The Thought Police

Those europeans are queer folks. Their latest foray into What-The-Fuck-ism is throwing some poor bastard in prison for five years for questioning the facts of the Holocaust.

--A German court on Thursday convicted far-right activist Ernst Zundel and sentenced him to five years in prison for Holocaust denial in a case that underlined Germany's determination to prosecute people who claim the Nazis didn't murder six million Jews.

The 67-year-old Zundel, who was deported from Canada in 2005, was convicted on 14 counts of inciting hatred for years of anti-Semitic activities, including contributing to a Web site devoted to denying the Holocaust - a crime in Germany.--

I get that the Germans are sensitive about Hitler killing all those people. But FUCK! Putting people in prison for saying it didn't happen, or that less people were killed than is generally thought?

I'm sorry, but that's just wrong.

Isn't the whole point of being a free society that people are, well... FREE?!?! And doesn't that include the freedom to have wrong or misguided thoughts, and to express those thoughts?

Hell, there's lots of people that disagree with me. After all, I'm a moose with a 'tude. I shudder to think what my world would be like if I couldn't say exactly what was on my mind at any given moment. I'd probably explode, leaving nothing behind but a pile of singed fur and a pair of charred antlers.

Yeah, some people might like that. But I treasure the ability to speak, and to be heard.

Oh, and canada, surprise surprise, is right up there with europe in the Thought Police sweepstakes. They have "hate speech" laws that tell you what you can and cannot say in public. To my extreme shock - NOT! - they are the country that deported Mr. Holocaust Denier so that he could get his ass slung in prison in The Land Of Beer And Sausage.

I'm not sure what these countries are trying to accomplish. I mean, if it's conformity of thought, well, that's just not going to happen. If it's everyone managing to walk through life without ever being offended, then sorry Butt Wheat, that's not on the horizon either.

But there's something more insidious about the Thought Police that these touchy-feely encounter group countries don't seem to grasp. If the government controls what you can and cannot say, then whatever political faction is in charge gets to decide what's on the approved and unapproved list.

Your species claimes to be the most highly evolved on the planet. Can you not see the folly in letting an ever-changing government tell you what thoughts you are allowed to express? Fuck, I'm only a moose, and it's clear to me. Why isn't it equally obvious to you?

Clearly, America is a bit different, in that the First Amendment protects free speech. But really, y'all aren't that far behind the canucks and the krauts. Look at how many universities - PUBLIC universities - have a "speech code," where you can be expelled for saying nigger, kike, faggot, or "Yo mama's a republican!"

Okay, the last one was a joke, but you get my point. Requiring sanitized speech means that whomever is in charge gets to decide what everyone is allowed to say. And that's a bad bad BAD idea, no matter who's running the show. It just gets worse when some asshole is at the helm.

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