Overkill?

Have you guys heard of this? Some (apparently, long-term and well-known) anti-Semite named David Irving was jailed for three years in Austria for writing a book that denied the holocaust happened. Isn't this a little ridiculous? Whatever happened to free speech?

Certainly, I'm no anti-Semite, and I'm not Jewish either, but *jailing* someone is a little extreme. A condemnation or a reprimand, even a token jail sentence would be fine, but this takes it to another level. Apart from inciting shady underground movements who already think they are "oppressed," this just gives out the wrong message overall. Especially, in the context of the recent Mohammed cartoons.

Here's what Dan Gerstein, an ex-Joe Lieberman advisor, had to say in a post entitled 'The Thought Police Live (in Austria). And here's what Andrew Sullivan had to say in a post entitled 'Free Irving'. I got both of these off NYT's Opinionator blog (credit where it's due).

And this is where I read it first: At the BBC News website.