"...without fail, they remark "You Americans think you are free. Maybe once you were, but now, you live in a police state that rivals that of East Germany.""
- Not even close. Thoughts and ideas are not illegal here.
Wrong.
Oh, go to a fruit loops rally and pray loudly.
You might find yourself on the wrong side of the fence in a hurry.
Hate crimes are thought crimes.
Not quite true. Some acts may be crimes depending on what you were thinking at the time.
Try being politically incorrect at work. Call someone a n***er in public. See how fast you will wind up in jail.
Well not always! Ever hear of hate crimes where the government needs to get into your head to determine what you were thinking. Instead of hate crimes they simply need to increase the jail term for the actual crime. The result is the same without the government getting into thought policing.