America IS Exceptional

The Idea of America led to independent sovereign States, then to a Constitution and a new Union.  The results of this "American Experiment" were exceptional.  Phase One, the first 120 years or so, marked a quantum leap in the standard of living and wealth, the result of a free people living under the Rule of Law.  In Phase Two, since about 1900, America has diverged from its founding principles; today we find a country exceptional in many other ways, some of them no