Obama and Saul Alinsky

I don't watch Bill Maher's show. He's often too arrogantly opinionated for my taste, but sometimes his targets deserve what he gives. He runs a good rant in this clip on Republican rhetoric. (After the "New Rules")

Warning: not work friendly even if you're using headphones.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

And, PS regarding Newt's comment:

On the night of his triumph in the South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich declared that "The centerpiece of this campaign, I believe, is American exceptionalism versus the radicalism of Saul Alinsky."

[...]

Translated, Gingrich’s dog-whistle demagoguery is:

I am sure that a threateningly ethnic and Jew boy name like Saul Alinsky will resonate with Southern Republican voters. Oh, and Barack Obama was a community organizer in Chicago like Saul Alinsky, whose views are at the heart of all that is wrong with our great republic today, and like Saul Alinsky, the man whom I will oust from the White House is an anti-religious radical who demeans our great republic. Did I mention that ours is a great republic?

  Kiko’s House

All well and good for both reactions, but I hope someone will point out that "American exceptionalism" is not a good thing. I don't know whether Newt knows that or not, but I imagine many of his fans don't. They hear "American exceptionalism" and think it means we're exceptionally wonderful. It means we except ourselves from the rules and mores we demand for everyone else. Everyone has to behave legally except America. Everyone has to behave morally, except America.  That's what "American exceptionalism" means.

So Newt should be called on that comment on two counts.