Noam signs on

[kjkhoo at softhome.net]

C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>I rather like Cockburn's take, quoted on this list, on the Lerner
>kerfuffle, but in regard to "the right to go around spreading lies,"
>Chomsky surely has it right: "... it is elementary that freedom of
>expression (including academic freedom) is not to be restricted to views
>of which one approves, and that it is precisely in the case of views that
>are almost universally despised and condemned that this right must be most
>vigorously defended."  --CGE

"views that are almost universally despised and condemned" are, I 
think, not the same as well-demonstrated lies. i think holocaust 
denial -- in the sense of denying that it was nazi state policy -- 
falls within the latter. putting in a good word for stalinism would 
fall into the former.

should a person be imprisoned for holocaust denial? i think that 
would be a contextual issue. perhaps not in the usa but in, say, 
germany? france might be a bit more iffy, but given french complicity 
in the genocide, it's probably justifiable.

hey, someone wants to spread lies must be prepared to pay for it. and 
sorry, i can't feel too principled about that.

kj khoo