Uniqueness and Exceptionalism

This [US] is a unique, exceptional country. Russia is unique, but not exceptional.

—Mike Pompeo, Senate confirmation hearing

A few minutes ago I was in the Markgräfliches Opernhaus in Bayreuth, one of the last all-wood 18th Century opera houses in Europe. The ornate decor, the feel of a place where operas were performed decades before the French Revolution was sublime.

At Wahnfried, a few blocks away from where I sit drinking coffee, there was a bust of Nietzsche, and of course in texts there were several mentions of him and his relationship to Wagner. I enjoy reading and thinking about Nietzsche so much more than I do thinking about 21st Century Americans. I just can’t sustain the incredulity, or outrage.

Money in the Parkschein Automat and then off to the Neues Schloss.

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