Mind what you say in the Land of the Free

I WAS disgusted by the letter from American Jim Malo (Irish Examiner, July 8) calling Michael Moore unpatriotic and accusing him of hating his own country.

When are Americans going to stop preaching about being the Land of the Free and spouting nonsense justifying the war in Iraq on the grounds that civil liberties were at stake.

This would be fair enough if the US even practised 10% of what it preaches. The letter from Mr Malo is a huge disappointment. I thought that freedom of speech was part of the US constitution. Maybe I was wrong. I am not anti-American in the slightest indeed I have many relatives there. I just feel it is ridiculous that no one is supposed to criticise the Bush administration.