Has America a right to talk about values,civilization and human rights when itself was founded on cleansing?
139515
Yes because being an American and/or in America guarantees the "right" to free speech.\n\nSee how cool that is, we may not agree with your assertion, but we'll defend your right to say it!! God Bless America!
542507
When was the last time America ever respected another nation's sovereignty?
1170011
No.  Our founding fathers declared that Church and State were separate and that ALL peoples and beliefs were equal in the eyes of the law.\n\nI'm constantly scared that we're on a slippery slope and those freedoms are being taken away by groups that believe that the US was founded for them.  It was not.
866610
Judgement and condemnation are the American way.\n\nIf there is anything that is consistent in American history it is hate.
673598
No.  You're showing your reverence for freedom of expression, which is a right the Founding Fathers wanted.  I can't see how one can be said to be bashing America by using American tactics.
1127086
I think us Americans are described as "ugly Americans" because many (but not all) of us assume that our nation is superior to all others and that our culture should be imposed on others' wherever we go.  This is just stupid.  To my knowledge, there is no other nation that is so self-righteous.  President Bush has no right to turn Iraq into a democracy.  Only the Iraqi people have the right to decide this.  So many people say they are "proud to be an American", but I don't believe it is a thing deserving of pride anymore.  Yes, we have many freedoms that so many other countries don't have, but does that include the right to dictate policies to other nations?
1053660
human rights. as specified by the Geneva conventions that the us is supposed to uphold. even though we don't, but we can work on that.\nas for other rights like help from our government, school, tax breaks, ect, i say no.
133942
I am going to leave this question open ended.  I was going to say that what makes this country so great is that it enables us the ability to speak up and tell our elected officials what is wrong and that something needs to be fixed.  However I can see a minor encroachment on our civil liberties when it comes to our National Security.  I do not believe that any of our rights should be take away, but I believe that we live in different times now.  It is sort of an unfortunate thing.
274736
Contradictory to popular opinion,the US is actually beginning to lack again in its human rights. The fear of not being "moral" enough in politics is slowly leading us back to those historical periods in which people were basing political decisions on family values and religion...eventually resulting in some horrible deeds to civilians in the name of "moral correctness."\n\nOur original government started out as a really good idea, fed by the fact that people were sick of being mistreated over the religious and moral opinions of others. But eventually, every government... even ours.. will end up not working properly after its constitution has been modified enough.. \nWomen have not been elected yet in this country.. maybe because our presidents have become more of an "icon" or "mascot", primarily to represent us as a nation to other countries. I believe many people here are still stuck on the idea that we have to boast a bully-like reputation in order to present ourselves as tough and unbeatable. I believe the lack of female presidency has nothing to do with trying to "keep women down" as much as it has to do with fear of looking weak in the eyes of other governments.\nIt's just too bad so many human beings in general associate women with weakness.
965703
Freedom of expression, and most other "freedoms" are under threat.  Not in America, typically in most capitalist countries, it's a trade of civil liberities for more economic freedom.\n\nFree speech seriously doesn't exist in America.  I cannot say whatever I want.  End of story,  I can probably think of a dozen things that I can say that will simply get me in trouble.\n\nCensorship is america's pastime.  Especially since government also decides the standard for morals as well.\n\nFreedom of Speech is one of our rights that everyone believes we hve, but try testing it out, there is no freedom here, you will be kept in line, like a monkey.
510357
What we call "politically correct" is only one manifestation of the problem.  The real issue is that we've lost touch with what it means to have rights.  We've come to call everything a right (right to healthcare, right to not encounter anything I find offensive, right to a good job, etc.), and in doing so, have diluted the respect Americans once had toward basic human rights.  So, some of us are more politically correct, some of us hate them for it, and all of us act like there is no right or wrong in any of this.
728802
No!\n\nAmerica has never had a "Perfect freedom" and we sure don't after Bush has been taking away freedoms, like habeas corpus, which I have asked the elected congress to repeal!
697020
This is sickening to say the least.\n\nUnfortunately the US isn't far behind.  Freedom of speech should be just that, the freedom to speak - period!\n\nUntil the special interest groups, political correctness and so called multiculturalism are eliminated from society we can expect to lose more than our freedom of speech.
182756
Last time America played the Isolationist game we had two World Wars.\n\nAdditionally, America hasn't gone after "oil that doesn't belong to us," or at least not in the way that produces "terrorists." We get about 10% of it from the Middle East and the rest for S. America and the S. Pacific. Curiously, far fewer would-be terrorists come from those areas.\n\nHowever, Freedom isn't an isolationist philosophy. If we believe that all men are created equal, how can we enjoy our freedom while we know that there are those who are still enslaved? Are we to believe that only American's deserve freedom, that we are somehow better than everyone else and thus those other people do no deserve the same freedom that we enjoy? If we do nothing to help these people, then aren't we consenting to their enslavement by means of our silence?\n\nNo country is allowed to remain on the world stage for ever; nations rise and fall. America has this one chance to do something good for other people with its power and though we may fail, at least we can say we tried. Greece, Rome, Babylon, Persia, Media, The Merovingians, the Carolingians, France, England, Germany, China, none of them can say the same.
543448
Being an American today seems to mean less and less.  Some people seem to think that being an American is itself a 'right', and that we owe that to them.  I prefer to describe what it means to be a good American.\n\nBeing an GOOD American means respecting liberty, freedom, and the rule of law.  It means respecting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and understanding the difference between rights and privileges.\n \nBasic rights are enshrined in our founding documents.  The idea is that basic human rights involve freedom from government control over our daily lives, and the opportunity to find our own way and make our own decisions.  \n\nThis is very different from the modern idea of rights.  It's a very casual idea that whatever I want now, I claim as my right.  It dilutes the very idea of rights, and makes us all less likely to stand up for true human rights.\n\nAmerica is about liberty.
569088
No and quite frankly why should anyone help the Americans to solve this problem. The civilised world was screaming at them not to invade Iraq, but no America knows best. So really America should clean up this mess and finally realise that war is not just cruise missiles flying over the skies of Baghdad in a pyrotechnic display of shock and awe. \n\nAmerica was founded by a group of idealists that wanted to remove the shackles of imposed government. May be it is time that America returns back to it's founding fathers and reexamines it's gun ho attitude to the world. \n\nMay be she can realise that yes Saddam Hussein was a tyrant, but for a civilised world, there has to be alternative to war and bloodshed. Is that not why the UN was set up after the second world war to try and avoid the carnage being repeated?
94078
what about hawii? what about the 13 original colonies. no! the history of mankind is we take things. we took the US and it ours now. but its part of life.\n\nland is won with war, not polotics.