It is gravely immoral and ungrateful for Americans to criticize the actions of our government.

I think most Americans believe that it is morally acceptable to criticize government actions. I think at the beginning of the country's history, this made a lot of sense. The enemies of the U.S during the early years (the British, the Confederacy, Imperial Spain, the Central Powers) didn't really have annihilationist goals. If they would have won, it isn't like they would have exterminated everyone they came across, and thus the government wasn't "keeping people alive" in the ordinary sense (although they certainly kept order). During World War Two and the Cold War, I believe this came increasingly under question. The enemies of the U.S during these conflicts had far more extreme goals, though even had they won, we might still be alive. In any case, the U.S government definitely started playing a greater role in protecting Americans' lives during this period.

Finally, 2001 came around, and we now had an enemy that wanted to wipe every American (and really the vast majority of people) off the face of the Earth. For a while, people had the necessary awe and reverence owed to the government during this new era. We understood as a nation that we simply wouldn't be alive if our government wasn't protecting us from certain destruction. For some reason, within a few years, people went back to criticizing government officials, even though it was no longer morally justifiable.

I know government officials can make mistakes. They are just as human as we are. However, I do not believe this justifies criticizing them. We simply would not be alive if they weren't protecting us, and in my opinion, any potential mistakes the government makes does not outweigh the immense gratitude we should all have towards the government. In my opinion, every poll taken over the last 25 years should have been showing an 100% approval rating.