> Do you mean to say that prior to 9/11 Americans (or 'invention' of 'political correctness' or whichever recent deviation you had in mind) enjoyed absolute freedom of speech?

Yes, you do have a point. The United States has never really lived up to its ideals, from the McCarthy dog-and-pony show all the way back to the various sedition acts of the 1800s. And it is true that in the last 40 years or so we have seen more real freedom for Americans than ever before, and despite the swinging back of the pendulum we have seen recently, I doubt we will ever go back to the previous level again. Of course, a couple of years ago I wouldn't have imagined that we would ever have another attrocity like the Japanese internment camps of Word War II, but of course that was before Guantanomo.