Guesting on the Times Op-Ed page, Dahlia Lithwick worries about how Dubya's crew is equating dissent and terrorism -- and using anti-terror laws to publish dissent.

Which, in away, is unfair to Dubya's crew. It isn't just a political thing with them; they don't just want to clamp down on speech that opposes them politically. As Howard Stern would remind you, they'd like to clamp down on all speech they find unpleasant. As a preview, I offer this charming tale: A devotee of role-playing games tried to ride a ferry to New York -- to find that, in preparation for the RNC, it is now infested with high school hall monitors who are searching bags not only for weapons, their official remit, but are apparently also trying to confiscate books they deem "inappropriate."

(Ferry service management, by the way, is quick to say that this is not official policy... however much some folks would like it to be).