R. B. Bernstein, author of Thomas Jefferson and The Founding Fathers Reconsidered, examines the conservative mantra of American Exceptionalism and wonders “[h]ow are we to take these polemicists’ rhetoric seriously, when it celebrates a past and a nation that never was.” We can’t! As Bernstein points out: “Their vision of the nation is of one with a pure and virtuous past, with nothing to complain about or apologize for; of a nation that has always treated everyone fairly, justly, and equally; of a nation whose past is a triumph of justice and progress. To these critics, any critical thinking about that past, any investigation of its less savory elements, is hating America. To them, any acknowledgment that the nation’s record is less than sacrosanct, is hating America. Any attention to those who challenged American injustice or inequality, is hating America.”