I "get" that you don't "get" the idea underlying the First Amendment

[JDPriestly]

77. You can also be liable for libel or slander.

But we still have more right to free speech than any other country.

Germany comes close to us but censors, for example, NAZI speech. At least they used to censor NAZI speech.

There is an unfortunate movement here to punish hate speech although for the most part, hate speech and the famous, crying "fire" in a crowded theater are very, very rarely viewed as crimes to be punished by law unless associated with actual violence. And when cases do come up, the actual criminal act and not the speech aspect is what determines the outcome.

So, yes. We are just about the greatest country when it comes to free speech. And we have lost out in every other area.

When I was a girl in high school back in the 1950s, we were taught that we were better than the USSR because we could travel freely, no questions asked. Now, since GWBush, we can no longer make that claim.

I always cooperate with Homeland Security because I know that the poor fools who have to do that job are just trying to feed their families, but the process is an insult to the men who fought and died for our freedom. It's a crying shame. We still have free speech, more than just about any other country (maybe Canada or Australia come close?), but the NSA even has its greedy, oppressive eye on that. "Freedom of the press? What press? Who are they to think they can print the truth about us? We'll show them." Your friendly NSA privatized contractor's employee.