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I do, however, think the European commitment to freedom of speech, even offensive speech, is rather seriously undercut by this. The way to handle a Holocaust-denier is to refute his presentation thoroughly, then if he persists unchanged, write him off as a crank and ignore him. You don't throw him in jail.
Needless to say, this has been noted in the Arab press, which has of course a longstanding affection for Western Holocaust deniers.
As for the U.S. State Department's "Guardian"-worthy response to the controversy, it's disappointing, at least. I understand the explanation that says we have men and women in harm's way in Iraq and an urgent need to prevent the flames from being fanned. But so do the Danes, at our behest, and they are standing up for a core Western Liberal value.
In case you're wondering how the journalists I work with are taking this story, the few who have some sense are appalled by the Muslim furor. The rest, the Moore-Chomsky-Sheehan set, are studiously ignoring it. But I am sure they're aware, because whenever something comes over the transom that makes America's enemies look bad, they never address it, but they ratchet up the volume of the steady stream of America-bashing. Tonight we've had long and loud diatribes about how "we trained bin Laden here in the U.S.," and "the whole world hates us," and the lurid details of the Jeff Gannon story all over again. Yeah, I know: Jeff who? He's still a big deal if you have BDS.
Needless to say, this has been noted in the Arab press, which has of course a longstanding affection for Western Holocaust deniers.
As for the U.S. State Department's "Guardian"-worthy response to the controversy, it's disappointing, at least. I understand the explanation that says we have men and women in harm's way in Iraq and an urgent need to prevent the flames from being fanned. But so do the Danes, at our behest, and they are standing up for a core Western Liberal value.
In case you're wondering how the journalists I work with are taking this story, the few who have some sense are appalled by the Muslim furor. The rest, the Moore-Chomsky-Sheehan set, are studiously ignoring it. But I am sure they're aware, because whenever something comes over the transom that makes America's enemies look bad, they never address it, but they ratchet up the volume of the steady stream of America-bashing. Tonight we've had long and loud diatribes about how "we trained bin Laden here in the U.S.," and "the whole world hates us," and the lurid details of the Jeff Gannon story all over again. Yeah, I know: Jeff who? He's still a big deal if you have BDS.
