, but argue out disagreements with reason. It took thousands of years for humankind to realize the power of careful thought. We are in danger of reliving the period that preceded this milestone.
2
@Donald Green: Life is a zero sum game to Trump. For him to win, everyone else must lose.
6
"Elsewhere in the world, religious traditions demand certainty, cultures compel conformity, and political systems demand obeisance. The American tradition rests on pillars of self-questioning, self-actualization and disagreement. This, too, is historically unprecedented."
You should travel more often.
20
It is this myth about greatness and exceptionality that robs us of facing reality and looking at ourselves in the mirror. I agree with the governor. We are striving to be great not that we are great— our history is a good judge of that. We are also a very young country and it is share arrogance to dare compare ourselves with Rome or even our European counterparts. Once you believe you are great then you no longer strive for greater, the same ethos holds for businesses. That said, with the political era that we are currently locked into— a reflection of the hollow in our claimed greatness; reveals to us how very hard we still need to work in order to be truly great in all its definition.
23
I see nothing wrong with Mr. Cuomo's statement; it is spoken honestly and clearly.
On the other hand, Mr. Clinton's statement that what is right fixes what is wrong is such a general statement that it could mean anything.
5
Cuomo simply stated a liberal/progressive norm that America has always been a bad place led by bad people for bad reasons. Conservatives have called people like Cuomo the "Blame America First" crowd for decades. It's not new, although it is political malpractice.
1
@Chris There aren't even many real conservatives left in the US. The people claiming the label are really reactionaries.
3
Why is it that only Democrats wince at political stupidity and have to explain their nuanced stances. When you say that Cuomo's remark is a political gift to the Trump 2020 campaign you suggest that this comment will haunt the Governor for years to come when, you know, Trump will tweet more outrageous things by this evening, that will be ignored by his supporters, and forgotten by tomorrow. I don't think the Governor needs a lecture on patriotism when the man in the oval office made a political career based on Birtherism. I'm glad this piece isn't about Trump, as they almost always are, but he does shade every political point that can be, justly or unjustly, applied to standard political commentary. I don't know how Republicans will ever be able to make the same old political arguments as long as Trump remains the gaping head wound of the Republican party.
15
The Gov has got it right. If Trump (or Bush or Reagan) had simply said, "Make American Great" the phrase would be a relatively harmless political slogan. But the addition of "Again" gives it an insidious undertone that there was a paradise lost in American history. MAGA believers whom I have questioned have various answers as to when that time of greatness was. One family member suggested the time after WWII as a high point of American prestige and power in the defeat of Germany & Japan. Fine, but the military was segregated, Japanese-Americans were interned, and post-war Jim Crow laws, racial and sexual inequality, Communist witch hunts bloomed to show America not at its greatest. So at what date was America great? Post American Revolution? No voting rights for women or slaves, dispossession of Native Americans ... Post Civil War? the Gilded Age? the Roaring 20s? the 1960s?
An earlier commentator said it well--the United States has always been a work in progress. America is great when it leads with hope and looks forward. We have never been perfect, we never will, but our greatness is in the offer of
hope for the future, not chimeras of a past that never was.
12
@Paris The US has never been more fake than it is right now, helpless before its most blatant crook and con artist.
3
I am so tired, so sick, so over this "America is the greatest country in the world" motto by so- called patriots who don't care if their fellow countrymen die because they cannot pay for their medical bills, but react like rabid pitbulls if some politician doesn't wear an American flag lapel-pin or Black football players don't kneel for the anthem. I'm so sick of the same old outrage by right wing patriots and their cliched litanies about the amazing individual strife of Americans, strife which also happens in every single country I have lived in outside of the US, because it is up to individuals to make it happen and because "greatness" is always relative, that's why other countries don't crow about being the "greatest," even if life there is easier for many than in the US. I am more likely to vote for someone who sees this country for what it really is. Cuomo had the courage to say it, that things weren't that great for a great many Americans for a long time and we don't want to walk down the path of Trump's regression.
33
@BettyK: Right wing politics is distilled tyranny.
2
Patriotism is like religion, its main purpose is to hold people together to pursue a shared goal, but its tenets are largely mythological.
What does being "Great" even mean? Stephens has penned a stirring description of American greatness as I'm sure any talented Russian writer could do for their own nation.
While Cuomo's dismissal of America's greatness may have been a political ploy that backfired, he did refer to specific areas where the data indicates that we've fallen behind many other nations in "greatness".
Ultimately, a nation's greatness is measured in how it develops and nurtures its citizens as a group. In the realm of wealthy democratic nations, America was great for a period following WWII and has been squandering its greatness on stupid wars and corrupt politics since the '60s.
High poverty rates, infant mortality rates, inefficient and non-comprehensive health care, a bloated military constantly engaged in unwinnable conflicts, obscene rates of incarceration, an emotionally and economically stressed middle class- these are not the hallmarks of greatness.
Now is not the time for flag waving. Our war is at home.
23
@alan haigh: Patriotism is the favorite cloak of scoundrels.
2
I imagine the post-mortem consensus on the wonderful American experiment will be that its demise was largely due to having used up all its intellectual oxygen debating what made it great.
9
Honesty, it’s not that I’m a Cuomo fan and hope that Cynthia Nixon beats him! But I’m so tired of the media jumping on gaffs or poorly worded speeches by politicians.
We all know what he was trying to say. And what he said is the truth.
The United States, (we are not the only North Americans, but we are the dominant ones...), have much in our past and present that we should be ashamed of.
Most obviously the election of Trump and his crimes against humanity- ie refugee child kidnapping and trafficking.
30
@Maria
It's not what he meant to say. It is because pessimism is pervasive in the way he speaks, the way he looks.
That is not the way any voter wants to look at a leader.
The strength of Clinton was incurable optimism. That's why he was so successful. That's how we can beat Trump again. But first, we have to put Cuomo into a closet!
Governor Cuomo makes a rhetorical point well worth serious discussion, and Mr. Stephens (who has been a far too tolerant apologist for Trump and is horrible Republican co-conspirators) takes the opportunity to channel Newt Gingrich. This country is not exceptional. In fact America never “is” anything, but is always “becoming” something. That is our strength and our only hope. In 300 years this country has not succeeded in extinguishing racism, bigotry, misogyny or poverty, and it has not achieved social or economic justice for a substantial portion of our society. In fact its hasn’t even reduced those plagues substantially, just concealed them behind happy talkers like Bret Stephens. I’d like to think we are still trying, but clearly things are getting worse. Today America is actually moving backward, retreating from progressive ideals, and fragmenting into irreconcilable social and cultural factions. If this country WERE great it would never have elected Donald Trump, and we would never tolerate the burden of environmental damage he’s done, or ever accept his regressive judicial appointees, or excuse our sullied international reputation. If America WERE great it would not imprison innocent children; rip them from their families; toss them aside like so much trash. If America IS truly great it will reject the infected, festering foreign body currently occupying the White House and restore a little dignity to our lives. But only if America IS that great. VOTE.
5
As an immigrant to this great country I believe in what Mr Stephens says about America, warts and all ... its best days were special and they must also lie ahead. I hope one day that the bitter divisions within the country can be healed by a new leader and the world can look to American leadership to deal with the climate change catastrophe that is looming and threatening our very existence.
@Paul
“I hope one day that the bitter divisions within the country can be healed by a new leader and the world can look to American leadership to deal with the climate change catastrophe that is looming and threatening our very existence.”
I hope these things, too, but I’m not holding my breath.
Hmmm ... the irony is that in truth America really never was that great, nor is it that great today. Slavery, its treatment of its indigenous populations, its colonialism, its interference in the affairs of a host of other nations, its hypocritical and moralistic Christian fundamentalism, its obtuse belief that it is actually a free nation, its propensity for violence and militarism, and its egotistical pronouncement that it is the greatest nation - one that can’t even manage to provide its people with universal health care - is evidence to support the claim. Sadly, Cuomo was and is right, the US never was that great and the push back against him proves the point.
9
For all the empty talk, salesmanship and dog whistling, I’d settle for a goal of “make great great again.” We are definitely selling ourselves short if this guy represents anything vaguely resembling greatness.
1
I vastly prefer Archibald MacLeish's phrasing, part of which was engraved in the foyer of the United States pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair: "The American journey has not ended. America is never accomplished. America is always still to build."
27
If the greatness lies not in achievements but in striving, USSR was even greater because it strives to give equality to everybody, and not just in eyes of law, but equality in opportunities and securities as well, no matter what is your race or your wealth.
1
The "idea of the pursuit of happiness" doesn't mean much if 30% of the population and one of two major political parties derive their happiness from making others unhappy.
I disagree with Mr. Stephens regarding the essence of America being reflected in V.S. Naipul's notion of pursuing happiness. I think the core of America is a diverse people working towards a "A More Perfect Union".
Ironic that Mr. Stephens cites V.S. Naipaul on happiness. He was widely viewed as misanthropic, racist, and loathing. Like Trump and his acolytes, Naipaul specialized in unhappiness, specifically causing others to be. No doubt he'd fit right in with the Republican Party.
12
Yes, greatness is about potential, about the capacity for renewal, about acting on principle and never taking anything for granted.
On the other hand, if it's one thing that makes the rest of the world roll its eyes, it's this American obsession with the word 'great'. A politician can never just say 'Alabama'. it has to be 'The Great State of Alabama", or Vermont, or Utah. This is childish. More perniciously, the idea of American exceptionalism is used by unscrupulous politicians to either hearken back to a mythical past - against today's civil rights - or to control elections. Get over it already. You have lost your democracy since 2000 and have hardly noticed.
5
Bret Stephens asserts:
"The American birthright belongs, potentially, to everyone. ... Only in America is it the direct consequence of our foundational ideals."
This is sheer retconning of American history to project Emma Lazarus's 1883 "huddled masses" poem back to the Founding. Has Mr. Stephens actually read what Founders like Hamilton and Franklin had to say about immigration?
1
What makes America great is that the government exists only by virtue of the consent of the governed who cede to to it some of their ndividual 'alienable' rights. This sets the U.S. apart from other nations where the rights of individuals are determined by the State which 'grants them to individuals. It is the designation of the citizens as the origin of individual rights that is unique in the U.S.
1
MAGA Preamble:
We the People of the Family of Trump, in Order to Make Trump Great Again, evade Justice, stoke racial division, provide for the common non disclosure agreement, promote the Family’s welfare, and secure the Blessings of Power to ourselves and our Posterity, do solemnly promise to craft seven lies a day to Make Trump Great Again!
27
Cuomo's public remark was incredibly stupid from a political point of view; you'd think he'd know better. On the other hand, it could have been a worthwhile and interesting philosophical topic for debate in a private discussion with friends and colleagues.
9
The sheer arrogance of this article is breathtaking. When Americans talk about the superiority and uniqueness of US democracy, I shake my head in disbelief. Does the author know anything about democracy in other places? I come from a nation where governments cannot manipulate election processes. Everyone over the age of 18 gets a vote. Politicians cannot conspire to prevent people likely to vote against them from voting. Politicians do not control electoral boundaries, so we don’t gerrymander either. I do not think Australia is great because the stain of our slaughter and abuse of indigenous Australians remains. The USA has never been great. The nation was built on the slaughter of Indians and the blood sweat and tears of slaves. African-Americans were only granted civil rights 59 years ago and there is a daily struggle to gain/maintain those rights. A great nation does not behave this way. I realize that, by these criteria, there are no great nations, just nations that variously do or don’t strive to be great.
12
Oh boy, the cons are really triggered now.
Too bad they weren't this up in arms when Trump went on foreign soil, stood next to the leader of an adversarial nation actively engaged in cyber warfare against us and proceeded to blame America for it all.
Compared to THAT, Cuomo is merely singing a tune.
I think liberals need to say MORE outrageous things so, like Trump, the media will say "liberal X is just being liberal X" and the MSM will move on, the same way they do now when Trump fatigue sets in.
14
it's gobsmacking how American politicians get into trouble if they don't genuflect and start any possible mild criticism with, 'America is the greatest country in the world/universe' without getting hammered.
hate to mention this, but it tho it is the powerful militarily and economically, it falls short in MANY other categories.
cuomo was obviously going to continue what he was saying--and did--but the reaction was instant as soon as the first few words tumbled out of his mouth.
if he was hoping to ever be potus, he can kiss that opportunity goodbye.
it is 45th in press freedom--between Romania and Italy.
26th in life expectancy.
about 30th in infant mortality.
way low in income inequality.
per capita spending on health is the highest of any western democracy--with less coverage.
the homicide rate is staggering.
parental leave after childbirth is pathetic.
annual vacation days are terrible.
despite what many americans think, it is not the only multi cultural country on the planet. it is behind many countries in % of inhabitants born outside the country.
and, finally, many other countries don't freak out if they have a prime minister or president born outside the country
and so on.
23
@brupic, The US is number one in airheaded self-inflation. Nothing is more specious about it than its ludicrous claim to be "under God".
6
I know it is a fact that the percentage of American citizens having a passport and thus able to travel the world is much lower than in other western democracies. This inadequacy has for years aided and abetted the all too pervasive myth of your greatness and exceptionality held only by your citizens. You will discover when you travel that most citizens of most countries feel about theirs' like you do about yours'. The other benefit from opening your eyes is the fact that in fact those citizens of those other countries are not the least bit interested in living in your country.
6
While dining at Roissy-en-France a few weeks ago before flying back to LA, my wife and I fell into a conversation with French family. They told us that over the last 10 years they knew about a dozen French families who moved to the US. None, they told us, moved back to France.
Is Mr Burch familiar with European geography? It’s a small area. As such you can drive through three or four ‘Western democracies’ faster than you can drive from SF to LA. So sure, they visit more countries than Americans do.
The other interesting thing I get from living in Europe is that the native citizens of each country have distinct cultures, and aren’t really that fond of native citizens of other European countries. As for immigrants from Africa and the Middle East, they are wanted less than Mexicans are here in the States.
@J. David Burch
One doesn't need a passport to travel around the world. I am terrified of flying so I will never go beyond the US borders with the exception of Canada. But I read of other country's cultures, their governing policies towards the people they serve, their high quality health care, education, treatment of laborers, environmental concerns and know we are truly lacking. I read comments on NYTimes and other news sites, read publications like Guardian UK. One can be informed without having to travel to distant lands. The problem with Americans is their arrogance and the belief in their exceptionalism. The willful ignorance to turn a blind eye to all of our faults. I don't think even traveling to other countries would change these people's minds. They, in true Orwellian fashion, believe only what they want to believe, disregarding everything that runs counter to these inherent "beliefs". The master manipulator, trump himself, has cautioned them to not believe what they see, nor believe what they hear, labeling it all fake or manipulated by the liberal media and the true believers eat it up. He plays them like a fiddle and they respond in kind. I've seen this reaction from every conservative I know, be they world travelers or ones who have never left their one horse town. The ideology is ingrained so deeply that it's doubtful they would ever have an epiphany. The comments written by those affronted and indignant by Andrew Cuomo's statement illustrate this to a "t".
3
"The American birthright belongs, potentially, to everyone."
No it doesn't. You seem to be saying that our "foundational ideals" make everyone a potential immigrant to America. They don't.
If America means more or less unfettered pursuit of happiness, why doesn't China, or Russia, or Nigeria mean that?
You mean those people are somehow unable to, now or in the future, understand, formulate and strive for this principle? Do you mean that only by coming here do humans realize their potential? Maybe those people ought to stay where they are and make their countries great. We can send them our constitution to read.
Mr. Stephens, America is a shining city on a hill, not a barn.
5
@John Xavier III. Mexicans left their farms because the cleverly titled “Free Trade Agreement” flooded their country with cheap, nasty subsidized corn, rice and beans from the US. Still American farmers are broke but Archer, Daniels and Cargil are as rich as Croesus. Yes America is great, for billionaires. For the average American, not so much.
3
The manifold versions of the "Great" debate are silly dogs chasing silly tails and cherry picking the record is equally futile.
Handsome is as handsome does, goes old American folklore so how great has America looked for the last couple of years?
America's unparalleled greatness in history is assured and, as in so many times gone by, the world, right now, badly needs all that truly is great in America. So, forget the debate about great and get on with the job of being such.
4
Greatness is not in the egoistic pursuit of happiness. It is in the realization that you are not alone on the world and that you need other people and that other people need you. Personal greatness is about what you do for other people, not how much you can pilfer to grow your bank account. Greatness of a country is about offering opportunities for all your citizens and having fruitful cooperation with other countries - not about running from one regime change operation to the next.
16
Actually (as I’m sure you know), the phrase “a more perfect Union” in its original context simply meant a stronger central government of the thirteen new States than the one prescribed by the currently operative Articles of Confederation.
5
It is easier to understand Trumpism when you realize how thin-skinned Americans are about their exceptionalism. It's the vein Trump has so cleverly tapped into, and is a form of national 'racism'. Now, that's something Americans are good at.
9
Bret you have to stretch and stretch and stretch to somehow "wound" the liberal side.
My golly the Right that flays against the so called (and sometimes with validate point) hyper-political-correctness of liberals now mocks some phrasing of a "liberal" when he speaks truth?!
Why? because it doesn't sound right and thus it is easy target in the non-nuanced non-thinking right-wing spin room world?
Probably! But less obvious and most importantly because when the words are analyzed clinically with intellectual rigor and honesty it exposes the ugliness that the Right wants us so to REGRESS to!
The Gov has a NYC political way that I dislike sometimes. I also can see flaws in some of his policies etc. But overall he hits the nail with laudable accuracy and precision and his general extrapolation is onward and upward for ALL - unlike the current GOP.
ANY true honest rigorous clinical analysis of our past - even recent past - will reveal many flaws, missteps, missed potentials, ugliness, hatefulness, small mindedness, and hurt people and environment.
Lots of moral triumphs will be revealed too; lots of greatness too. I love my Country. I just am not starry eyed about it.
Especially since it has allowed the regressive reactionary GOP power for too many years, and the despicable unpatriotic immature Trump to rule the roost.
The qualitative difference between Clinton/Cuomo and GOP/Trump: the former aims to correct and advance; the latter to UNcorrect and regress!
8
Cuomo’s statement makes for great columnist fodder and GOP hit pieces, but we all (including Bret) understand what he meant.
Trump’s MAGA slogan harkens back to the 1950’s, his decade of America’s mythological ultimate greatness, when white people had prominence and a clear majority. The country is more diverse (read: brown and Asian) now and his white supporters feel threatened. In Trump’s and his supporters’ minds, America was great when America was mostly white and those other people knew their place.
So please, stop the fake righteous indignation about Cuomo “insulting” America. What Cuomo was insulting was the utterly cynical, racial dog whistle by Trump to whites who believe America’s whiteness was what made it great.
America has many great attributes, perhaps more in total than any other country, and also without question also some shameful history of which we are all aware. But perhaps its greatest attribute has been its willingness to constantly replenish itself with new energy, ideas and passion through immigration. Yet this is the very idea Trump has worked most tirelessly to kill.
Trump’s demonizing of immigrants and encouragement of open racism is hardly the stuff of greatness, and harkens back to some of the worst days of our history. That is what Cuomo was attacking by mocking MAGA. Not the greatness of America, but the use of a slogan by a shameless, insecure conman to appeal to exactly what was NOT great about America.
63
Very well stated. In truth, this argument over whether or not America is “great” is absurd and infantile. If any individual described themselves this way, assuming they truly believed it, we would consider them to be egotistical to the point of delusion. Whom do we historically admire? People who achieved greatness of one form or another but remained humble and aware of their faults. Why should a nation be different? The moment we declare greatness we stop striving to be better. Case in point is our president, who appears to believe so strongly in his own “greatness” that most of us deem him to be delusional, and it’s obvious that this trait prevents him from seeking and embracing the advice of others that he so clearly needs.
5
America was great until 1964 and the Civil Rights Act and the GOP decided America had too much democracy and needed to be a lot more like Russia.
It mattered not if it was pre-revolutionary Russia or communist Russia as long as the right people were in charge.
When my great grandparents fled th Ukraine 150 years ago they were the Jews, the gypsies, the Coastal elite that were responsible for the poverty and hunger that inflicted Ukrainian and Russian citizens even as the Russian aristocracy and landlords pocketed all the wealth from the sale of Alaska and the sale of Russia's vast resources.
When the communists came to power nothing changed all the wealth flowed to Russia's 1%, while the Jews, the gypsies, ethnic minorities were blamed for the dire state of Russian and Ukrainian citizens.
In 1964 after the lynching of three civil rights workers and the passage of the Civil Rights Act the GOP took on the mantle of Russia's 1% whether they be the aristocracy, the Commissars or the present oligarchs. The party of Lincoln became the party of Ivan and we have watched as much of America blames the liberals, the intellectuals, the Coastal Elite, the ethnic and racial minorities for too many American citizens unable to prosper in an ever more complex world where access to healthcare, education and basic security is not a fact of life in the richest most powerful country on Earth.
America was great when the Republicans were an American not a Russian political party. General welfare?
14
Andrew has my vote for governor, but not for President. Maybe in 2024 if he matures politically,but like Donald Trump Andrew is not suited for the job.
It has become fashionable in recent decades to take the worst aspects of the American experiment and put them at center stage, as if we are no better than the worst of our ancestor's and recent predecessor's deeds. The founding generation, the revolutionaries, have been indicted and convicted in absentia because they did not live up to our current standards. The sins of slavery and warfare with and against the original Americans are, it is asserted, revealing the base truth about us, as if the grand accomplishment of a nation born of ideals with an ethical foundaation and codified rights of all meant nothing, a phoniness to cover over the ugly real.
This is upside down history. If you start from here and work your way back, the nobility, great risks and progress made by earlier generations, because of glaring errors, can look rather pale. What the founders and succeeding generations accomplished, however, was done in the context of their times and pulled from the conditions they faced.
Other nations emerged from the swamps of history, trying to remove its grime while preserving class structure, economic advantage and, among other things, court systems that were unfair by design and intention. America skipped over the tangled history of the old world to create, as others have said, a nation based on a creed. We were born with a purpose. We are a nation based on the striving for progress and attainment of broad justice and, so far, each generation has answered that call.
1
To quote from this piece: “A capacity for adjustment, self-correction and renewal, unequaled among the nations, and inscribed in our founding charter.” “Unalienable Rights.” “The consent of the governed.” “The pursuit of Happiness.” “Created equal.”
Juxtapose the minds of the founders and their ability to come together to produce our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and its Bill of Rights, and build this country—an extraordinary group of people who lived among us exactly when we needed them—juxtapose those minds against the minds of the people who run our government today. How could we have been so lucky then? They would be horrified by Trump, most of his cabinet and this spineless paralyzed Congress. If we do not see a Democratic takeover of both houses of Congress in November, I fear for the health of my country. The coming mid-terms give me my only hope. If Democrats do not take both houses, I don’t know if I can summon the will to continue to fight this relentless backwash of political slime. I will be 70 in November. Come on, everyone, vote Blue and help me celebrate!
12
@Susan Hayes, Where's the fix for the systematic voter nullification process by which the fake president is selected in this monstrously unfair system of representation?
1
go on,Democrats, continue to pander
to the so called progressives and you
will guarantee the re-election of DJT.
at any given time,this is a center right or
center left country. if you continue to
run America down,you will play into
the hands of those who know exactly
how to exploit every anti American
statement you make.progressives
are great at making promises they
can never hope to keep.everything
can not be free for those under 65.
the American people realize this
and will demand a realistic platform
in 2020.America has it's faults,but
we can fix at least some of them
by promoting real life solutions,
not pie in the sky political fantasies.
5
"The American birthright belongs, potentially, to everyone. This is unprecedented. Other countries accept migrants on the basis of economic necessity or as a humanitarian gesture. Only in America is it the direct consequence of our foundational ideals."
Bret, I think you need to review the history of the "greatest" nation that ever was. I suggest you begin with Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. Those foundational ideals were in part wolves in sheep's clothing.
Given the view established in 1790 that anyone eventually happening to be descended from a slave was by definition inferior, your belief in foundational ideals rings wrong.
And your seeing a non-USA country's welcoming those fleeing from the countries where the USA's warring made flight necessary as merely a "humanitarian gesture" is not acceptable.
My country of birth no longer engages in humanitarian gesture, the country in which I shall shortly cast my first fall vote on 9/9 accepted the greatest number of asylum seekers per 100,000 population in 2015, not as a gesture but because its leaders saw this as the right thing to do.
I grew up perhaps believing that America was the greatest nation on earth; I no longer find characterization as "greatest" either useful or meaningful. I do not find Cuomo's four words satisfactory in expressing what may have been his good intentions, however.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
21
Governor Cuomo's remarks were politically inartful but nevertheless true. A nation with our history of slavery, genocide, segregation, exploitation, bigotry, hate, inequality and ignorance cannot claim greatness while it is still in the midst of all of that continuing in one form or another to the very present.
When our reality fully matches our rhetoric then perhaps we might claim greatness but not when we have the likes of Donald Trump our president and the hatred that drives his supporters.
9
Lucre made America "great"! Protestant work ethics led to and resulted, eventually, in lucre. And with lucre and wealth comes a (false) sense of freedom and power. A lot of power. Disproportionate power.
America was a "great" Receiver of human resources - Immigrants. US did not pay for tens of millions of children to be born, raised and trained. When they arrived Immigrants could work, did all kind of jobs even when they could not speak English. Good to US, not so good for the Losing countries; brain drain and loss of human resources is terrible for any country.
Lucre and the enormous benefit of Immigration unleashed spectacular economic growth. That unprecedented might transformed US from a country that was spending less than 1% of its GDP in military expenditure before Pearl Harbor into a military superpower in just four years when it's military expenditure reached 49% of the GDP.
That was what "Great" means to the ones who anoint America with...Great! Military power! Dominance that cannot be questioned, or else...!
To claim that America was Great is to seek to humiliate others! And humiliation leads invariably to violence. We cannot hide the fact that America has become violent. Because of enormous Military Power! Hence the rational, axiomatic conclusion - America Was Not Great!
America has had and has a lot of qualities. But to beat its chest because it overwhelms others with its Military Power is a sign of Smallness of character, insecurity, a small hands syndrome!
18
It's interesting the author uses Martin Luther King to make his point. Once King moved past equality for African- Americans and started on income inequality, and the relationship between spending so much on the military instead of our real needs, education, health care, infrastructure, etc., he became a marked man. To this day it's still the same. Our economy is based on war and supplying weapons to fight them. That's what we get instead of making our country and the world a better place. And income inequality & violence is now at third world banana republic levels.
When people ask what's great about the U.S. .. I say Jazz, Blues & Rock N Roll .. cheeseburgers & milkshakes (which I can't drink anymore)
12
Bret is whistling past the same graveyard where so many failed empires are buried. He offers reassurances that simply don't square with reality. The signs of decline are everywhere and run deep into everyone's lives, and the same people who would save the nation in Bret's rendering are the ones who are either blinded by greed or the door has been shut on them by unprecedented inequality and the venality of zero-sumism. We may renew as a nation, but it will fail unless what emerges looks little like what we are leaving behind.
21
“But the consistent theme of American history has been one of continual overcoming by way of direct recourse to first principles — principles that are timeless and universal, even if they were laid down by hypocrites.”
I agree with the premise of Bret’s article, and especially that Cuomo’s comments were not just boneheaded and wrong, but a poor reflection of American “leadership.”
Unfortunately, as a country we’ve vacillated, notably since Kennedy, between voting in administrations that seemed to essentially want to improve America, and those whose focus appeared more about self interest. Obviously, it’s not that black and white, except for the current administration, which hasn’t even tried to couch their actions as being in the interests of all Americans, but solely for the benefit of the “donor class.”
Even well meaning efforts, like the Equal Rights Amendment, have been unsuccessful in becoming law. Yes, we’ve attempted to implement civil rights and social benefits, but we still have racism, poverty, lack of medical benefits, none of which the current administration intends to improve.
Striving for accepted principles is important, but fighting to ensure that they’re still important and not taken away must be the emphasis in the face of today’s government indifference to America’s needs.
Political discourse is by definition excessive, simplistic, and tends toward the shallow. Nevertheless, self proclaimed "greatness" regardless of the principles upon which one may stand brings with it a kind of hubris that can diminish others and ultimately lead to excess.
4
The Governor was talking about the things Trump would ignore during "America's Greatness". Toppling regimes, fixing elections, rigging bids, fixing prices, favoring monopolies, and those are just the things we know about the C.I.A. in the 50's, 60's and 70's.
3
Interesting article. However, as a history aficionado, I am frustrated with the comparison to the Roman Empire. Despite it's many faults, Rome stood for over a thousand years, overcoming similar predictions of decline and chaos as a matter of course. Leave Rome out of it, especially when comparing to a young democracy which has barely been a global power since 1917, and has yet to achieve the conplete cultural, economic, and military dominance of Rome at its height.
6
America is great because of the ideals expressed in its founding documents and the imperfect commitment of its people to achieve those ideals.
Currently we have a President who cares nothing for those ideals but is nonetheless embraced by a third of our fellow citizens and (temporarily, we hope) enabled by more than half of our current Senators and Congressmen.
America is great when it corrects itself. The November elections are the chance to do just that.
41
@Mike Marks
We might be able too correct ourselves in November, if our election is not interfered with by either trump or the Russians.
3
If you're still not inspired by words such as Mr. Stephens' you can
fall back on a remarkable aside by the economist Simon Johnson in
a book review he wrote in The Washington Post last year. Compared
to America, he said, "the rest of the world is consistently more
messed up -- today and probably forever."
3
This is a highly inspiring piece, but I tend to fall back to a pessimist's prespective when reference is made to individualism in the form of American's "pursuit of happiness".
Happiness is as much a function of the way we manage ourselves as of the options we are presented. American happiness here is attributed to the exceptional freedom available to strive and earn, irrespective of origin. This is contrasted with other countries where constraints imposed by society limit an individual's ability to strive and earn.
Ok, but. American society is well posed to deal with change, it is adaptable. But adabtability in a crowded country with hundreds of millions of people is different from that in a country with tens of millions and en endless horizon of opportunity. Recognize that the world has changed since the USA was founded, that the balance of power between individual and society has changed dramatically. Modernization and crowding have been followed by new and increasingly complex social and physical constraints.
Most people do not pine for a world in which they can be happy fakirs, but rather for one of comfort. This means there is no avoiding the constraints of the physical world on how close we will be to achieving our own definition of happiness.
And so the rub is in the definition of happiness. The madman, the environmentalist, Donald Trump - each define happiness differently, probably incompatibly.
2
Maybe Cuomo meant to say, "America was never as great as it can yet be." We're a country of strivers. That's the point of capitalism - work hard to live, work harder to live better. That's the underpinning of America, of being a country founded on immigration. That's the beauty of our Constitution's design specifications for our government, we can fix inequality, unfairness, and unproven, failed policies.
Recently we seem to have gotten fat and comfortable (those of us who are fat and comfortable) and more interested in pulling up the ladder, saying enough is enough, and being nostalgic for a fictional past - no more striving, no more looking forward to a more perfect America the Beautiful.
5
@JFR The point of capitalism is to acquire capital and nothing more than that. China is becoming the most successful capitalist organization directed by a tyrannical authoritarian regime.
1
@Rich Pein
No, capitalism is a "mechanism" that in effect "tricks" people into working harder (for what depends on the people - for some it's only money, for others it's a car, house, good health....). Obviously, there needs to be controls (as people are sometimes ruthless), that's what our government strives to provide.
Slavery.
Women are property.
Women can't own property.
Women can't vote.
Jim crow.
Segregation.
Vietnam.
Iran.
Iraq.
Central America many times over.
Guns.
Racism.
Anti-Semitism.
Wall Street stealing us blind.
Citizens United.
Plessy v. Ferguson.
The Gilded Age of 1900.
The Gilded Age of today.
Systemic poverty.
Pre labor law era.
Medical experiments on blacks.
Well, you get the idea. This nation, as great as it is, has had a very checkered past. We have done many terrible things to ourselves as well as to others. What makes us great is our legal system that provides a path, if we so choose, to correct these types of problems. What is threatening our nation today is Trump because he is dismatleming that legal system. He calls it the administrative state. This is the backbone, the framework that keeps us free.
That's what Cuomo was driving at and he is right in his assertion.
227
@Bruce Rozenblit stop judging the past with today’s moral code. The changes we have made are because of our greatness. Without America all of the liberal changes western society has pushed forward would not have happened.
1
@Bruce Rozenblit That we reversed or repudiated much of your list is exactly what makes us great as Stephens writes, it's our ability to change. Our correcting 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments show this.
But the point is not to list what American has done wrong, but 1) see how (or if) we have self-corrected these ills, or 2) in comparison to everyone else.
I get your "list", but you failed to even address how we have confronted much of it. Granted, sometimes decades later (Plessy overturned by Brown).
I think Cuomo let his Trump hatred take over his sanity- like too many of my fellow liberals have.
2
@David
I look at Bruce Rozenblit’s list and think about how many of them are still going on.
Not so great.
It takes a few paragraphs but Mr. Stephens gets to any American commentator’s seemingly requisite tribute to exceptionalism, breathlessly proclaiming the US to be “unequaled among the nations” in its capacity for adjustment, self correction, etc.
Seriously? This year, there has been a rise in the number of shootings in my hometown of Toronto. (In most US cities, the rise would not even qualify as a rounding error.) Nevertheless, the mayor has issued a widely-supported call for a complete ban on handguns. Why? Because it is logical - and the right thing to do. Compare that with the unending nightmare of mass shootings or the slaughter by gun in Chicago, Baltimore and other US inner cities. When is that vaunted capacity for self correction going to show itself? Of course, the victims tend to be black and so, while we are at it, how goes the self correction on race relations these days?
The US may well be unequaled in one respect: the vicious, beggar thy neighbour tenacity with which people cling to rigid positions, often basing otherwise indefensible dogmatism on something that some slave-owner wrote 250 years ago.
Yes, a great country in many ways but on most social indicators that are a measure of true quality of life, it is well below most of the western world. Surely there are better ways than that to point to American exceptionalism.
95
@Bruce Levy
Thank you
3
As I read Brett Stephens fine piece, I was, by happenstance, listening to Harry Chapin singing one of his signature songs, "Flowers Are Red." capturing just about perfectly the countervailing forces, which, over time will continue to lead us forward. It doesn't make the present times any less frightening, though.
3
The very fact that we could have heated debates on America's "greatness" proves that we could all use a giant dose of humility and self-reflection.
27
A person who is the strongest and fastest swimmer, who has the greatest ability to safely manipulate and calm a person who is flailing and drowning but sits at his post on the shore and sits at watches the person drown is not a great life guard.
Greatness is a measure of performance, not of potential (or aspirations).
No, lack of perfection does not imply mediocrity. But the degree to which one fails to live up to his/her potential is a measure of lack of greatness. (But he/she may still be pretty good.)
9
Bret Stephens and V.S.Naipaul are naîve to think that any nation can become great by allowing everyone to pursue their own happiness - proof of this is that CEOs in the USA are currently only happy if they earn 300 times more than their employees, that many more believe that there is no point in being rich if everybody else is too, and that happiness for many others is to belong to a priviliged elite that discriminates against all others. Lenin once wrote that freedom is indeed important - so important that it must be rationed (to prevent one man's freedom encroaching on the freedom of others). Only when the USA realises that only social democracy of the European variety can address this problem will it have any hope of becoming lastingly great.
26
For years whenever someone engaged me about "the decline of the West, and the rise of China, I responded like you that I believe in the self-correcting power of liberal democracy, providing many of the inspiring reasons you so eloquently cite in this column.
But given events of the last several years, I wonder if it was wishful thinking and perhaps even irresponsible to respond that way. Liberal candidates/leaders such as Andrew Cuomo and Hillary Clinton, the feckless response of Democrats to Donald Trump, the demise of moderate Republican conservatism, all offer serious evidence of decline. The question is now, how can the trend be reversed?
Liberal democracy is not self-correcting. Those who believe in it must defend and nurture it like any other political order - through education, vigilance and above all, the judicious exercise of power. The US Constitution is 240 years old. The ancient Roman and Chinese empires lasted far longer.
21
America might have had some 'great' years - I would pick the Bretton Woods years from 1945 to 1971. Wages followed productivity very tightly and the rich had not yet decided that they needed every dollar.
Fast forward to the gruesome year of 2018 and the comically bad 'leadership steering the US into that iceberg. The band continues to play, however. Certainly a tribute to deep indoctrination and its power.
68
America is a great country and Cuomo made a huge mistake by his speech. Truth be told, there are many great countries that have made fabulous accomplishments, made horrific errors and suffered and overcame terrifying disasters. I live in MN, where we have nice people, wonderful universities, a history of innovation, great companies, 4 pr 5 really good days of weather each year and thousands of lakes. But we have our challenges. Winter. There is the history of wiping our native cultures and its continued legacy. Our state welcomed large numbers of refugees but there is continuing cultural separation and distrust. Our state has a large achievement gap between white students and students of color in public schools. There is also the story that Minnesotans will give you directions anywhere accept to their own home. And their are the drivers; angry aggressive and still unable to deal with ice and snow. I am currently in Spain where I live about a quarter of the year. This is a great country, too. It has its a great and horrible past, better weather, very nice people, a compassionate democratically elected government, and they have had to overcome a lot. As Americans, so separate geographically from the most countries, we tend to look at ourselves through a special mirror and see something unique.
13
Best comment award. I’ll stop by on one of those great 4 days.
I agree with the premise of this argument. curiously, it seems that it is similar to what Gov. Cuomo was driving at. If we are subject to constant renewal, the it stands to reason that we have not arrived. Curiously, the article glosses over the fact that Mr. Trump has defined greatness as bringing out the very qualities that need to be reformed! So, how do you get to greatness by being regressive?
9
It may be what Andrew intended to but it is not what he said. It will now be used as a cudgel against all Dems. I’ve been on this ride before.....time for me to get off.
It is when we believe that we are that great that we cover up our faults and mistakes and let them fester. We believe that we cannot lose a war, and so we are unable to cut our losses or recognize that we are punching a Tar Baby. If we were never that great, then we cannot make ourselves great again or dream of returning to a past state of greatness, and instead must move forward to be honest about our faults so we can fix them.
We will be greater when we can tolerate unpleasant truths and celebrate politicians who say them instead of calling them politically inept. By doing so, we reveal the smugness of our own political ineptitude, the ineptitude that helped elect Donald, who played it like a violin.
13
The fact that Andy Cuomo can make such a half-witted assertion and continue to hold on to his position is, in and of itself, proof that the U.S. is a great nation. This certainly won't help him in his prospective campaign for president but by the time 2020 rolls around Americans will have absolutely no desire to elect another politician from Queens who can't control his own tongue.
24
@stu freeman Saying stupid things is no longer an impediment to high office. Just take a look at the current White House occupant.
1
If the U.S. will achieve greatness only when every American is “fully engaged”, then Mario’s boy may as well have said that not only was America “never that great”, but that it never will BE great.
He needs to re-think his positions. But, then, I’m sure that what he said was all a lot of hooey – even to him.
Not that it matters a hill of beans. Cuomo seeks to co-opt some of the anti-America relativism of the extreme-left that supports Cynthia Nixon a few weeks in advance of New York’s Democratic primary; but his apparent unsureness of his candidacy appears to verge on paranoia: he will crush Nixon. He’ll also easily be re-elected in November unless someone finds early-days Polaroids of him in bed with goats or Republicans.
You can expect that Andrew Cuomo will wax maudlin in his victory speech late the night of 13 September following the crushing defeat of Cynthia Nixon in the New York Democratic gubernatorial primary on how great America was, is and always will be.
But at least Bret got a column out of it.
3
@Richard Luettgen: I don't know about Cuomo but I'm fairly certain that if someone finds early-days Polaroids of Trump in bed with goats (or proof positive that he colluded with Russia or that he's regularly and routinely used the "n" word in reference to blacks) he wouldn't lose a single vote amongst his base. Cuomo can only envy that level of support.
27
@Richard Luettgen It makes America great when Americans disagree with each other without resorting to snarky irrelevancies like "Mario’s boy".
5
@Richard Luettgen And you got another throw-away comment out of it.
Not that it matters a hill of beans until you rethink *your* positions.
5
Brilliant. Your eloquent words bestow a hope, rooted not in " my tribe will beat your tribe" in the next election, but rather the idea that the unique foundation of this nation will continue to provide the guideposts toward a more prefect union (even if it is very difficult to see during these dark times). Thank- you, Mr. Stephens.
11
By all means, pile on a Democrat for a turn of phrase without context. When I first heard Trump's campaign slogan/ball caps-for-sale, I was shocked. Here was a billionaire declaring the America that made his riches possible, by way of his German immigrant grandparents, saying that America is not "great." He was, in fact, basing his campaign on an insult to America and Americans. If Hillary Clinton had run with that slogan (and had it printed on pink t-shirts) Trump would have bellowed "She hates America!" Cuomo is right that Trump's "Great Again" is looking backward and America always looks forward. We correct injustices, we open closed doors and knock down barriers, we make the good better, we never accept the status quo as the best we can do. There are values that are timeless and traditions worth keeping. Our forefathers and foremothers got some things very right but no generation gets it all right. There is no "Greatest Generation" of Americans. Each generation that accepts the unique challenges put before it and says, "We can fix that. We can do better" makes America great and greater still. Let Trump look backward.
29
Gov. Cuomo contradicts his own campaign slogan.
That is a sign of a manipulator at work. Say anything, to get what he wants, and what he said before matters no more than the truth would matter to him.
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/how-to-beat-a-manipulator-2a19457f01cd
3
@ Cuomo and other down-in-the-mouthers, I hope that someday you will come around and see what a great emanator of freedom the USA is, with all the good things that entails for the whole world. I realize you have a well-recited roster of faults and systemic injustices you would rather highlight, but I’d invite you to freshly re-assess and challenge yourself to contextualize those injustices against the immense tapestry of good that this nation is a PART of. Many people continue to be attracted here as a good place to study and work, for life. I know you have your negative examples, but I’m afraid you’ve constructed a false narrative around them. Let’s move our sometimes-wobbly but still-progressing union to the next phase of cooperative successes. With no romance - but with hard work and hard work and kinship across our differences. Thanks for considering this.
13
Well-written, Bret. Although I'd love to debate with you on certain parts I disagreed with, but you could not have put it better, on what truly makes us great.
Not a bygone era long gone by, not a liberal or conservative dream or la-la land, but by what we are, a people and a land that will always do the right thing in the end, but only after we've exhausted all other alternatives.
To form a more perfect Union, as engraved in our Constitution.
5
FP Clinton's statement - nothing wrong that can't be cured by what's right with America - is an exhortation, a goal, a potential to be realized.
How much of it has been realized to date first requires an explanation of how the status of African-Americans as a group today, more than 150 years after the Civil War, demonstrates an effort at greatness and the positive results of that effort.
Until that gets plausibly explained and is shown to have had such results, this native-born observer in his eight decade is with NY's gov: not that great and, with PT as president, less than zero - way less - on the horizon.
PS to Mr Stephens: just where is all that deprecation of puffery that accompanies affirmations of "American greatness." One can't help but run into the puffery at just about every turn in American life, commercial advertising cynically leading the charge. But the deprecation, not so much.
5
Capacity for self adjustment by political means?
Please.
When measured by the standard of how it treated the weak and the oppressed, the US was *not* great, and nor were its people.
Indeed, before it became hopelessly politicized, the non elected US Supreme Court was the only body that would
step in to protect the oppressed.
The great changes were achieved by the enlightened majority of the federally appointed Court that presided for two generations after the Second War.
These judges were responsible for:
Brown v Board of Education
Loving v Virginia
Roe v Wade
Lawrence v Texas
And these rulings were rendered in spite of, and not because of, the voice of the people- expressed either directly, or indirectly.
The people's representatives - the elected legislative bodies - were the very entities that adopted the oppressive laws struck down by the Court.
And the people themselves- the majority - were indifferent at best and hostile at worst to the oppressed.
One need look no further than Loving: when that ruling was issued in 1967 striking down Virginia's prohibition against mixed race marriage, opinion polls ran 80-20 *against* the Supreme Court.
And that independent judicial body which saved the country from its greed, prejudice and ignorance has now been ruined by the political system to which you ascribe flexibility.
That Thurgood Marshall's seat was filled by Clarence Thomas, is a particularly useful illustration of Governor Cuomo's point.
122
@Nikkei The so called 'public' can be manipulated by the wicked but then we get together at some point and somehow rise above it. The system allows it. SCOTUS, though, is now in one of the most corrupt periods in its history. So where are the safeguards that our concept of the higher law, as embodied in SCOTUS, supposed to reside?
To answer: I can see evidence in the coming blue wave that really needs to continue forming now. The corrupt are strong and attempting to lead us into oblivion, but we are resisting as a movement.
That is where the greatness is now. We had leaders like Lincoln, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Obama, and also a host of bad or mediocre presidents. We will need another leader here soon to surface by 2020.
1
@Nikkei
80-20. Was that in VA or nationwide?
Bret, in 1945 an African-American GI could participate in the liberation of a concentration camp in Nazi Germany; in 1946 or 1947, or in any year until passage of the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s, that same black GI stood an excellent chance in certain parts of this deeply imperfect country of getting lynched for looking the wrong way at a white woman.
That's the America that Donald Trump's supporters thought was great, and would like to return to.
Bret, the God-honest truth is that our history is a mixture, to borrow a phrase from Churchill, of triumph and tragedy.
Yeah, we've done great things - and we've also allowed hideous stuff to go on for decades, if not centuries.
For instance, the GOP knows that it can't honestly win elections, so it resorts to the loathsome Southern strategy and voter suppression in order to keep as much control as possible.
Do you expect me to think that great?
Nathan Hale went to his death with the words "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Now compare his authentic heroism with the cowardice of contemporary conservative politicians - who quake at the thought of facing a primary challenge from a Faux News-inflamed apparatchik, and who lack the moral clarity to read the riot act to the commissars of the conservative misinformation machine that keeps Trump afloat?
251
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Seems our bought and paid for Republicans in office are only interested in what we all can do for them, to keep the minority in office. Meanwhile, they act as if their minority was the only party.
We are the silenced majority!
23
Not silenced much longer, but there's a lot of trouble can be done between now and January 7, including especially Kavanaugh, who includes voter suppression and presidential powers of autocracy in his resume.
9
Since 1980 and Reagan's trickle-down economics, America just gets greater for the billionaire class.
And the debt just get greater for the rest of us.
79
Of all the pernicious things the various special interest complexes have wrought on our citizens, the most heinous is the repeated nonsense that we are the greatest country on earth. We never were.
We have a tremendous potential to be.
But we aren’t and never were.
102
"American tradition rests on pillars of self-questioning, self-actualization and disagreement. This, too, is historically unprecedented."
Yes. And that tradition is under attack. Trump may the be the leader of the attack and Putin a major backer, but the core of the problem is the Republican party and the tens of millions of citizens who are enthusiastically joining the attack on those America's traditions.
A "consistent theme of American history has been one of continual overcoming by way of direct recourse to first principles"
Yes. And recourse to first principles demands that the Republican party is routed, not just defeated, in 2018 and 2020. If Trump, his party, and their supporters prevail, this country will be anything but "great". It won't even feel like America.
"I have understood well that the duty of self-preservation rests solely with the American people."
-Abraham Lincoln (1/19/1863)
Yes. Once again the fight is internal. Time for the majority of Americans to preserve what is great about America.
24
America, the only country on earth where the majority of its citizens will declare that it and no other nation is the greatest on earth. They will articulate the reasons why without realizing that those things are found in many other nations, only without the self-aggrandizement and most of all, without most of the massive faults.
That's what makes America exceptional.
226
Actually, I've heard the rant of superiority from nationals of various countries. It often seemed more than just pride of place because of the inclusion of criticism of other countries or nationalities. In my limited experience, that rant is very strong in China. However, based on my location, it's rather ubiquitous from nationals of many Latin American countries from Cuba down to Argentina. Finishing on a sweet note, I can only smile at the aggressive respective insistence by Swiss or Belgians as to who has the best chocolate. Both are stunningly good.
@Canadian Roy America is far from exceptional in its assertion of primacy. Russia, Germany, France, China are good examples of modern extant countries with similar self confidence; Greece, Rome, Persia and Egypt are historical imperial cases. The British Empire of course is the obvious reference for Canadians (Sun never sets and all that).
The quest for world domination is timeless.
1
@Canadian Roy This from a Canadian? A bit rich. Canadians never tire of telling everyone how much better it is in Canada.
3
When taken in the context of entire statement he made about gender equality and women achieving their full potential, Governor Cuomo was correct in saying America isn't great. Context, who needs context? When one looks at the current state of this country's politics and the reality show person that the electoral college put into the highest office in the land, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for this citizen to put America and "greatness" in the same sentence.
82
@Laura, context and politics do not, and never have, mixed. Remember how President Obama characterised Governor Romney's statements on Osama bin Laden, his time at Bain Capital and his declared views on Russia (oh the delicious irony)? Or maybe President George W Bush's characterisation of then-Senator Kerry's position on the Iraq War? Or how then-Governor Clinton hammered President George HW Bush on taxes despite the different "contexts" in which the latter made and broke that promise? Funny how we only care about context when the remarks in question reflect our views. Regardless of the factual accuracy of Governor Cuomo's claims, this is an attack ad that just made itself if he ever makes the mistake of running for President in 2020.
2
A country built on aspirational values: freedom, equality, a more perfect union. Especially the juxtaposition of freedom and union, making it clear union isn't authoritarian conformity, but rather the free choice of individuals to come together, each with an equal voice.
Today's focus on the "freedom" to make huge piles of money just doesn't have the same "juice." Sure money is necessary, fine, but shouldn't most of life be about something more meaningful?
We, the people, went from citizens to consumers to profit centers for some global corporation. We're grist for the corporate mill. Not just the opioid victims. They are merely the first wave if we, the people, don't take our country back from the lobbyists and the swamp.
11
In context, which is how we should always judge such statements, Cuomo is exactly right: but it's a pity that he gave the Trumpists such a weapon. Trump wants to make America great again, imlying that there was a time that it was 'greater' than it is now. America is now and always has been a work in progress, and it's the progress which makes it good. I speak as a foreigner who has chosen to live here: we watch it stumble sometimes and miss the light but all in all it moves in the right direction. And even Trump, and all the king's men, cannot break it. In a longer context, Trump's inanities may even prove to have been necessary in order to remind us that the man with the big megaphone does not have, and cannot have, all the answers. Maybe we need that reminder once every couple of generations.
26
Cuomo’s startling statement was imprudent from a political POV but a welcome corrective to the self-aggrandizement Americans are prone to. We love to think of ourselves as the Shining City on the Hill—but what are the facts?
Is our past all that shining? Slavery; the decimation of Native Americans; lynchings; race riots; Jim Crow; LGBT discrimination; internment of Japanese Americans during WWII; our destruction of a democratically elected government in Iran in 1953 because we didn’t like how the oil fields had been nationalized.
How about our present? We incarcerate more of our population than any other country in the world—693 per 100,000. (For Denmark it’s 61.) We glorify firearms and consider gun ownership the right of virtually every adult, resulting in mayhem. Our rates of longevity and infant mortality are miserable. The top one percent of our population owns as much as the bottom 90 percent. And in our system, presidential Candidate A can get more votes nationwide than Candidate B, while Candidate B wins. In 2016 this gave us Donald Trump.
I’m an American and I do not hate my country. I recognize its strengths, which are many. And I want it to be better, to live up to its potential, which truly IS great. But we won’t get there by ignoring our huge faults while continuing to crow about how we’re the Greatest Country in the World. We can be great, but that’s still an aspiration. This is what Cuomo meant, and I applaud his honesty, if not his political acumen.
434
@Cufflink
Bret certainly had his point to make, but your response certainly matches it point for point.
2
What is this obsession with America being great, not so great or the greatest? America is exceptional in many ways but is exacty what makes it exceptional that is being attacked by the MAGA mantra. America has the potential of being the shining light on the the hill but it is not there yet and if Trump followers have their way it will never achieve its potential. Rather than congratulating one self on being great we should concentrate on how to make it great by looking forward, not backward.
100
Mr. Stephens is partially correct. Cuomo was simply pointing out that America has always had issues for certain classes of people. A country that does not allow equal access to success for large groups of people is not that great. At the same time, Cuomo's statement misses the fact that the US has generally been the best country on a long list of western nations with faults.
6
Best how?
2
Cuomo put his foot in his mouth, but it makes no sense to devote an entire column to chastising him for his error at a moment when Trump, a man who is not fit to shine Cuomo’s shoes, is actively working to destroy much of the greatness that the United States has achieved. Stephens writes, “Elsewhere in the world, religious traditions demand certainty, cultures compel conformity, and political systems demand obeisance.” This is exactly the direction in which Trump is taking the country. As all those former intelligence chiefs who are speaking out against Trump underscore, we are in a national emergency created by a president who understands the things that keep the United States on the path to greatness less well than does Vladimir Putin (whom Trump is helping to destroy those things). This is a what-did-you-do-when-Rome-was-falling moment. Not the moment to be delivering lectures about the inelegant phrasing of a point that is actually quite valid.
203
You realize Bret has published countless pieces criticizing Trump, right?
1
"The American birthright belongs, potentially, to everyone. This is unprecedented. Other countries accept migrants on the basis of economic necessity or as a humanitarian gesture. Only in America is it the direct consequence of our foundational ideals."
Mr. Stephens, I was reading your critique of Cuomo words when the above statement hit me right between the eyes.
Maybe because it's been a long week with such a relentless flow of bad news, but I'm simply astounded you would write this at this point in time.
Your minimization of this administration's views on immigration as "Trumpian assault"--as if this were simply a passing rain shower--takes my breath away.
You might believe what you are lecturing Mr. Cuomo about-- I certainly used to believe it, and hope I'll be able to again one day--but how can you write what you did with a straight face?
From grabbing kids from parents (kidnapping no less!) to Stephen Miller's ideas for drastic reductions in immigration (plus reversing naturalizations that have already occurred!) our current government makes a mockery of American ideals and values.
So I suggest you hold off lecturing Democrats about American greatness until we see if we even have a democracy, let alone good immigration policy, after Trump is finished with us.
468
@ChristineMcM Now that I know what great "ideals" American Republicans, whose approval of Trump is near 100%, hold, I can only laugh at the notion that America is the greatest country. Sincerely, from France, a happy expat, far from Trump voters...:)
5
@ChristineMcM
Sorry, but I don't get what this comment is trying to say.
Is it me - or the comment?
Is the reader saying that it's wrong to criticize a Democrat in this particular time and place?
If so, think again.
The heart, soul, and genius of our Constitution is checks and balances.
And lo and behold it's working! It's being sorely tested and it's working.
How great is that?
Just wondering....
2
It was Ronald Reagan in 1980 that said "Make America Great Again", first. And "Let's Make America Great Again!"
George Bush Sr. also used that term. Donald Trump recycled it and put it on merchandise like golf hats that he profited from the sales of. We have to give him credit for his marketing himself using it. Trump now owns the Reagan slogan because he has a talent for trademarking and profiting off the POTUS position he holds.
The slogan is meaningless as used the last 3 years. Trump laid the ground work for passing blame when we go down. "Make" is an order to others. "Let's" is a teamwork proposal and he would be responsible as team leader.
14
@Anne Hats made in China, no doubt ...
8
I wish I were a NY state resident so I could vote for Cuomo. I wish we had more politicians like him who would say the truth, rather than platitudes.
The US is fine, but for a nation blessed by abundant natural resources and labor, that is far from number one in health, education, economic mobility, happiness, or environmental outcomes, it’s pretty clear we’re not great. You can just look at who we elected President in 2016. A “great” nation would never do that.
455
Superb point!
13
@Josh Wilson
I am a New York State resident and my voting for Cuomo doubtful. You misunderstand his political gambit for honesty. And he misunderstands what it means to be progressive. Being progressive means one is not content and appealing to that desire for betterment in a petty way strikingly similar to Trump's appeal to disenfranchised white voters insults the progressive movement. Motivating his need to engage progressives is the result of the last primary in which Zephyr Teachout, at that time a political unknown, got over a third of the vote. Other than the political calculus, he really doesn't seem to care about progressive concerns. This apple rolled far from the great tree that was Mario Cuomo.
3
@Josh Wilson "...truth rather than platitudes. The US is fine, but...". Yes. A voice of sanity.
On platitudes, let's examine Clinton's, which Mr Stephens admires so much: “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”
How true!
Also true, “There is nothing right with America that cannot be ruined by what is wrong with America.”
Now start substituting other countries for America in both statements and see how many fit.
Meaningless pap.
Sure America's founding principles are inspirational and greatly to be admired - even uniquely so. It's just that, for one among many things, the Civil War has not yet properly concluded.
Yes, the US is fine, and will be fine... until it isn't. It all depends on the level of engagement of the citizenry - as Cuomo suggests.
2
It is impossible to point to a single feature that has given the USA so many blessings: geographical riches, climate diversity, no powerful neighbors inclined to invade, immigrants who wanted to escape persecution and a lack of economic prospects, cheap labor (can't forget that one), and a lot of luck.
We have managed, so far, to escape the worst of our behaviors, to survive our own mythologies.
Now we'll see if the guy in the White House and his devotees can squander everything. We'll see if the Democrats insist on pushing a presidential candidate skilled in the ways of reality TV--I hope not.
37
@JSK
Very prescient comment. I don't think ''squander'' is the correct word - more like ''steal''.
Alas, what we are seeing so far are Progressive candidates that are unequivocal and fearless in promoting said policies. It does not even matter if they have the bonafides in reality tv or not. They are even winning in deep red districts, so it can be said that it is the policies that count, and not necessarily the messenger.
I am hopeful and optimistic. Keep the faith.
20
@FunkyIrishman You go, guy! On that optimism thing, I'm a mite stressed these days, but agree that the fresh progressive leanings are helping. But for others, let's keep our friends on our side, even if we are not in perfect agreement as to the methods of getting rid of corruption.
@FunkyIrishman You stay "hopeful and optimistic". Me, I'm catching the next thing smoking and heading to France.
I’ve been so sad over the last few years as one of the things I love most, America, has been under relentless assault - not from outside, but from inside. Cuomo’s comment is a low point. Then, Bret Stephens absolutely nails it with this article. Thank you! Hope rekindled!
24
America under assault from inside? You are very right. The assaults are coming from one particular place within: the White House.
5
@Jon F After all that has happened in your country over the past 2 years you regard Cuomo's comment as a low point? I feel sorry for folks in the USA. You have no idea what the rest of the world has to offer and now the chickens have come home to roost. If "America" is so great why are so many of your citizens seething?
6
There is absolutely no doubt that the concept of the United States of America has become incrementally greater than when it first began.
However, Mr. Cuomo was right when he clarified his statement that ''great'' will meet the definition when every citizen is fully engaged. It is hard to argue with the sentiment, when 100,000,000+ citizens sit on the sideline every election.
The idea of the United States, as well as its Constitution is a work in progress and a living document that needs nourishing and changes to meet modern society and expectations.
Not everyone is created or treated as equal to this day, which no one can call a great ideal. We need to work harder and be more inclusive. We need to participate in Democracy more, and we need to stop writing columns deriding people that hold up a mirror to our flaws.
To overcome, first you have to admit you have a problem.
140
@FunkyIrishman America started out being pretty good for White people, especially property owning males. It was always bad for Black people and the Natives. But it has gone from bad to worse. Even the White people no longer have Freedom or Democracy, and they have been taught by their Masters not to care. We have gone from race based Slavery to color blind Slavery.
4
@FunkyIrishman i doubt we will ever have our potential voters fully engaged. the percentages of people voting in presidential elections have remained about the same since we became a country. now some people think they are voting based on whether they get their news from FOX or CNN. not looking good for engagement.....
2
Cuomo has to be elected
So as nominee for Pres, selected,
Back door operator
A manipulator
Not an honest core is detected.
Compared to Trump I am confessing
He comes across as a real blessing,
In '20 I would hate
Him as a Candidate,
To vote for him would be so stressing
16
@Larry Eisenberg thanks! i know little about cuomo and was wondering whether brett and many commenters were correct in their harsh assessment...... now having heard from you in your usual clever verse? i wouldn't vote for him either!
2
Governor Cuomo’s remark does not discount the silver linings in the United States, nor does it dismiss the other nations who have shameful acts in their own history. Andrew Cuomo was just offering nuance and infusing reality to Trump’s overly romanticized notion of some bygone glory of yesteryear.
We would have a much deeper sense of patriotism if we could only look honestly at our history and present, seeing where the better angels of our nature ultimately prevailed, the wrongs we have yet to make right, and what steps would make living in America great for more people than it now is.
237
@NM
Excellent points, albeit insufficient to make Cuomo -- a prototypical machine politician and closet Republican -- a satisfactory Democratic candidate for 2020. He ain't his old man... by a mile.
6