[Marcus Marulus]

First of all, it is an utter stupidity to propose for the Noble prize a dead man (independently of whether the person in question was criminal or a good man).

Of course, we can conjecture that his "proposal" was just hypothetical, in sense: If Rudolf Hess were alive, he would be a candidate for Nobel prize. But it is retarded nevertheless.

Secondly, bear in mind that it's coming from Der Spiegel. Aptrgangr, being German, can better explain what kind of newspaper it is. So I'm waiting for confirmation from more serious sources, to form my opinion on the subject.

Thirdly, it is monstruous to send people to jail just for stupidity. If that were the case, prisons would be overcrowded and the whole penitentiary system of a country that would enforce such a measure, would collapse immediately.

Fourthly, the main issue here to be concerned about isn't his strange "idea", but the media attention focused on that. The media choose what is to be considered important and what not, what is to be publicized and what not. So the media terror is something we should worry about much more than about occasional stupid remark of this or that politician.

He made a grave damage to his party obviously. But I'm sure, hadn't he indulged in this incautious tongue-slip, the democratic-liberal stormtroopers of the media would have found something else...