I Wish I Was There and Hate Crimes

An news article has never captured an awkward moment so well.

Here's an interesting thought to roll around in your heads for awhile: What if a major reason Iran is not really listening to the US is because we have a female Secretary of State? Is the Western idea of equality amongst the sexes worth a possible war? I'll let you guys think about it and discuss it amongst yourselves.

ADDENDUM TO DRIZNASTICS HATE CRIME ARTICLE

Just gotta get this one out there in response to the claims that hate crime statutes offer inequal protection under the law. If the federal hate crime statute that is now going through the process of becoming law is anything like the Illinois hate crime statute, then it requires that the motivation of the crime be the actual or perceived class of the victim. That's what defines a hate crime. Does it place the protection of homosexuals above heterosexuals or blacks above whites or Jews above Christians or women above men? No. Being a white, Christian, heterosexual male, I could be the victim of a hate crime. Allow me to illustrate with a hypothetical: Say I was walking down Halsted and I get beat up by a rough looking crowd of men in leather riding motorcycles and the Leader of the Pack yells, "Let's get that Hetero!" before the attack. That would be a hate crime.

Motive is an important idea in law; law is not only about actions and the results. Say Person A shoots Person B. Based just on these facts, the person could be tried for a number of crimes or none at all. If Person A was waiting in the bushes outside of Person B's house because Person B really hated Person A and had planned on killing Person B, then B would probably be charged with murder. However, if Person A was running at Person B with a butcher knife, then this could be easily seen as self-defense.

The law also differentiates between certain classes of people, which is just the opposite of what some critics of the hate crime bill claim. The same action may be tried for different crimes depending on the victim. Say I punched Driznastic. That'd be battery. Now say I punched a cop. That battery would be escalated to aggravated battery. There's a big ol' list of different classes of people who get special protection under the law (old people, the disabled, etc.).

All in all, these lawmakers who claim this really ought to read some laws sometime.