Dutch politician Geert Wilders is being prosecuted for his criticisms of Islam. This is obviously a bad thing (at least, obviously to anyone who thinks free speech is a good idea). There’s a bit of irony here: Wilders is not himself a big fan of free speech, having called for the banning of the Qur’an.

However, I don’t agree with Adam Lee’s comment that Wilders is a hypocrite, and that the proposals he defends are just as wrong as the decision to prosecute him. To my knowledge, Wilders has never said anything as nasty as what’s found in the worst part of the Qur’an. If–like many European lawmakers–you accept that books like Mein Kampf should be banned, it’s hard to explain why the same doesn’t go for the Qur’an. On the other hand, Wilders’ prosecution is a good example of why letting the government regulate what people are allowed to say is a bad idea–not because it is necessarily unjustified in all circumstances, but because that power invariably ends up in the hands of fools.