Full Retreat from America's Core Values

From editorial/columnist Cynthia Tucker:

We've become a bit confused.

As Americans, we're supposed to have a deep respect for dissent, to value honest and open government, to believe in truth and justice. Those are among the core values that distinguish us from much of the rest of the world, where tyranny has free rein.

...How can we expect Iraqis to adopt a democracy like ours and live by its principles when so many of us seem unwilling to live by those same values?

It may be that democracy, U.S.-style, is a tough creed to live by. Unlike authoritarian rule, where dictators tell you what to do and how to think, Jeffersonian democracy, with its emphasis on individual liberty, requires each citizen to think for himself.

And Jeffersonian democracy endorses a free press, which frequently portrays a nation not quite as perfect as its founding myths suggest. That means that thinking citizens will often be confronted with the premise that their beloved country is sometimes unjust, sometimes greedy, sometimes brutal.