Do you really think this government is going to use terrorism as an excuse to censor art?" one silver-haired socialite asked her friend . . . "How can they get away with that?

"Earlier this month . . . a Yugoslav concert pianist scheduled to play the Carmel Bach Festival in California was denied a visa because immigration officials concluded he was not gifted enough. . . . It doesn't take much effort to imagine that these seemingly subjective, often silly decisions, will be streamlined for use in this country's cultural wars. This administration is aligned with right-thinking censors who routinely attack arts organizations such as the Walker. And just as the U.S. Patriot Act defines "terrorism" so broadly that it could include labor unions and political protestors, the Border Security Act makes it possible for the Justice Department to wreak vengeance on artists who produce work critical of the U.S. or its behavior abroad."
Read the whole article here