We touched on this in the vid last week:

Palin said that Obama palled around with “terrorists,” plural. And Obama does not have a different view of America than “most of us.” Most of us love this country but know that its imperfections are worth tackling. Palin believes the country is already perfect and all criticism is close to treason or “otherness”.

We’ve frequently addressed the right’s vision of American “exceptionalism,” but I Sullivan’s take here is exactly correct. Virtually everyone believes America is “exceptional” - I believe it to be so specifically because of the values and virtues set forth in its founding documents, the things we say we believe. We haven’t always lived up to those ideals over the years, but the history of our country is our consistent attempts to do so.

But for Palin and their ilk, steeped in the true faith, rock-solid in their unshakable belief in divine American virtue, feel the country’s utter perfection in their bellies. They know this to be true; any suggestion otherwise, any actual citing of, you know, history or any other elite intellectual sources of information, greatly offends them.

This is the core truth we need to understand about Sarah Palin, but more than that, about the people who are so excited about her candidacy. Patriotism and religious faith have become entwined, two strands of the same rope. They do not need facts or evidence or history to help them make up their minds. They feel - in their hearts, in their bellies - that she is one of them; that she, as an evangelical, has experienced the same tidal wave of overwhelming emotion in being born again that they have. And they believe that having experienced that overwhelming emotion - and “emotion” really isn’t even the right word for it; it’s the most real, most valid thing they’ve ever felt in their lives - the fact that Sarah Palin has been through this too means they are certain in her capability, but more than that - they are certain that God shall provide. That what we need in the Oval Office - or as close to it as possible - is someone who realizes that God is in control; and all we need to do is have faith, and all will be as it needs to be; all will turn out fine.

History, unfortunately, is littered with the wreckage of entire nations that believed all they needed to do was trust in God and everything would be fine.