# America : Shut yer hole about being the "Land of the Free". **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 29, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436 "2004-07-29T14:12:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/61 "2004-07-29T15:51:01Z")
I’m still waiting for an explanation on why the Spanish are at fault and not the damn dirty Vikings. Why are you avoiding the question? Is it because you’re intellectually dishonest, or because you’re racially biased against the Spanish? We can talk about this, if you’d like. Was there a Spanish-related trauma in your childhood? Feel free to share. ---
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/62 "2004-07-29T15:51:03Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > …we’ll try and have everything straightened out by your sister’s next visit. Alright then. See that you do. Carry on. Seriously though, I’m still waiting for someone to tell me why the US is supposed to be such a bastion of freedom, when slowly, law by law, your freedoms are getting it in the ass - and without lube, if you live in Alabama, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/63 "2004-07-29T15:52:58Z")
I won’t mention abortion rights, or better, complete lack of them, in Ireland, if no one else does. Oh wait, this is the Pit, so I suppose I will. ---
**Author:** ![booka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@booka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booka)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/64 "2004-07-29T15:53:41Z")
> [@Achilles](#): > > Go easy on old Yo-jo. He isn’t even agreeing with me. Wasn’t it obvious that I meant it in a spirit of kindness and international, cross-cultural co-operation? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/65 "2004-07-29T15:54:02Z")
And you haven’t answered the question posed by me and many others: _what freedoms_!?!?!? What freedoms do we not have here that you have, that somehow, when all is tallied up, make America an ‘unfree’ nation while Ireland (or Sierra Leone) is entitled to that moniker? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/66 "2004-07-29T15:54:22Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#): > > thats one thing we don’t have, yappity morning talk shows Bullshit. Cite? Hmm??? I’m calling you on this one. :mad: Because deep in the depths of TV land, on a little-known station called TV3, there exists a hideous yappity program called **Ireland AM** , with that annoying blonde one, that pudgy fella, and the orange-faced Alan Hughes (who I met in a restaurant in Glasgow. Nice bloke actually). Today, Alan was outside drinking mojitos at 7.45am and then they had a fashion parade. If that isn’t yappity, then I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS. ---
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/67 "2004-07-29T15:55:33Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Plus, I’ll add, lower effective tax rates than most of the rest of the world (generally, the small number of countries with tax rates lower than the U.S. are called “tax havens.”) Actually Ireland has an effective corporation tax rate of 12.5%, for IFSC companies. A rate that is being availed of by many, many US Corporations. Oh, and Ireland is not a Tax Haven. Otherwise your comments about the “freedom” of the US are well taken. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/68 "2004-07-29T16:02:14Z")
> [@Achilles](#): > > No. And I don’t live on the fucking sun, so how do _I_ know that it’s hot there ? :rolleyes: > > You. Fucking. Idiot. Oh, so you’re just another guy who lives outside the U.S. and loves to turn his nose up at the _eeeeeevil_ superpower. Suck my huge American cock. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/69 "2004-07-29T16:05:49Z")
I guess someone should also mention that “Land of the Free” is not some official motto of the U.S., and the Air Force does not fly streamers bearing those words over your “football” stadiums or drop leaflets on Dublin proclaiming it. It’s some words at the tail end of our national anthem, which practically nobody hears anyway because by the time you get to that point of the song (which is generally played only during athletic contests), everyone has started loudly clapping and cheering to encourage the singer to finish up already because we want the _game_ to start. **Achilles** would probably be getting his tendons in less of a twist if he stopped sending out his dry cleaning to the U.S. I hear that the turnaround time is really crappy, now that they’ve mothballed the Concorde. By the way, is it Ireland or Wales that’s an island? I always get them mixed up. ---
**Author:** ![booka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@booka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booka)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/70 "2004-07-29T16:06:54Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > …Suck my huge American cock. Finally, someone said what \*\*had \*\* to be said. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/71 "2004-07-29T16:10:13Z")
> [@Achilles](#): > > Drink where you want, gamble where you want, Jonnies and Lube coming out the wazoo. Finger printing ? There’d be a fucking civil war. Nobody mention abortion. Every woman has a free right to this in Ireland, just as long as they make it to nearest boat to Britain. ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/72 "2004-07-29T16:12:07Z")
Where can’t you buy lube? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/73 "2004-07-29T16:12:13Z")
The OP is pretty worthless. The only freedom I can think of that I’ve lost in the time since 9/11 is my freedom to carry my Leatherman Micra (pocket knife) on airlines. And while that does sort of piss me off, it’s hard to equate that with the entire country “going to shit”. One of the top movies in the country is a documentary calling the President a big poopyhead. Tell me again how the Feds are trampling on our freedom of speech? BTW, I’m in Massachusetts and the reason you can’t buy beer here on Sunday is because of the Puritan influence – in other words, hoary leftover tradition from the Old World. But I can go over the border to New Hampshire (Live Free or Die) and buy all I want, so my distress over the Blue Laws is strictly minimal. But seeing as what’s really fun about this thread is the bashing of each other’s culture, I offer you: [Ireland – Land of the Free](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/Ireland_abuse030126.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/74 "2004-07-29T16:13:33Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Up till that time, other countries ensured freedoms, of course. The Spanish Government’s Inquisition guaranteed freedom from heresy, for instance. Which, of course, no one expected. ---
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/75 "2004-07-29T16:14:12Z")
**Eonwe** - how about fingerprinting _every_ visitor to the US, when they arrive ? That’s reeeeeeal free. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/76 "2004-07-29T16:16:14Z")
> [@Achilles](#): > > According to a recent study, on the U.N. Poverty Index, America ranks worst of 17 surveyed nations, with 15.8 % of it’s population living in poverty. > > Yeah - right on ! 40,000,000 people living in poverty - you’re doing a bang up job !! > > Idiot. Sorry, all of those tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breath free who swarm here every year tend to skew the results. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/77 "2004-07-29T16:20:44Z")
> [@booka](#): > > The U.K. and Wester Europe is free because the U.S. bailed much of it out of WWII, in the face of almost certain conquest by Nazi Germany. Kerr-iste! Do we have to go through this bollocks every time? Why is it that the majority of the educated US public seem to have gleamed their entire knowledge of WWII history from movies? I’d also like to concur with other’s estimation of this thread and OP. Pretty worthless xenophobia all round. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/78 "2004-07-29T16:22:40Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Sorry, all of those tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breath free who swarm here every year tend to skew the results. They swarm to every western country, Ireland included, you fucking prick. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/79 "2004-07-29T16:23:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Eonwe - how about fingerprinting every visitor to the US, when they arrive ? **Achilles, educate thyself** [http://immigration.about.com/od/usborderscustomssecurity/i/IssueUS\_VISIT.htm](http://immigration.about.com/od/usborderscustomssecurity/i/IssueUS_VISIT.htm) > [@](#): > > Citizens of Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, **Ireland** , Italy, Japan, Liechenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Portugal and Singapore are not affected. BTW, how’s that heel feeling? Still giving you trouble? ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436/80 "2004-07-29T16:25:52Z")
> [@Achilles](#): > > **Eonwe** - how about fingerprinting _every_ visitor to the US, when they arrive ? > > That’s reeeeeeal free. I think you’re being fucking obtuse, again. It’s not the “LOTF” for fucking undocumented fucking visitors. It’s the “LOTF” for her citizens. So, let’s go voer this one more time: In Ireland, you can drive around drunk, drink “anywhere”, “anytime”, buy sex toys in ANY location, and feel free to take America’s assistance even though we have a sizeable group who are poverty stricken. In America, we ask that people entering our country from certain locations be fingerprinted, you can’t drive around like a drunken menace, a few more redneck/overly religious states restrict where, when, and how you may buy sex toys and booze. That’s your thesis for why we’re not a “free” country? That’s a load of fucking bollocks and you know it. You’ve got an anti-america boner, and if you don’t give the keyboard a rest someone’s going to take the wind out of your sails before this thread is through. If you had one clear, concise, accurate, non-hyperbolic(hyperbollocks?) thing to say, you’d fare much better. I’m personally shocked that you’re one of the barely 75% literate population. Teaching you to read and write was an obvious waste of fucking time. Sam [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-shut-yer-hole-about-being-the-land-of-the-free/257436.md?page=5)