…and no oppression of minorities either. Oh, well that’s all right then.

Sometimes it’s the sheer chutzpah of governments that astounds. At the time of the second Gulf war, many watched Iraqi spokesman Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf (Comical Ali) stand before the press and insist that American troops were surrendering and even killing themselves, while it was obvious to all that the US army was advancing quickly. Similarly, the Chinese authorities will tell us that everyone is free to express themselves in China, in spite of countless reports to the contrary.

But this is the problem with censorship and censoring governments. When information is tightly controlled, it really makes no difference what is true or false — all that matters is what is expedient at any particular moment. This of course, is pretty much Harry Frankfurt’s definition of ‘bullshit’.