This story is archived

House passes hate crimes bill »

Posted by: populist 2 years, 6 months ago

By a vote of 237-180, the House approved the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a bipartisan bill that would enable federal officials to work with state and local officials to investigate and prosecute hate crimes.

Read Full Story at thinkprogress.org »
Submitted By:
populist

The essays we offer are unapologetically presented for you to read & analyze. Many are offered as a similar view to ours & others simply to invite ...

Who Also Submitted:

This Story is Archived and Commenting is Closed

Comments: 295
  • Avg rating: (+5/-0 5)PsychoHosebeast
    PsychoHosebeast
    May 3, 2007, 7:05 p.m.

    Of course the White House is against this... I guess Bush doesn't want to discourage his redneck friends from "beatin' up queers on Saturday night," a traditional pastime for him before going into politics.

    • Avg rating: (+5/-0 5)marlenebomer
      marlenebomer
      May 3, 2007, 10:37 p.m.

      So true, Psycho...

      I wonder how ol' Georgie and his buddies would've felt if there were gangs of *gay* boys going out and finding "breeders" to go and beat up, then have a gay cop toss their little butts out of the police department and tell them they deserved it for being in the wrong neighborhood!

      This morning on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" two black men were debating the then-proposed bill, and the conservative one (who claimed to be a "bishop", by the way -- and wasn't Catholic!) refused to acknowledge the fact that sexual orientation and gender identity is a legitimate minority.

      He, like other conservative clerics, vainly tried to use quotes and talking points from "experts" from the hate group American Family Association trying to equate sexual acts with non-consentual persons and objects with sexual orientation!

      • Avg rating: (+5/-3 2)TOtheMOON
        TOtheMOON
        May 4, 2007, 5:59 a.m.

        Ironically, homosexuals want to be 'regular folks', not 'more special', but every time the opportunity arises to make homosexuals 'regular folks', people like you go crazy about it and reject the idea.

        • Avg rating: (+26/-1 25)mesodude
          mesodude
          May 4, 2007, 8:25 a.m.

          But Americans in general are constantly trying to project their supposed superiority on the rest of the planet, so even if what you say about gay people is true (which it isn't) it wouldn't be such a horrible thing.

          • Avg rating: (+4/-3 1)quackpot
            quackpot
            May 4, 2007, 10:37 a.m.

            You might want to check the bill for a more accurate definition of "hate crime"

            • Avg rating: (+7/-1 6)marlenebomer
              marlenebomer
              May 4, 2007, 11:57 a.m.

              You are SO clueless, sweetie! You probably have GLBTs in your family, my dear but are so bigoted they won't come out to you, knowing your bigotry wouldn't allow you to be supportive of them.

              Get a clue, my dear... religiously-based bigots have tried for millenia to "cure" us, but have utterly failed -- just as they've tried to eradicate left-handedness -- which is equally hard-wired in the brain.

              • Avg rating: (+5/-1 4)walden3
                walden3
                May 4, 2007, 12:09 p.m.

                libs-

                if a bunch of gay beat you up, which is a distinct possibility then you are also protected by this legislation.

                • Avg rating: (+17/-0 17)hamy
                  hamy
                  May 4, 2007, 2:21 p.m.

                  You are a complete and total imbecile. If you really believe that homosexuals get any special treatment, you obviously don't have any gay people in your life. Wait...yes you do, they just would never trust you enough to tell you that they are gay.

                  • Avg rating: (+2/-0 2)DeltaX
                    DeltaX
                    May 3, 2007, 11:30 p.m.

                    Hate crime is code for thought police. We have too much of that already. Fortunately, this do nothing Congress won't get it passed.

                    • Avg rating: (+3/-1 2)aceofspades1
                      aceofspades1
                      May 3, 2007, 11:38 p.m.

                      Libfib - your only traditional value died in a bunker 62 years ago - My avatar might be a goose - but you step like one

                      • Avg rating: (+11/-0 11)evelyna
                        evelyna
                        May 3, 2007, 11:52 p.m.

                        What is a hate crime? Is there a love crime at all? I guess adding 5 or 10 extra years onto a crime will make someone reconsider?

                        • Avg rating: (+2/-0 2)aceofspades1
                          aceofspades1
                          May 4, 2007, 12:01 a.m.

                          wow wanna pluck em or are just into chicken hawks?

                          • Avg rating: (+11/-0 11)rewqers
                            rewqers
                            May 4, 2007, 12:25 a.m.

                            yeah, dont let the thought police charge ya for a crime you didnt commit.Lots of tax dollars going to waste for hypocrits with college educations standing on street corners judging the expression on your face,when they are not trying to provoke responses and reading your lips when your lost for words.They are always thinking arent they?Theyll make you talk by putting words in your mouth first and then put dung on that forked tongue of yours.Kiiss me im german.

                            • Avg rating: (+0/-1 -1)aceofspades1
                              aceofspades1
                              May 4, 2007, 12:49 a.m.

                              pluck me? nah you'd have to pull yourself away from the sheep first

                              • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)aceofspades1
                                aceofspades1
                                May 4, 2007, 1:12 a.m.

                                god night libfib - hope your rubber sheet doesnt leak

                                • Avg rating: (+0/-2 -2)aceofspades1
                                  aceofspades1
                                  May 4, 2007, 1:13 a.m.

                                  kiss Eva goodnight too

                                  • Avg rating: (+8/-0 8)goodgrief
                                    goodgrief
                                    May 4, 2007, 3:56 a.m.

                                    If the Christian right truly had this country by the short hairs, Kansas City wouldn't be installing foot washing facilities for muslims in the KC airport. Nor would we be hiring muslim cabdrives in Minneapolis who refuse to carry passengers with liquor bottls or seeing-eye dogs. Nor would we be creating special prayer rooms at taxpayer expense in universities to accommodate 500 students out of a body of 26,000. School days would start with the Pledge and The Lord's Prayer. Nativities and not snowflakes or trees or wrapped packages would symbolize Christmas in public.

                                    Are you kidding me, rickythegriff? Take your head outta your a-- anad look around

                                    • Avg rating: (+10/-0 10)rewqers
                                      rewqers
                                      May 4, 2007, 3:31 a.m.

                                      lemmy is right, hit the high road ,the lo roads for homos,and hates justanother 4 letterword to pass judgement on.Heres looking at you fart before gavelknocker.

                                      • Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)NeoCon
                                        NeoCon
                                        May 4, 2007, 3:43 a.m.

                                        This is nothing but left wing feel good legislation. I say that because most states have hate crime laws already on the books. Further this is another example of the dems trying to destroy our republic and replace it with a socialist/communist welfare state. They are trying to have the federal government overrule the sovereign power of the states. But with that said anyone who commits an act of violence against another person simply because they hate the group that person belongs to should have extra time added to their sentence. It is for each state to decide what the punishment should be not the federal government. This is a state issue.

                                        • Avg rating: (+1/-6 -5)LordOfChaos
                                          LordOfChaos
                                          May 4, 2007, 5:56 a.m.

                                          I have an idea - how about if you beat ANYBODY up, you get charged with assault? I don't see why it's worse for some groups of people to get beat up than others. I'm not a socially-recognized minority, so if I get beat up, I can't scream, "hate crime" and have my assailant get extra time.

                                          • Avg rating: (+10/-0 10)dood2905373
                                            dood2905373
                                            May 4, 2007, 7:08 a.m.

                                            That's right LORDOFCHAOS: While I personally think you should get a medal of honor for kickin' a q.u.e.e.r.s. ass, I wish they would just shut the hell up and don't go around spouting off being queer. Nobody straight goes around spouting off being straight. Gays are just so obnoxious. And they're all doomed to hellfire to boot.

                                            • Avg rating: (+1/-1 0)joeblowe
                                              joeblowe
                                              May 4, 2007, 9:59 a.m.

                                              What I want to know is, when are they going to tackle the issue of LOVE crimes?

                                              • Avg rating: (+1/-0 1)Sieben
                                                Sieben
                                                May 4, 2007, 10 a.m.

                                                The UGLY RACIST HEAD" rises again in America, you just cant seem to get it right,by some of the comments ,its understandable"ONLY IN AMERICA"

                                                • Avg rating: (+4/-2 2)quackpot
                                                  quackpot
                                                  May 4, 2007, 10:54 a.m.

                                                  I looked up the bill just out of curiosity.

                                                  It is a short little thing that gives the Attorney General power to investigate hate crimes. As defined in the bill, hate crimes include much more that gay-bashing.

                                                  Are the neocons now AGAINST law enforcement?

                                                  • Avg rating: (+0/-1 -1)saneman
                                                    saneman
                                                    May 4, 2007, 11:31 a.m.

                                                    Hate crimes? As a lawyer, we already have enough laws on the books to protect a person against the actions of another. We have defamation, kidnapping, battery, assault, murder, etc. In addition, we have enough civil laws called torts such as discrimination to protect people. There is no need to compound more and more laws.

                                                    The first 130 comments are shown. Show all 295 comments »