February 20, 2006
Free David Irving
David Irving is a zit on the face of the historical profession, a right-wing Nazi sympathizer whose works have been demolished by real scholars, a racist Holocaust denier who deserves all the hatred and ridicule he has received over his career.
But he should not be in jail.
The Islamo-fascists are going to have a field day with this one: the West piously criticizes them for attacking the purveyors of Muhammed cartoons, but simultaneously imprisons a 67-year-old man for his writings.
And no: it is no defense to say that Irving's punishment was meted out in a courtroom whereas the Islamists used a mob. Violence is inherent in the law. As Robert Cover so wisely noted, we do not walk our criminals into jail. Indeed, it is even worse to punish expression through the legal process because it masks the repressive nature of the whole enterprise.
Free David Irving.
