US Does Something Smart

Good. The US, which has previously sought to limit use of certain web services in countries under US sanctions, including social networking sites, has just figured out that oh, the people who use those sites are mostly the opposition folks we want to help. So Iran, Sudan, and (outside our area) Cuba can now have access again. Way back in May of ought-nine I noted how stupid banning free communication was, when Microsoft Messenger had to cut several countries due to their being on various sanctions lists.

Our government can be pretty dense sometimes, but this time they came around. Free interchange of ideas is our agenda, so don't punish totalitarian states by shutting down their access. It's as if in the Cold War we'd said, "You guys are Communists, so as a punishment we aren't going to let you listen to Radio Free Europe."