Sentence:  Such pride is expressed today in the praises to “the land of the free” sung before every baseball game, or the sometimes prickly, sometimes resigned commonplace that one can do or say whatever one wants because, after all, “It's a <WSD>free country</WSD>." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A country that protects the civil liberties of its citizens; a country whose government is not despotic.