Condi Rice’s speech in Cairo last week marks a historic turn. Not just because she spoke truth to Arab power (I think she deserves credit for that too, but that's for another post), but because of her recognition that “the progress of [American] democracy has been long and difficult. And given our history, the United States has no cause for false pride and we have every reason for humility.” Perhaps she was channeling Barack Obama, who argued in his Knox College commencement address, "The true test of the American ideal is whether we’re able to recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time."

George Bush talked the talk of humility during his campaign, but has strutted triumphantly on the world stage ever since. Condi Rice and Barack Obama, on the other hand, have had a different experience of American history handed down to them, a story of fighting for liberty, democracy, and equality for two centuries after 1776. They know first-hand that American rhetoric is full of promises, but that those promises are not always kept. This is a far better message to preach to the world, one that recognizes not only that we have not always been an ideal role model but that, amazingly enough, we might actually have something to learn from other peoples as well as to teach.