Want to see "American Exceptionalism"? Here you go:

[Brigid]

Police tear down homeless man's shelter.
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/homeless-man-cries-he-watches-his-shelter-being-torn-down-police-video

I really can't say any more.

http://destinysbridge.org

[3rdwaydem]

1. Very sad to see this. It makes me mad.

But, overall America still is an exceptional country.

[el_bryanto]

4. Hmmmm

Will: Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paycheck, but he gets to hit you with it any time he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes; it costs airtime, column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fucking smart, how come they lose so goddamn always?
Sharon: Hey-!
Will: [without letting her finish, he directs his attention to Lewis] And with a straight face, you're gonna tell students that America's so star-spangled awesome, that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. [laughs] So 207 sovereign states in the world, like a hundred and eighty of them have freedom.
Moderator: Alright–
Will: And yeah, you, sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there's some things you should know, and one of them is, there's absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only 3 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 26 countries combined. 25 of whom are allies. Now, none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college student. But you, nonetheless, are without a doubt a member of the worst. generation. ever. So when you ask, "what makes us the greatest country in the world?" I dunno know what the fuck you're talking about. Yosemite? [Pause] We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, 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 we cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men. 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 our last election. And we didn't... we didn't scare so easy. We were able to be all these things, and to do all these things, because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

From the First Episode of the Newsroom

Bryant

[hifiguy]

6. That quote deserves to be an OP of its own.

Wonderful!

[Brigid]

7. Yes it does.

BTW, 178th in infant mortality!?

[aikoaiko]

2. Do we know why it was torn down?

[BlueCaliDem]

3. Is Opposing Views a RW site? Hundreds of "likes" for anti-immigrant RWers in the comments section

who are making this an illegal-immigration issue, rather than another base of police overreach and authoritarianism. Oh, and they toss in a gratuitous "hate Obama" comment, to boot.

[Brigid]

8. I don't think so.

Though sometimes it's hard to tell these days. Sources for the video are listed as huffingtonpost and Americans Against the Tea Party. It is part of a documentary called Destiny's Bridge, about the homeless. It will be out on DVD eventually. http://www.destinysbridge.org

[BlueCaliDem]

9. Thanks, Brigid. I didn't think it was, either, but those racist/bigoted posts w/ hundreds of "likes"

had me doubting it. I guess they got their marching orders and have begun to infest progressive sites.

[Brigid]

10. "Infest" is the perfect word for it.

[jwirr]

5. In the early 40s my family and I visisted friends in NW MN. It was quite an experience. I was small

but I remember walking about one half a mile into the woods with their children and suddenly there is their house - a tarpaper shack. This shack was not little. It was about the same size as many of our small homes now. It was divided down the middle into two rooms. The one side had a wood cooking range and huge table. They had 9 children. The other side had cubicles that were sleeping areas for the family. Mom and Dad, girls and boys. I got to stay there one night and I have never forgotten it. This was often the way the poor in the Depression era lived. This family raised their nine children in this house with and outhouse. Of course the tarpaper shack is not there anymore but the memories are. Love lived there.

And no idiot cops and city councils destroyed what they had achieved because they were poor. This only makes them poorer. Any city that does this to the poor is very cruel.

[CrispyQ]

11. "There are tent cities all over the country, and they're not going away," said filmmaker Jack Ballo.

"There are tent cities all over the country, and they're not going away," said filmmaker Jack Ballo. "We need to come up with new ideas to manage the homeless crisis and find solutions, instead of having people suffer needlessly while we're wasting taxpayers' money." - See more at: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/homeless-man-cries-he-watches-his-shelter-being-torn-down-police-video#sthash.GhaBc1IC.dpuf