Kuala Lampur, Jan. 30 -- There's a Cold War anecdote about a secret police officer requesting orders from his new cultural affairs director-general in an unnamed eastern European country.

"How would you like the humour at the theatres and clubs, comrade commander?"

"Humourless."

Be careful what you wish for is the cautionary tale.

Former communist governments and their bureaucrats are the go-to when it comes to thought control, or at least the overzealous effort to achieve it. Even 35 years after Communism's collapse, the allure to up obedience titillate national leaders.

Governing is complicated, east or west. Democratic or socialist. It's difficult to keep people's support at the best of times, impossible on shaky days. A pliant so...