Dam, I love this stuff. I am not a flag waver, by any stretch of the imagination. But that article kicked butt and to see two points of view aired publically and (somewhat) evenly by people of different means is priceless.
We had a visitor from Kazakhstan who was staying with us for a short time this summer and that country has a goal of having an democracy/economy modeled after the US by the year 2030 (many people living there joke it is more likely to be 3020). They have total freedom of religion and any extremist or trouble makers are literally transported to the boarder and left there (unfortunately that goes for anyone running against the current president, also, who has run unopposed since the breakup of the soviet union). The people are starting to enjoy the freedoms we enjoy everyday, and it seems to get better with each passing year. But the entire media (television stations, news papers) are controlled by a company owned by the president’s daughter and one thing that stands out when people come to visit our country is the total freedom of speech and advocates willing to take their personal time and expense to defend another’s right to be heard and help balance the scales.