The problem with the question itself I think is, i think, that if you say that you think our Government does some pretty unscruplous things then you're instantly branded un-American in some circles. As if we don't think our government EVER did anything right, which of course we do.
I think that most Americans like to think we're pretty good people as a whole and would rather ignore or not know about some of the shadier aspects of our government, just so long as our way of life continues undisturbed. If you happen to bring up the history of interference by the CIA and the corporate world to third world Governments who don't happen to share "our interests" (
United Fruit Company/Guatemala for example), then you're "blaming America". There's always a good cliche to bandy around to shut people up.
Then if people outside America happen to hate us, we, in our materialistic mindset, can just think that they happen to be 'jealous' of us.
So then it becomes a ridiculously simplistic issue of you either "loving" America or "hating" it. There was a great quote I read recently that summed it all up:
quote:
They love America the way a four year old loves their mommy. [We] love America like grown-up's. To a four year old, everything mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad, and helping your loved one grow.
Dwight D. Eisenhower - "Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels -- men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."
Justice Robert H. Jackson "Freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."