I mean, he isn't wrong though. America back then was truly the paragon of the world and most Americans took pride in that fact and strive to live up to it. Nowadays the public is so divided half the country can't agree with the other half even on critical issues. Asylee now would certainly get treated with much more institutional hostility than back then.
That's fine. I'm an air force brat, and still believe that the USA has not lost that attitude. It's shadowed by bullshit politics and oligarchy, but on the ground with the vets I'm sitting with now literally, that spirit is not lost.
My family fought those wars. I believe in freedom. Don't tell me what Americans think
They had to remove the first theater commander in Iraq because he was prioritizing establishing a democracy too highly. The spirit is still alive but it's shadowed over. After Garner was replaced by the Secretary the new governor cancelled elections and appointed the whole Iraqi government himself, but if Garner hadn't really been trying to accomplish what they told everyone the mission was, the next guy wouldn't have been put there to reverse it.
