Aw, That's Too Bad, David Irving. We Got ACLU. Austria Doesn't.

by tristero

I'm still trying to dig out from under the chaos that usually accompanies major concerts (oddly, before the performances, life stays pretty organized, why I don't know) but thought I'd briefly weigh in with some thoughts on the Austrian conviction of scumbag David Irving for the crime of...being a scumbag.

Now, the Jerusalem Post appears to approve of Irving's sentence to imprisonment for three years for denying the Holocaust. Yet their editorial takes note that Deborah Lipstadt, who famously was sued for libel by Irving - a case Irving lost and then some - believes that Irving has the right to lie through his teeth about Hitler, Jews, and the Holocaust without thereby becoming an involuntary guest of the Austrian penal system.

Of course, I agree with Lipstadt. Free speech means the freedom to offend. And that's that.

Well... Not quite. It's not that simple. Sure there's free speech. And then there's the indisputable fact that Irving is a lying, unprincipled, Nazi-loving, right wing sociopath who repeatedly has bent over backwards to exonerate Hitler for 6 million plus murders while, at the same time, ridiculing and sliming the lucky few who escaped the gas chambers and lived to tell the tale.

And so, to be perfectly blunt and honest about it, I really don't give a good goddamm what happens to David Irving. Let the bastard rot in hell. Y'think I'd lift a finger to help him? Y'kidding?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard it a million times. Free speech, free speech! But when it comes to Nazi lovers, it ain't me, babe. Sure, intellectually, I get it. But if you think I'm gonna take the time truly to defend Irving's right to lie and rewrite some of the most tragic history - if not, the most tragic history - humans have endured, think again.

Ditto, if only slightly less ugly, the Danish newspaper editor behind the racist cartoons. Yup, yup, yup. He indeed had the right to publish them. But did you just say you want me to sign a petition in support of HIS free speech rights? Well, geez... you know, I have a serious case of writer's cramp right now and my doctor forbids me holding a pen for at least the next 6 months, so, no I ain't signin' nuttin.' Can't.

And that's why there's the ACLU.

Well, to be precise, that's why there would be the ACLU if these things happened here in the US. So let's now leave David Irving in Austria, and Flemming Rose in Copenhagen, and return to America and free speech here. After all, why go all the way to Austria, or Denmark, to sniff out someone rotten? There are a lot of inflammatory stinkers in this country. I don't mean only Pat Robertson and Antonin Scalia, of course. I'm thinking about that always useful nobody the right likes to smear lefties with, what's his name - Ward Cleaver? Winston something? Anyway, that guy.

Life is far too short for me to waste a moment of it worrying in detail about the civil rights of a malicious ignoramus who called my friends and neighbors "little Eichmanns." And I really don't care at all about some jerks at U of Illinois, especially when there are people whose rights I DO care proactively to defend like say, parents who want their kids to learn science and not fundamentalist propaganda in science class. For this reason, if it appears that Ward Cleaver's rights may be violated, then - because the principle of free speech and civil liberties simply must be respected regardless of my personal beliefs and feelings - it is essential to the operation of a modern democracy to support an organization like ACLU.

Strangely, many on the right and some others don't quite get ACLU's beat. Defending Oliver North or the Ku Klux Klan in no way implies endorsement of North's loopy Cro-Magnon militarism or the Klan's racism. The problem is this. Once you start infringing on Ollie's constitutional right to be a flaming asshole,fundamentalist churches any NAMBLA are next. No great loss, you say? You're right, I agree. But the problem with infringing those civil rights is that rapidly you reach the point where just about any kind of speech can be banned for any reason. And therein lies the problem.

First and foremost, the banning of speech and the curtailment of civil rights, is a political act, exercised by the powerful upon the weak. It is an immensely slippery and dangerous slope. Speech suddenly gets criminalized at the whim of the government or corporations in cahoots with the government. That is why those of us who don't have any interest in speaking up in defense of major league jerks nevertheless refuse to give up our ACLU cards when they offer their services to defend someone we utterly detest. We know that, if they get away with shutting up Ollie or a Nazi, we're next. Just as we don't like Iran/Contra criminals, we don't like NAMBLA either. But they all got rights. Or none of us really do.

It goes without saying that ACLU also defends a lot of right-on causes. Recently, ACLU was doing God's work in the Dover "intelligent design" creationism trial (no irony intended; "God's work" is an appropriate way to describe ACLU's efforts on behalf of science, religion, and American education). And that's just for starters.

But what makes ACLU so admirable is that that is not all that they do. They go beyond where my emotions can permit. Whereas I truly couldn't care less whether a Nazi lover has free speech, they care long after my anger at Irving's lies has forgotten the free speech principle that lets Irving off the hook, legally (but not morally). So by being an ACLU member, I unequivocally support free speech without ever having to speak up in defense of the Klan. So whatever flaws the organization might have, as long as ACLU cleaves to its mission to defend free speech, I will continue to support them no matter who they choose to defend. (Even, dammit, David Irving, if he ever gets in trouble over free speech issues in the US.)

I realize this appears not to be a rousing defense of freedom of speech. In fact it is. It simply takes into account that one of the best ways to uphold the principle without being exploited by cynical manipulators is to support an institution whose sole mission is to defend specific liberties like free speech without endorsing any specific ideology. Free speech - real free speech - is a complex issue, and an emotional one. Rightly so. There are ways to be pro-free speech without holding hands with the American counterparts of sleazy gits like David Irving or Flemming Rose. ACLU is one way.

[Not to rightwingers: You might object to what seems an unfair pairing of the likes of David Irving - a known liar and anti-Semite - with the Danish editor Flemming Rose (who is not known publicly to be either and who I assume in neither in private). It would appear to be obvious that I implied they are alike only in their appeal to free speech for their disgraceful behavior, but rightwing nuts have managed in the past to assume much more.

Therefore, always sensitive to the special needs of my readers on the right and their numerous cognitive challenges, let me be clear. I do not wish to enter into specious arguments as to which is a more cowardly scumbag, Irving or Rose. So, let's all agree that "sleazy" refers only to Irving in the last sentence and "gits" to both.]