Ken Livingston is an ass and David Irving is a fool, but that doesn’t mean that one should be kicked out as Mayor of London and the other thrown in jail. Ken Livingstone was suspended as Mayor of London for four weeks today for saying a jewish reporter was like a concentration camp guard. That was offensive speech to be sure, but the voters can throw him out if he acts like a dolt, it shouldn’t be some PC commission somewhere. Likewise David Irving has been a holocaust denier, but that just means he was being a narrow minded fool it shouldn’t make him a criminal. Much was made about Turkey persecuting an author who was critical of some government officials, but in the end they let him go. Austrian prosecuters are asking instead to increase Irvings sentence. How we sneer when Muslims want their censorship put into place, yet here in the west Livingston can be removed from his elected office for making a stupid offensive comment and Irving will be doing three years for being a bad researcher. Doesn’t look good for the home team. Free speech isn’t a tricky concept. Free speech should be for everyone, even fools and idiots. If they start to suspend everyone who makes offensive comments and jail all the idiots it is going to get very lonely very fast.

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