What a load of Bloks...

Militant moderate has a very thoughtful piece about the judgement rendering the Vlaams Blok illegal in Belgium, as does Stephen Pollard. This really is outrageous, no matter how unbelievably offensive a political party is to the vast majority of the population. It makes a total mockery of the 'democratic' system and really is on the same spectrum as the 'elections' in communist states. I won't go on too much, as my views on free speech* are fairly oft repeated and well known, and also because Militant Moderate has a far better discussion than I could replicate without repetition.

*The content of the speech should be irrelevant. The right to free speech and expression of your personal views should be fairly absolute except where it becomes defamatory. The way to beat and deal with people with despicably extreme views is to expose them to sensible opinions and arguments, insulation from which has probably lead to the gestation of such an offensive mindset in the first place. That way you also restrict their impact.