A lone dissident who blew the whistle on his government's violations of civil liberties crosses the Pacific in a desperate attempt to escape political imprisonment.

As an American, this is the image I often see portrayed by my country's media to support the narrative of the US as a haven of freedom for those fleeing nations that fail to live up to our standards of democracy.

The roles have now been reversed as the US is trying to get Edward Snowden extradited so he can be imprisoned for the "crime" of telling the world the truth about the US' secret surveillance of its own citizens.

This brings to light the unsustainable contradiction of US politics after the 9/11 attacks: an obsession with a global crusade for democracy and human rights coupled with a willingness to restrict it at home whenever convenient.

Ironically, the political leaders in the US seem to care more about extending democracy to the citizens of every country except their own.

If Snowden were criticizing the Chinese government, US politicians such as President Barack Obama and Senator Lindsey Graham would praise him as an inspiration. Meanwhile, freedom takes a back seat to a national security apparatus that places ever greater demands on the US' energy, its resources, and its liberties.

Make no mistake: The US is still a free country. The fact that I can write this article without fear of reprisal at home is proof enough of that. However, the country I love is not as free as it once was.

For evidence, one needs to look only to the willingness of the US government to sift through the private information of its own people. One can also look at how the US media, which is supposed to be the watchdog of liberty, reacted to this scandal.

Snowden first took his story to the Washington Post, a paper whose exposure of White House abuses of power led to former US president Richard Nixon's resignation from office. Yet, in the post-9/11 era, this once great bastion of journalism meekly sought permission from the government to publish the story.

When a UK newspaper, the Guardian, broke the story, most reporters and pundits helped the White House to refocus the story away from the revelations about the US National Security Agency and toward smearing Snowden's reputation.

What makes this all the more pernicious is that Americans assume they live in a society with a "free press," and therefore assume that any information they are given is grounded in truth.

Before the US once again lectures other nations on democracy or spills more blood on a war in the name of imposing our "exceptional" institutions, it must decide whether freedom and democracy are something it really cares about or if they are a slogan to shout at other nations when it wants to feel righteous and powerful.