Muslim Brotherhood ‘Crucifies’ Opponents, Attacks Secular Media

That is completely wrong. The word 'exceptionalism' refers to the USA being the exception to the rule, not that the land was blessed or that things were magically better here. Up until the time of the founding of the USA, and even today in most of the rest of the world, the rule is that nobody is truly free. The land, and everything in it, belongs to a king, an emperor, or some form of dictator, and their ruling class. Any rights you have are given you by that ruler, in accordance to their will, and can be taken away at any time. Even today, most countries' constitutions specify what the government and/or monarchs can NOT do to you, the implication being that they can do anything else not specifically banned.

The exception to this rule is the USA, where your rights are inherently yours because you exist, because they are intrinsic, because they are granted by God and natural law, thus they are not the monarch's/government's to take away. What government gives, government can take away, so the founders were clear about our rights NOT being from the government, but from our Creator, and the government was charged with protecting these rights. The US constitution is the mirror opposite of such constitutions elsewhere, then as well as now. The US constitution spells out what government CAN do, the implication being that they can NOT do anything not explicitly spelled out, aka 'the enumerated powers clause'...(a topic for another thread, but this has been pretty much increasingly ignored since FDR started the welfare state as we know it and successive progressives gave us today's large nanny federal government, but until then the feds lived up to those limitations).

Freedom of speech? After the founding of the USA, this was the only place on earth where you could mouth off against the government or president, and expect to stay alive. Even today in many countries, let alone back then, if you criticized or insulted the king / president / dear leader, your head rolled down the street shortly thereafter. All ideas and laws of freedom of speech today are copycats of the US 1st amendment. Right to a fair trial? ditto. Protection against unwarranted search and seizure? ditto. Private property laws? ditto. The right to vote for your government? unheard of before the founding of the USA. Almost every armed revolution I can think of simply replaced one dictatorship for another, the USA was the only one where a revolution lead to real and actual freedom. and on and on.

THAT is the notion behind american exceptionalism: the exception to the rule, the exception to the outcomes all over the world, not some magic fairy dust idea of self aggrandizement or unfounded arrogance

I am amazed at how ignorant many americans are to the rarity of what we have here...some have their eyes opened when they travel or live/work overseas, and only then realize just how unique rights and freedom are. This is especially the case with the younger crowds, who lived a spoiled sheltered life, concerned about the latest fashion trend or latest iTunes release as the extent of their life concerns, and live in a bubble thinking everyone else lives the same way...some outgrow that, especially if they have the chance to travel or study abroad, but some do not...and part of that fault is the education system. It is the job of educators, as well as parents, to TEACH these things to the children, which believe it or not we used to...but the leftist agenda of the socialists who took over education have purposefully produced "students" ignorant of history, and parents before them who are equally ignorant. Sadly, it seems it is mostly immigrants (legal ones) who realize the value and rarity of what the USA offers, and is the main reason for them striving to come here.

Conservatives are trying, but they have yet to take back the realm of education from the socialist government-run monopolies...homeschoolers and private schoolers are starting to make a dent, but we need FREEDOM and CHOICE in education, which is where school vouchers come in, to allow parents to use THEIR TAX MONEY to send their kids to better schools of their choice and away from the government-run, teacher-union-run failed socialist school monopolies...which is why the democrats and teacher unions fight that tooth and nail, for we can't have a thinking, educated electorate; they much prefer brain washed semi-ignorant drones....but one day, it will happen.