Every American knows the ending phrasing of the Pledge of Allegiance. The words ring truer in the United States than in most places around the world.

America is among the freest of nations, with the most inclusive personal freedoms and the fairest systems to uphold our rights. We travel where we like. We say what we please. We practice the religion of our choosing.

Except if we want to do these things in Cuba.

But it is not the Cuban government or Fidel Castro who denies these rights to Americans. The U.S. government does.

A Michigan couple are the most recent victims of the hypocritical rules regarding Cuba.

Michael and Andrea McCarthy went to Cuba in 2001. Devout Catholics, the McCarthys stayed with some nuns in Havana, bringing medicine to help the poor.

Missionary work is not new to the couple – they had made similar missions to Mexico and Haiti. They estimated they spent about $1,400 on the Cuba trip, including buying a few cigars to help out a street person.

But that means they were “trading with the enemy” in the eyes of the U.S. government. Never mind that the Cold War ended years ago. And that the Defense Department no longer views Cuba as a security threat.

Last week, the McCarthys faced a Washington administrative law judge who could fine them $9,750. The McCarthys, who are not wealthy people, could have settled for about a $1,000 fine each. But they are standing their ground in an attempt to challenge the craziness of the U.S. sanctions against Cuba.

Technically, the U.S. government says Americans can travel to Cuba. People just can’t spend money there, which, of course, makes the trip virtually impossible.

U.S. courts have addressed the issue. A 1958 Supreme Court ruling found that the right to travel abroad freely is a constitutional liberty, a protected right for Americans. The decision also found that such travel can be regulated – as with passports – but that travel cannot be curtailed by requirements.

The McCarthys are brave people. They are battling the Bush administration, which has begun an all-out assault in the past year on the right of Americans to visit or otherwise learn more about Cuba and its people.

Cuban-Americans once were allowed to travel to Cuba annually to visit relatives still there. Now, they can go only once every three years.

New restrictions also limit the amount of money people can spend once they gain clearance to go to Cuba – from $164 per day to only $50. And, as the McCarthys found out, penalties that once were only paper threats are being enforced now.

The U.S. Treasury Department controls who gets to go to Cuba. The McCarthys did not have a license to travel. Legal travel to Cuba is increasingly difficult.

Nearly 50 cases of similar “trading with the enemy” violations are awaiting hearings.

Until last year, there was no system to fine people for breaking the illogical rules. Now, universities that long have held licenses to take students to Cuba are finding permits not being renewed. New interpretations by the Bush administration are keeping scholars from editing and publishing works by Cuban authors.

All of this might be bearable if there were any indication of a positive outcome. Americans are willing to shed some of their rights and privileges temporarily if a larger benefit is to be derived. But after 40 years of sanctions, Castro is as strong as ever.

An opinion piece written shortly before the November elections quoted a Cuban resident as saying, “The new measures are very bad because the elderly are among the hardest hit. There’s virtually no money to help them purchase medications, glasses and dentures. We don’t have enough food or medicine.”

So, while Americans are being asked to scuttle their freedoms, Castro remains free to dictate.