2023年2月7日,拜登发表国情咨文,内中有如此一句话:the story of America is a story of progress and resilience. Of always moving forward. Of never, ever, giving up. It's a story unique among all nations. We're the only country that has emerged from every crisis we've ever entered stronger than when we got into it。
同样在咨文里,还有这样一段话,也可说是典型的美国例外论:We're a good people. The only nation in the world built on an idea — the only one. Other nations are defined by geography, ethnicity, but we're the only nation based on an idea that all of us, every one of us, is created equal in the image of God. A nation that stands as a beacon to the world。美国驻华大使馆提供的官定中译本为:我们是一个优秀的民族,是世界上唯一一个建立在一种理念之上的国家。唯一一个。其他国家是由地理和民族来界定的,而我们是唯一一个建立在一种理念之上的国家:我们所有人,我们中的每一个人,都是按照上帝的形象平等创造的。这是一个作为世界灯塔的国家。
在咨文里,拜登还有如此一句:「我们目前所处的地位比地球上任何一个国家都更有利」(we're better positioned than any country on Earth),这或多或少也可算是美国例外论的典型论调。简而言之,这个咨文里充斥著民主党範式的「美国例外论」,我们甚至可以称之为拜登版本的某种美式左翼民粹主义(确在一定程度上有别於川普)。这种论调踩的又岂止是中、俄?实际上,这论调的本质意思是说,英国、法国、德国、日本、加拿大、义大利等诸位在座的老牌工业犟国其实也都是垃圾,「环顾蓝星,唯有我鹰酱」。
其实,类似的「唯一论」範式的话,拜登早已说过,2022年的国情咨文中拜登已经这样讲过:there is simply nothing beyond our capacity. We are the only nation on Earth that has always turned every crisis we have faced into an opportunity. The only nation that can be defined by a single word: possibilities.