Growing up I recall feeling like we were the good guys in the world, a beacon of freedom that everyone else envied.Pride in my country ran deep,and I felt like anyone could achieve anything if they had the drive to do so.We were on the right side of things and it seemed that anywhere you went in the world people dreamed of coming here to live the American dream.But everything has changed, now we are despised throughout the world because we use force or the threat of force as our preferred method in forcing sovereign states to do as we say,while at the same time going to the UN and charging Russia with human rights abuses and accusing them of meddling in other nations affairs when they move to stop the encroachment of NATO(historically the biggest threat to them as a nation) into a border country that until recently was part of Russia.The hypocrisy is mind numbing and we are acting like and perceived as bullies. Since 9/11 the freedoms we once took for granted have been systematically dismantled, now warrant-less wiretaps and ease dropping on american citizens is common place,drones buzz our skies tracking the public's comings and goings, and people expressing opinions on the internet are closely monitored and in some cases even arrested for simply stating the obvious,that our country has lost its way.All of these restrictions on the citizens of America under the guise of protecting us from Islamic terrorists,ALL OF THESE INFRINGEMENTS ON OUR FREEDOMS YET THE SOUTHERN BORDER WITH MEXICO REMAINS WIDE OPEN FOR ANY AND ALL UNIDENTIFIED INDIVIDUALS TO ILLEGALLY ENTER THE USA.Does this make any sense? How many Islamic terrorists have come into this country through Mexico? Most that are here i would wager. I hope im wrong about everything and this is all a big misunderstanding on my part,I`ve never wanted to be wrong so badly in my whole life