{"id":2587999,"date":"2026-04-07T11:17:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pilot-rescue-shows-american-exceptionalism-is-back-salena-zito\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:19:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:19:43","slug":"pilot-rescue-shows-american-exceptionalism-is-back-salena-zito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pilot-rescue-shows-american-exceptionalism-is-back-salena-zito\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot rescue shows &#8216;American exceptionalism&#8217; is back: Salena Zito"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpilot-rescue-shows-american-exceptionalism-is-back-salena-zito%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2587999&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Washington Examiner piece by Salena Zito argues that a wave of patriotic moments is fueling swelling pride in the United States. The focal point is the rescue of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-police-rescue-pilot-moments-before-train-plows-into-crashed-plane\/\" title=\"Watch: Police ... Pilot Moments Before Train Plows into Crashed Plane\">downed pilot<\/a> in Iran, praised by President Trump as an \u201cEaster miracle\u201d and described by zito as a very American moment, even as details emerged slowly.She frames this rescue as part of a broader pattern of American achievement-successes in sports, NASA\u2019s Artemis II, Olympic hockey gold, and the nation\u2019s 250th birthday celebrations-that together bolster a sense of American exceptionalism. Zito also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-did-kamala-know-about-biden-dropping-out-of-2024\/\" title=\"What Did Kamala Know About Biden Dropping Out Of 2024?\">draws historical parallels<\/a>, suggesting current events rhyme with history, including Washington\u2019s past maneuvers a couple of centuries ago. The piece notes Trump\u2019s warnings to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and the possibility of military action if no deal is reached, while expressing guarded optimism that the US and Iran may reach an agreement, though she expects Trump to act if they do not.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">US <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >pilot rescue latest instance<\/a> of &lsquo;American exceptionalism&rsquo;: Salena Zito<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2553734\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Washington Examiner<\/em> senior columnist <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/salena-zito\/\">Salena Zito<\/a> said a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hillbilly-elegy-author-jd-vance-confirms-hes-seriously-considering-senate-run-in-ohio\/\" title=\"\u2018Hillbilly Elegy\u2019 Author JD Vance Confirms He\u2019s Seriously Considering Senate Run In Ohio\">patriotic events<\/a> in recent months is contributing to &ldquo;swelling pride&rdquo; within the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The most recent event is the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/4517323\/heroic-rescue-reminds-world-american-exceptionalism-alive-and-well\/\">rescue of a downed pilot in Iran<\/a> on Sunday, a mission President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> hailed as an &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4516509\/trump-easter-miracle-f15-pilot-rescued-iran\/\">Easter miracle<\/a>.&rdquo; Zito said the details of this rescue came out &ldquo;very slowly,&rdquo; but it was &ldquo;a very American moment.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And after a series of wonderful things that have happened with our country across multiple different [fields] &mdash; with in sports, with baseball, with hockey, with the Olympics, with Artemis [II], and then this happens, there was just this swelling of pride that American exceptionalism is sort of back, and we&rsquo;re all in, especially on our <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/america-250\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"20120\">250th birthday<\/a>,&rdquo; Zito said on the <em>Hugh Hewitt Show<\/em> Monday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VdMh4iVaESQ?si=vGyNfh_ryoEQeBub&amp;start=3579\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>    <\/p>\n<p>The pilot&rsquo;s rescue happened a few days after the launch of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/space\/4518314\/artemis-ii-heading-home-moon-flyby\/\">NASA&rsquo;s Artemis II<\/a>, which headed back to Earth after a historic journey around the moon on Monday. In February, the U.S. Olympic men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s hockey teams both beat Canada to win gold.<\/p>\n<p>Zito also said history &ldquo;certainly rhymes with itself&rdquo; with this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/netanyahu-blasts-claims-that-ap-reporters-were-lucky-to-get-out-of-building-it-wasnt-luck\/\" title=\"Netanyahu Blasts Claims That AP Reporters Were \u2018Lucky\u2019 To Get Out Of Building: \u2018It Wasn\u2019t Luck\u2019\">rescue mission<\/a>, saying this happened around the same time President George Washington completed &ldquo;one of his most sneakiest adventures&rdquo; 250 years ago. She said <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/march-17\/british-evacuate-boston\">Washington surprised the British<\/a> in Boston, Massachusetts, leading to &ldquo;the great evacuation&rdquo; of the city.<\/p>\n<p>The rescue happened on the same day Trump warned Iran to &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4516504\/trump-iran-open-hormuz-strait-energy-plants\/\">open the f***in&rsquo; Strait<\/a>,&rdquo; or else the U.S. will &ldquo;unleash hell.&rdquo; He also set a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4518036\/trump-iran-complete-demolition-tuesday-deadline-deal\/\">hard deadline of 8 p.m. ET<\/a> for Iran&rsquo;s negotiators to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4517898\/extraordinary-search-rescue-mission-iran-military\/\"><strong>THE EXTRAORDINARY SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION IN IRAN: &lsquo;HUNTING FOR A SINGLE GRAIN OF SAND&rsquo;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Zito said she &ldquo;would like to believe&rdquo; the U.S. and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"100\">Iran<\/a> will come to a deal, but she also thinks Trump will not hold back if no deal is reached.<\/p>\n<p>Trump issued another warning on Tuesday, saying &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4518438\/trump-warns-iran-whole-civilization-die-deal-struck\/\">a whole civilization will die<\/a>&rdquo; unless Iran&rsquo;s leadership yields. The U.S. military carried out <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4518439\/us-strike-iran-kharg-island-persian-gulf\/\">strikes on Iran&rsquo;s Kharg Island<\/a> Tuesday morning, hitting military targets that it had already struck, a U.S. official told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pilot rescue fuels pride, signaling US exceptionalism<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2632,"featured_media":2588000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26086630871700-e1775565183989.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[77326,23344,77173,76011,70028],"class_list":["post-2587999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-american-exceptionalism","tag-national-security","tag-pilot-rescue","tag-salena-zito-2","tag-us-politics-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26086630871700-e1775565183989.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2632"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2587999"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2588003,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587999\/revisions\/2588003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2588000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2587999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2587999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2587999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}