what a ridiculous sentence from George Will

From this month’s Atlantic:

“If, paradoxically, “the American idea” is that the definite article is definitely inapposite in that phrase, then the greatest challenge to it is the false idea that American patriotism is inextricably bound up with the notion that being a normal nation is somehow beneath America’s dignity.”

And by ridiculous, I mean hard to follow, not that it sucks or he’s an idiot.