But comparing this to censorship and related problems in China and Russia (single-party states with control of speech at the policy level) is just silly, for lack of a better word.
In China it is very clear what is happening. In e.g. US it is all considered a secret. Everyone in China is aware of the "Great Big Firewall" and all the various laws restricting what you can and can not say.
Someone linked once to an article explaining that knowing of the existence of a monitoring system results in people changing their behaviors. This even though some of them support the system.
Seems easily comparable to me.
Since you bring up "Communist countries," my grandfather lived in Communist Romania. He was beaten to death in jail over the course of two months on charges of possessing foreign currency [0]. My parents grew up with almost no food to eat, most of the time being tracked by the secret police, everywhere, black car following them home, informants at every corner, in every place they visited. A modern "Communist country" is North Korea. You can do some research on your own regarding that.
Yes, modern Russia and China aren't that bad. But comparing their single-party system (in which the party literally controls everything, and on many occasions silences dissent by "disappearing" people (read: killing them) ) with the United States, is in fact, just plain silly. Whoever pointed out that this is a bad way to argue is wrong. It is simply silly. Having the choice in two parties, where mostly anyone can, in theory, run, this is infinitely more free than a single-party state. People can make themselves known, they can speak what they want (look at Bernie), they can come out of nowhere without being carefully monitored and selected by a single party. Having the choice encourages politicians to at least somewhat work with the people's interest at heart, rather than just the interest of the party.
Your Coca Cola and Pepsi comparison is very myopic. If you cannot tell the difference between the two parties, especially at a time like this, you have no place discussing politics in any forum. Quick summary: one party is a center-right party trying increase funding to social services, the other is a far-right conservative party focused on the religious majority and traditional conservative values. There are many more things to them; the differences are tremendous. Read their Wikipedia pages, and those of their candidates.
Stop with these comparisons, guys. I know the state of affairs isn't great here, I know our media isn't focusing on the right things and we have huge problems with the NSA and privacy matters.
But be grateful for what we have, and appreciate that you live in a country where you will not be killed by the government for speaking too loud.
Stop drinking the soda. Those are the most colorful agendas which often result in 1 or 2 grand policy gestures to point at. In practice, the majority of the time is spent bolstering the businesses of donors. To whit, this is EXACTLY what communist countries produce, once they get the populace under control after a few purges.
I'm not so sure, I remember when Poland was under Russian control (before 1989). At least when you were making a phone call they had courtesy to say that your call is monitored.
Today the technology advanced so much that not only someone can listen your conversation, but also all of your conversation could be recorded and stored for years. Even if you don't care about that. Such information could be used to blackmail people in public offices allowing to control legislative and judicial branches. This itself endangers democracy.