(Sorry. sloppy proofing of the second paragraph of my previous post. Here's
the cleaned-up version)
The issue is always whether the repressive legislation is so sweeping that
it can be easily used to crack down on the regime's political opponents who
are not aligned with the forces threatening to attack it. But that is a
judgement question, isn't it, decided by those in power? The political
considerations would not be very unlike those on listserves such as this
one, except at a much more serious level - that is, what speech is
impermissable and should be curtailed ("deviations") and who should be
"unsubbed" (jailed or exiled), either temporary or permanently, or worse.
