You say it is unamerican, but as a european (a non person) if I hear about these things I can only assume it were ... the Americans, or possibly the Brits.
EDIT: This seems to be a language issue, I thought as in 'Ford cars' are American.
EDIT: This seems to be a language issue, I thought as in 'Ford cars' are American.
It's obvious to all of us that these ideals don't reflect reality, but simply accepting that what the American government does is the ideal representation of values the American public actually holds isn't something most of us are willing to do.
Theoritically, the principle of reciprocity should preclude this kind of thinking. In practice it tends not to.
"Freedom" sounds rah-rah patriotic because it is both TRULY patriotic, and also used as weasel-words by those who are wanting to do the things we would consider un-american ("preserve your freedom and safety by groping you at all airports and train stations...", "detain indefinitely foreigners For Your Freedoms", etc).
Consider re-reading America's Declaration of Independence, or reading it for the first time if you never have. It's remarkably easy to understand, and pretty clearly states some of the ideals that the original "Americans" felt were reason enough to go to war with England.