Reading the NYT obituary. It includes this gem; >Mr. Blum repeatedly challenged the idealistic premise of American exceptionalism and argued instead that world

Reading the NYT obituary. It includes this gem; >Mr. Blum repeatedly challenged the idealistic premise of American exceptionalism and argued instead that world hegemony was Washington’s covert goal, for economic, nationalistic, ideological and religious reasons. You shouldn't try and parse meaning from that sentence without a respirator, goggles and a crochet needle.