SNIP
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>If the Norwegians think their society is democratic, then it's a free society. If the US citizens think the same of theirs, then that society too is a free society. So, what's the big deal, why are you bashing them...

Peter,

I have never met (by this I mean face-to-face and generally engaged in conversation for at least a few minutes) an American who was anything but kind and thoughtful and generous and helpful and generally a nice person.

But I have "met" people in forums who, at least on certain topics, are mis-informed, biased in the extreme and overly bragadocious. And when it comes to "freedoms" I do find that many Americans go way overboard as regards the greatness of their country in that respect - as if they have nothing to learn from other societies.

I agree that if Americans generally feel they are "free" then it follows that they are free.
But I do also think that since 9/11 many Americans are very worried about the erosion of their hard-earned and jealously guarded freedoms, to the point that they may well be in a transition period where they will come to recognize that they are no longer as "free" as they once were.
Once that realization reaches a critical mass (something ever harder to achieve with the press and entertainment and government all being in cahoots to portray things differently) then 1 of two things will happen. Either they will correct the situation and reinstitute their 'lost' freedoms or they will accept these abridgements as the "new normal".
I believe they will correct things. I believe they will come to realize that declaring a literal "war" to combat terror is not the way to go. I believe they will come to the conclusion that small risks of possible terror events inside the U.S. is a better risk than locking the whole country down and losing liberty in order to reduce the risk. They're heading for a East-Germany situation if this stuff is allowed to grow and I simply cannot see any "red-blooded American" putting up with the risk of achieving that state.

cheers
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