The First Amendment is unlike fixtures in some other countries because these governments do no hold the right to freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom to assemble in the same regard. Because of the freedoms set down in the Constitution, freedom of speech is an outlet through which American citizens have access to many sectors of thought.

Some countries claim to protect freedom of speech and opinions but they do nothing to actually uphold that freedom. Other countries have definite limits on speech where they attempt to uphold the idea that people should be free to speak openly.  For example, in Germany there are restrictions which stop un-true personal insults, which Americans know as slander or libel, but they also have restrictions on what is known as hate speech.  Hate speech includes neo-Nazi propaganda and the use of Nazi symbols including the swastika. In Amsterdam, Holland, citizens are on the outer-cusp of free speech and there are many signs of protests from "F**k Bush" signs in windows to demonstrations in the streets.

However, American citizens have an amendment to the Constitution that allows them the freedom to criticize their government, the policies placed by the government, and the people elected to support them. They can do so without fear of death or persecution for having a dissenting opinion.

Cindy Sheehan protested at her own “Camp Casey” outside of President George Bush’s Crawford Texas Ranch against the War in Iraq in which her son Casey Sheehan was killed on April 4^th, 2004. Her twenty-six day vigil was because she wanted a second meeting with President Bush; her first was in June 2004, in an effort to convince President Bush to pull troops from Iraq. When the President did not meet with her a second time, Sheehan said she would visit the Crawford Ranch every time President Bush visits until he agreed to meet with her. President Bush said “[s]he feels strongly about her position and she has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America. She has a right to her position…” (http://premium.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/11/bush.ap/).