April 2010 Confederate History Month

In Germany and Austria, it is a crime to express support for National Socialism; it is even problematic to honor soldiers who died fighting for Hitler. But Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell has declared April 2010 Confederate History Month.

"Neo-Confederate organizations, such as the 25,000-memberUnited Daughters of the Confederacy, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the League of the South, and the Council of Conservative Citizens (sometimes called "the uptown Klan"), typically send out a nationwide alert to respond to what they call a "heritage violation," the article acknowledges.

"Although, to the general public, their slogan is "heritage not hate," anyone on the receiving end -- particularly if he is African-American -- will face a barrage of death threats, such as "I hope you are killed in the most violent, bloody way possible by another worthless jigaboo ni**er!!! WHITE POWER!!! HEIL HITLER!!!" 

Indeed, in 1931 the United Daughters of the Confederacy "voted to see that the last meeting place of the Ku Klux Klan in Nashville, and from where the last ride was made, is suitably marked."

It's hard to read this and not juxtaposition it with what happened to David Irving in Austria.

British historian David Irving was arrested in Austria, put on trial in Vienna, and spent 13 months of imprisonment. He decided to visit Austria in November 2005 to speak to a student group, in spite of an outstanding warrant for his arrest for the "crime," committed 16 years earlier, of having expressed dissident views about the wartime treatment of Europe's Jews. His arrest, he said, may have been part of a "set up" organized by Austrian police.

He was sentenced to three years in prison on the basis of a law imposed by the occupation authorities in 1945--YES, THAT IS 1945--to prevent a revival of National Socialism. This "elastic" law, he went on, is now used to punish people who utter any one of a long list of forbidden phrases. Irving's arrest and trial generated tremendous media attention, including editorials and opinion pieces in newspapers around the world condemning the "Holocaust denial" laws under which he, and many others in Europe, have been imprisoned, fined or forced into exile.

HAPPY CONFEDERATE HISTORY MONTH! As sick as that sounds, the Austrians have a lot to learn about democracy. I am not going to get started about the place Free Speech has in a democracy, I shouldn't have to.