>>That is one of the great benefits of living in the U.S. Freedom of speech (of course that is as long as you do not voice the overthrow of our govt :o)
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>Then there's the thin line of "acting through legal means available within the system" and "violent overthrow" which can be clear or blurred, depending on the field operative in charge of your case ;).
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This is 'typically' determined by whether or not arms are involved. (Notice I said typically, not that is always done) .There is a difference between the right to bear arms and bearing arms against your government. Also, intelligence (that's a funny word here isn't it?) information is supposed to play a part too: whether or not the protest is done peaceably and whether or not the group plans to in the future or participate(d)(s) in violence against the government or its people. Of course, there have been many mistakes by field agents in the past, and being human, there will probably be more in the future. It will be interesting to see how the supposedly new sharing of information and greater responsibilities of the leadership in those organizations will play out...


>> and a right many fought to have and it is appreciated by us all. It is also funny that many foreigners come to the U.S. and wonder why we, as Americans, complain so much when we have so much. It is my personal opinion that one of the reasons we have so much is because we refuse to 'settle' for anything less than we feel we deserve. Not so much complaining, but DOING, can still change things for the better and our country can only improve (I hope.)
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>>>I didn't say the country is terrible - it's just that some aspects of its foreign policy are wrong and damaging in the long run. And the backing this foreign policy has at home comes from self-perception of the country.
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>>Well, I can certainly understand. Or did I neglect to mention that I have lived in other countries as well? I have lived in Germany, East Berlin (this was in 1984 and it was not so pleasant then), Panama (1989-1991), El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. I have traveled to many other countries as well. I have been shot at while driving down a road attempting to go to the local store (to buy whatever I could since there was not much there to be had), been arested by the local policia for speeding at 25 miles per hour, crashed into a tree while attempting to drive down a road that really was not a road during the rainy season, lived in a house with dirt floors and without electricity, and I could go on.
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>I remember you writing about this before, but it's good to remind the spectators with shorter memory refresh cycle.


Well, I actually lived in a few other countries as welll (gosh, my age must be showing now, huh?) but I choose to forget those as they were not as pleasant.


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>>Maybe you should consider becoming a citizen so you can use your voice and your vote to help make America better since you choose to live here? Your humanity and intelligence would be a welcome 'voice.'
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>Catch-22. First thing I would change is immigration laws. And can't do a thing until the current laws make me a citizen, which may happen when I retire, or later. I'd rather go home to retire and bore everyone to death talking about how it was while I was in America :).
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>What I'm trying to do from time to time is to have those who have the vote hear a different voice and think about it. I don't thing there's much more than that that I can do.