Election Time - What it means to be an American

I doubt he's going for irony, but like the US Ruling Class (a current favorite term for them is the "Gentry Class") there's no particular reason to expect you, a European, to understand American Exceptionalism.

They and you weren't taught it, and therefore without some research you're not going to be able to comprehend what's going on over here, what this latest Great Awakening labeled the Tea Parties is all about, etc.

Although if you think about what America did and didn't do in WWII and afterwords in Europe you might get a few clues (e.g. compare our "Empire" to any other in history).

No irony here. Just proud of the great American experiment and wish more people would embrace those virtues which lead to great outcomes.

Dependence on big government saps those virtues from those governed.