Exactly. Really, it functions similar to a strawman, you build up a "principle" to stand up for, such as "democracy and freedom" in the case of the US, regardless of the validity of how you uphold it. Then, you inverse it, play with it, doctor it up, overemphasize negative elements of your geopolitical enemies and erase any positives, and you license your populace to "go along with it." Roderic Day makes this quite clear in Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of "Brainwashing."
Of course, democracy and freedom are good things, but the mechanical functions of propaganda work by obfuscation and distortion, creating a set of glasses that show only convenient narratives to the population you need to support you over their geopolitical adversaries. If we actually analyzed material reality, the United States is of course completely democratically bankrupt and guilty of far worse crimes than its adversaries, but is skilled in twisting the narrative to perpetuate its own percieved legitimacy.