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"When he said “Today, and for the last 20 years or so, threats to academic freedom have tended to come from inside universities,” he was implying that George W. Bush (and his lies about 9/11 and about ‘Saddam’s WMD’ — and the bipartisan congressional endorsement of those lies) caused this “Orwellian” America to start."

I did not see the implication at all.

Stephen Haber's speech was spot on. I see nothing to disagree with.

There are two types of speech: free and controlled.

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What, then, was he referring to there?

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"What, then, was he referring to there?"

I believe he picked a time frame that he felt was reasonable based on his experience. I see no reason to assume he was implicating George W. Bush or 9/11.

Orwellian” America started many decades ago.

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Re. your "I see no reason to assume he was implicating George W. Bush or 9/11," did you click onto my link at ‘Saddam’s WMD’? I think that that (Bush's lying America into invading Iraq) is what Haber was referring to with his "the last 20 years or so."

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And nowadays the lies are about Syria, Libya, Iran, and denials that it's a genocide in Gaza. And of course about Ukraine, such as is laid out in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooa6rXKiu6Y

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I agree with you about our government lying, but as I said, I don't see the tie-in with Haber.

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" did you click onto my link at ‘Saddam’s WMD’?"

I just did, but I don't see the tie-in with Haber.

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What, then, do you think he was referring to by his phrase "Today, and for the last 20 years or so, threats to academic freedom have tended to come from inside universities"? (Obviously, he wasn't wanting us to know -- this was, to him, like touching a dangerously hot object -- but he DID say it; and, if you have no credible understanding of that crucial phrase in his speech, then his entire speech, which was, after all, titled “The Threat to Freedom of Expression at American Universities” was just trash in your view. My interpretation was giving him the benefit of the doubt, was not, as you APPEAR to be, ASSUMING that his five-minute speech on that topic was merely "hot air.")

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"What, then, do you think he was referring to by his phrase "Today, and for the last 20 years or so, threats to academic freedom have tended to come from inside universities"?"

I have made my position clear.

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