[MMMMMM]

I think there's a helluva difference between Condoleeza Rice imploring the news media not to run the full recent bin-Laden tape (due to fears it contained hidden trigger-phrases for sleeper cells--and Fox News ran the full tape anyway)--and newspaper editors knowing they will be shot if they print anti-Saddam views.

Voting in a multiparty system is also a helluva lot different than being able to vote only "YES" or "NO" for one candidate: Saddam.

While I agree there are slippages away from our Constitutionally protected liberties, we're still a LONG way from totalitarianism.

Those who argue in many instances of the equivalence of such things fail to take into account the vast differences in relative degree--in other words, they're being quite stupid, or else knowingly using false arguments for insidious or subversive purposes. Anyone who thinks total censorship at the point of a gun is identical to inherent media bias can't think straight, or at least, is thinking with their emotions instead of their intellect.

That said I do agree we need to be quite vigilant about protecting our Constitutional rights and liberties.