Posted on 07/18/2009 10:20:30 AM PDT by Pope Pius XII
The United States Senate approved an amendment yesterday adding "hate crimes" legislation to the annual Defense Authorization bill, which would add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the list of federally-protected classes.
The Senate voted 63 - 28 to attach S.909, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (MSHCPA), to the $680 billion defense bill meant to support US troops fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada favored attaching the hotly-debated bill as an amendment, instead of putting it forward as a stand-alone bill, in hopes of easing its passage, but his tactic drew outcry from Senate Republicans.
"Those of us who oppose this legislation - and it is important legislation - will be faced with a dilemma of choosing between a bill which can harm, in my view, the United States of America and its judicial system and a bill defending the nation," protested Sen. John McCain, who denounced Reid's tactic as an "abuse of power."
What stage is this in? Has it been approved by the house already?
Congressman Billybob
Thanks
How, in any twisted definition of a sane world, should a crime committed out of bias be any more or less punishable than a crime committed without bias?
Only the demented liberal mind could come up with such a sick concept – the crime kinda sorta matters, sure... but it’s really how you FELT when you were beating that guy over the head with a pipe that matters.
Of course, this just gives them another justification for their OWN prejudices and bias because, of course, no hate crime in Obamaworld could POSSIBLY be intended by, say, people who beat other people to the ground while shouting “it’s a black world!”.
I didn’t know that the gay community needed this much backing from the United States Armed Forces that they would wrap themselves together with the military’s priorities. What strange bedfellows these Democrats paired up in this bill.
The gay community will do anything to silence those who don’t agree with their perfidious (meaning Godless) lifestyle.
Did RINO Voinovich vote for this?
Do what you usually do then.
Fight for legislation just like it but just a bit less harmful and say you saved the day from those mean dimocrats.
You mean demoncrats
A crime committed with a sense of love and togetherness is more compassionate on a Utopian scale.
I.E.: If one bludgeons another with a chainsaw while stating their undying love for the victim it isn't a hate crime.
If a person EVER murders someone with a chain saw or the like they better state their love for the victim to witnesses so as not to be convicted of a hate crime.
Does that make sense now? /sarc
It's the feelings behind it not the actions of it any more that is the crime.
This legislation could have far more dangerous implications for national defense and unit cohesiveness/effectiveness than McCain and others are letting on--and those are just the military implications.
Add to that the irony that the Shepherd killing was a robbery run amok.
But beneath it all is the fact that any, and that means ANY "protected class" creates a group more protected by law, which flies in the face of EQUAL protection under the law and makes second-class citizens of EVERYONE NOT IN ONE OF THE "PROTECTED CLASSES".
Voino voted for the version passed the other night.
For a view from the other side, see http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/29/hate-crimes-hysteria/ , especially the comments. They honestly feel that we “hate” them and that opposition to the bill means that we want them assaulted.
How is it possible to bridge this divide?
Voinovich
Snowe
Collins
Lugar
Murkowski
Who were the R’s that supported this? Are Byrd and Kennedy still AWOL? If so that means at least 5 R’s had to support it.
If anyone has it, I would like the list of senators voting for and against attaching this bill as an amendment to the Defense bill. We need to get on the phones and or send e-mail to register our displeasure.
In the long run the perverts will abuse the extra protections. Once the abuse becomes common normal people will do what has to be done.
How many Republicans are standing up to say that when Republicans are back in power, they will repeal this inanity?
What? None?
This is their problem. They assume that no matter what atrocities the Democrats have legislated when the Democrats were in power, the Republicans are *obligated* to accept the status quo. They think that whatever the Democrats do is set in concrete, but the Democrats are fancy free to change anything the Republicans do, with no consideration at all to what the Republicans think.
What was that saying about, “If you are going to be raped, you might as well lay back and enjoy it”? That is the Republicans in a nutshell.
They are co-dependent Democrats.
This will be applied to Churches to shut them down when they teach that homosexuality and pedophilia are wrong.
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