Mylakhrion “Today the American court of Appeals stripped habius corpus from all detainees at Guantanamo Bay.”

Detainees are there because they are prisoners of war in a war for which no peace agreement or cessation of hostilities has transpired. Habius corpus has never been applicable to PoWs.

’ PATRIOT and Homeland Security have seen an end to the ideas of privacy in the US.”

And these laws have sunset clauses, they are rigorously regulatged and subject to senate and congressional review.

Strangely none of the Americans I speak to have complained about the curtailment of their “liberty”

“Equality before the Law: The overwhelming preponderance of black and Hispanic men in American goals probably suggest”

It also suggests most felons and criminals hail from Hispanic and black origins. Having lived in USA and experienced life there, I can understand that. Anglo Saxons have a far greater respect for the rule of law and other people than either blacks of Hispanics.

Freedom of Speech: - has never extended to libel

Freedom of Assembly – has never extended to freedom to obstruct others.

Freedom of Religion – oh don’t forget separation of church and state, a topic dealt with far more regularly and serious in USA than in Australia

The US Supreme Court was the court of appeal qualified to deal with the close count between Bush and Gore, I note you were not on it – so who the hell are you to judge?

“Doesn’t seem healthy to me!”

If that is the best you can do, all I can say is US Democracy seems a lot healthier than your twisted and malevolent reasoning.’

Because you don’t like the way things are is your problem, deal with it, don’t bore us by whining about it, especially when your debating prowess is so - juvenile

Col: mate, sticks and stones.

Word count limits me, so I can’t answer all. Still, a few points:

By the US’s oew admission, the detainees are not PoWs, but ‘unlawful combatants’. This is a fudge set up to provide an unlawful bridge between the civilians and enemy soldiers. Look it up. If they are civies, then they are entitled to habeas corpus. If they are PoWs, then they are entitled to their rights as defined by the Geneva Conventions. Simple. Either way the US has violated their right of due process.

Secondly, it doesn’t matter that if there are sunset clauses- PATRIOT represents an incredible violation of the right to personal privacy. Secret wholesale data mining of US citizens telephone calls (for example) is still an invasion- it’s irrelevant that some in the government knew about it. And, don’t forget, sunsets can be postponed (as they have already).

As for the Americans you speak to not caring: well, the ones I speak to DO resent it. So who wins?

Thirdly: How can labelling your right to protest the decisions of your lawmakers as ‘obstructionist’ and ‘libellous’ be considered good for democracy? How can "you're either with us, or you're against us" [Bush quote] be in any way seen as a positive thing for a democratic system that’s supposed to be based on open debate of issues?

Finally, the Florida election in 2000 featured, in the words of the US Commission on Civil Rights, “widespread disenfranchisement and denial of voting rights … by a pattern and practice of injustice, ineptitude, and inefficiency” Hardly an endorsement for a solid democratic system. And this was for the PRESIDENT!

I can’t judge whether the SC was correct in preventing the hand counting on legal terms. But the obvious irregularities leading to a margin of less that 600 votes should have seen both sides working to get to the truth, rather than fighting for justice. That the court was used rather than looking for an honest count is what’s damning here. Bush may have won, but American democracy lost.

"It also suggests most felons and criminals hail from Hispanic and black origins. Having lived in USA and experienced life there, I can understand that. Anglo Saxons have a far greater respect for the rule of law and other people than either blacks of Hispanics." by Col.Rouge.

Having experienced life in the USA, I can understand that Anglo- Saxons have not greater respect for both the rule of law and other people than either blacks or Latinos, but a much better living level because of a practical realisation of employment opportunities.

More doom and gloom and America-bashing. If you've never lived in America, how can you pretend to know about its structure, its strengths, its very essence? The America you talk about is one from the books, just as the Australia I might write about would be quite different than the Australia you know.

I can assure you that having lived in the USA for 40+ years, either a woman or a black man as the president will have a unifying effect on the country.

The USA IS a very different sort of country, one with a unique history, a unique perspective, and like any country, the USA cannot be defined by one person or one policy at any given time. It is a sum of many things, and quite frankly, anyone who hopes for the downfall of the USA (as some other commentors on this article do) are simply suffering from Tall Poppy syndrome.

No other country in the world has provided as much aid and assistance to the rest of the world, PER CAPITA, throughout her history. Yes, the USA is rich. Yes, the USA has many troubles, as does every single country in the world. Because she is the biggest on the block, her troubles seem brighter and shinier than most. Who is to say that the the "closed" countries such as China do not have even worse troubles? We wouldn't know. By her nature the USA is open and fairly transparent to the rest of the world, even as she struggles with her current problems and issues.

You never do answer your own question. But my question to you is this: what is the point of your article?

I would hope that everyone who occupies this planet, particularly at this time of global problems demanding global solutions, everyone, especially those who claim to be the intellectuals among us, would come together in the spirit of cooperation to push us all forward rather than hoping to hold some of us back or speculate about the massive downfall of one of the most influential countries on this planet

Thank you, Stars N Stripes.

I am sick and tired to witness colonial xenophobia, hypocricy and stupidity where annihilating intelligence (and very human lives despised to a mere biological dole-depending existence)of not complaining with England-related feudal establishment quest for under-caste slaves in Australia is, as one could say, a very sign of a loyalty by anyone being allowed being taken on employment locally.

With known social and all other problems, GOD BLESS AMERICA - A Land of Free!