It would be nice if I could conclude with the cheery thought that the Rule of the Censors is itself about to be buffeted by the chilly winds of truth-telling. Perfect candor will never be our lot, but couldn’t we find our way a little north of the line — the one that lies beyond the boundaries of Washington, DC — that separates orchestrated deceit from Barnumesque rodomontade?

Alas, looking at a recent poll of college students, the answer is maybe no. We have raised a generation of students who believe (by a 74 percent plurality) that using official power to silence those with whom you disagree is just fine. Let’s hope that some of them were lying to the pollsters.

[Depressing, and probably true. It doesn’t help that we keep promoting people who attack lies with more lies, and that is an indictment that applies to both parties at every level of politics. Small wonder that the next generation doesn’t take free speech as seriously as they should. Who wants to *defend* lying? — Ed]