The Day After...Hate Crimes Bill Fallout

Following yesterday's passage of HR 1592, the Hate Crimes Bill, the ultra-conservative pundits were foaming at the mouth....just waiting to launch yet another mass media assault. Here is an overview of the various groups and their statements on the bill...

• My favorite nutcases at WorldNetDaily have an article up today, under the heading "Life With Big Brother," no less. They also refer to the bill as a "discriminatory federal plan," and try to take credit for the news that Dear Leader would veto. The White House released a statement saying that 1592 was "unnecessary and constitutionally questionable," but my favorite quote comes from none other than Chuck Colson...a man who is apparently better suited for pontificating than for covering up presidential scandals, lol.

"Former White House insider Chuck Colson, in his Breakpoint
commentary, called it a 'Thought Crimes' plan.
'It's called the Local
Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. But this bill is not about hate.
It's not even about crime. It's about outlawing peaceful speech – speech that
asserts that homosexual behavior is morally wrong,' he said. "

Wow, another public figure who apparently can't read!

• Concerned Women of America were a little more modest, in that they shared responsibility for the president's veto pledge with other likeminded groups. BUT...they have an incredibly insulting article up, insinuating that activists are knowingly reporting false anti-gay crimes to build up the hate crimes statistics. The most concerned woman of all, Matt Barber, says...

"Although there may be very isolated incidences of legitimate bias-motivated
crimes against homosexuals, they're anything but epidemic as homosexual
activists would have you believe. Truth be told, the whole 'needle in a
haystack' thing comes to mind."

Read it for yourself and see if you can find any substantive proof...I didn't find any.

• Louis Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition was all upset that the vote on HR 1592 was held on the National Day of Prayer , saying that it was a slap in the face of Christians everywhere. He must have gotten over that, though, since the top story on TVC's site has to do with his appearance on the "Glenn Beck Program." I saw the screen-cap...but hard as I tried, I couldn't find a slap mark anywhere on that strange little man's face!
• The American Family Association didn't have much on the passage of the bill except for an audio link to the comments made by Bishop Jackson following the vote. This is the guy who was on C-SPAN yesterday presenting scenario after scenario of how this bill would be used to fine or jail pastors and, subsequently, Christians. He mentions real incidents that occurred in Sweden, Australia and Canada and misrepresents an incident that happened in Philadelphia. I wish someone would ask him to name one example of someone being fined or jailed for uttering a derogatory epithet. He won't be able to, and that proves that the hate crimes legislation that is already in place (this one just adds crimes against gender, sexual orientation or disability), has not and will not stifle the speech...no matter how inflammatory it is...of any citizen. Hop over there and listen to it, just take your bottle of Pepto-Bismol with you, lol.
• Last, but not least...the Family Research Council's homepage is completely devoted to the story of 1592. There point of contention is that the bill is unconstitutional on the grounds that it violates the 14th amendment which provides for equal treatment under the law. I've alluded to this before, and I'll say it again. If the 14th amendment really does grant every citizen equal protection under the law, then why were the initial hate crime laws necessary? Oh, and as John over at AmericaBlog was good enough to point out...there are already laws in place that protect every member of Congress from even being threatened. Talk about hypocrisy!

It's on to the Senate now, as HR 1592 (renamed Matthew Shepard Act) will be up for debate and a subsequent vote. No date has been set for the vote yet.