I'm Proud to be an American, Where At Least I Know I'm Free?

About Capt. America; the latest headline was that it was about Obammy's kill list. Did you pick that up in the plot?

I fricking hate that song.


((okay it might of had something to do with the fact that my company commander in boot camp played it 24/7 for 8 weeks :P))

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Anyone feel a tightness in your gut when you hear those words now? Like it is not true anymore - or perhaps less true than it was?

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Yes, absolutely. Between the drug wars, 9/11, and the welfare state, the core values have been completely abandoned. While we never were the ideal free state, we at least almost universally held some beliefs as absolute truths. Sure, there have always been exceptions, but we generally at least tried to maintain the highest level of liberty possible in dealing with domestic or international issues. The difference today is that we are willing to ditch our core values at the 1st sign of trouble.

Drug or terrorism problem? Abandon need for search warrants. Some people don't have as high a standard of living as they would like or we want a new shopping mall or to save a turtle? Abandon rights to private property. Drunk driving an issue? Clearly unconstitutional no refusal checkpoints set up to tie you down and draw blood.

Cops running around with AR15s in camo with military gear serving warrants on non-violent suspects is something I never thought I would see here. When the EPA, DEA, BLM, and over 70 other federal agencies have SWAT teams or armed personnel, we've got a serious problem.

Soviet Russia, Communist China, and Nazi Germany had nothing on us with regards to totalitarian state power.

It seems that America has always needed a boogie man to mobilize against. Since the fall of communism, it seems we have looked inward and now see our own citizens as the enemy.

What happens next? I'd guess we continue down this path. Most people are willing to sell their liberty for perceived financial, domestic, and national security. I don't hear any national politicians talking about these issues. Sure, Rand Paul is out there, but he is mostly viewed as a wacko by the national press and therefore most voters. Republicans race with Democrats to find government solutions to every little inconvenience of daily life and you can be sure that every government solutions is paid for with some loss of liberty and freedom.

Sorry, but I think the die is cast at this point.

I always found the song corny and jingoistic-it was never to me a true expression of American greatness the way a shuttle launch was, or The World Series was, or just listening to your Grandpa tell you about his childhood was. We had a real sense of who we were that we've lost.

Sincere patriotism is scorned as much as jingoistic patriotism is. Any expression of love for Country is likely to be met with that kind of Leftist cultural dismissiveness we are all so familiar with.

And now with so many on the Right thinking America is in inexorable decline with our best days behind us, I think it will only increase. We are at a Cultural crossroads, when over half our country has basically repudiated our Traditions, Principles and Ideals.

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Anyone feel a tightness in your gut when you hear those words now? Like it is not true anymore - or perhaps less true than it was? Maybe it is just heartburn. Was watching Captain America last week and I remember feeling like I was watching something subversive and worrying a bit about the filmmakers and wondering how they could get away with the veiled criticism of the surveillance state that is growing. It was not a conscious thought - just an unease and a question emerging. Can we do this? Can we say this without retribution? I am not actively trying to think these things. They just come up now. Anyone else feeling this way or is it just me?

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Trust me, you are not the only one. In fact, something would have to be a little off for a person to not have concerns about the state of affairs our society is in.

Bush opened the flood gates to the current police state. All of the homeland security bureaucracy that was created during the Bush admin was originally aimed at protecting the country mostly from Islamic terrorism, but now that the country's demographic transition is in full effect and America is permanently left of what it has ever been, the current administration is seeking to redirect as much of the national security apparatus as possible toward any sector of the country which disagrees with the new agenda.

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Anyone feel a tightness in your gut when you hear those words now? Like it is not true anymore - or perhaps less true than it was?

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It flat isn't true anymore.

Moreover, most Americans are happy that it's not true although they wouldn't articulate it that way. I also think the "land of the free" line needs to be revoked.

Americans flat out do not value freedom in any meaningful way. Oh, they value freedom for themselves but could give two frick's about their neighbor's freedom if him being free means they don't get some shite they want. That really isn't "valuing" freedom.

Yep. Go to a foreign country and do stuff you'd at least get a fine over while in America. Trust me, once I knew what was up in China, I was never nervous about the police over there. I'm still nervous about them over here. People who thick the America is the true symbol of freedom are incredibly naive and have likely never left the country.

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Anyone feel a tightness in your gut when you hear those words now

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Hell no! Living in the US and being successful is SO EASY! The media tries to scare you but if you can't make it here you are a huge douchebag.