Special Victims Have to Wait in Line with the Rest of Us

On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted 237-180 to extend existing federal “hate crimes” laws to protect certain groups against crimes which are motivated by the victim’s gender or disability or sexual orientation.

In choosing its politically correct favorite victims, 237 representatives explicitly refused to acknowledge the vulnerability of the military as targets, even though there are established cases of hatred toward those in uniform. Old people were also voted off this bill, even though they are often the targets of crime because of their age or infirmity.

H.R. 1592 : Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 is a despicable bill. Were it to be enacted, it would swell an already bloated federal government just that much more. It would cost you and me more money, for no discernibly better outcome. It would lengthen trials and cost local governments more money as prosecutors and defenders argued the “true” motives of an assault against those special someones on the endangered list.

When you stop to think about it, this piece of legislation has much in common with Sharia laws: they both say that some of us are more equal than others. We know whom H. R. 1592 protects, and whom it leaves in the dust. Compare it with Sharia law where Muslim men are compensated at a higher level because they are worth more than Muslim women, and infidel women rate lower than infidel men. It’s a case of diminishing punishment depending on how far up the food chain you are.

Here's a hint: white heterosexual men almost disappear off the list. I know: my straight white son was beaten by a group of black “youths” who broke his ribs for fun. The police took a report and shrugged. End of that hate crime...except for his ribs, which are still mending.

Now in America if you’re a homosexual victim and the feds can prove your attacker went after you because of your sexual orientation and not because you were wearing a Rolex and he wanted it, then you get a higher rate of return on your vengeance than would an old person whose purse containing her Social Security check was ripped off her shoulder, causing her to fall and break her hip.

And that’s progressive law in a nutshell: some victims are more equal than others, and any situation where the federal government can stick its nose is now an improvement over local law enforcement.

Fortunately, the President will veto this wrong-headed notion of “justice” based on special privilege. Fortunately, too, the House doesn’t have enough votes to override his signature.

This is a cynical piece of work. The Dems can use it to campaign on their tough attitude toward hate crimes — hmm… are there any love crimes? — and the Republicans can use it to taunt the Dems for trying to blow the federal balloon just that much bigger.

Do you know how your representative voted? Below the fold is a list of the Republicans who voted for this despicable waste of time and resources. If your rep appears on this roll, I strongly urge you to give him or her a nudge, even if you think it’s a hopeless cause. Perhaps especially if you think your representative is nothing but a quintessential pol… they’re the ones who don’t want to hear your dissent, so be sure to share it. Be polite and firm. Tell him why his vote for something that is unconstitutional — i.e., that we are purportedly all equal in the sight of the law — will motivate you to campaign against his continued presence in the halls of Congress.
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You can find the addresses and emails here. Don’t use snail mail for the Washington office as it is quarantined. If you want to send a letter use a district office address instead. Most representatives maintain more than one district office, especially if it covers a large geographical area. Emails and phone calls work fine, too, especially if you know you won’t get around to posting a letter.

Don’t bother to contact a representative outside your district. They seem to take great pleasure in reminding you that you’re not in their district, so they don’t have to listen to you. Even Mrs. Pelosi does this, despite her position as the national Speaker of the House.

Now, let’s see what they drag up next. Harry Reid has some ideas about old legislation.

Seems like this group can’t do much but wash, rinse, repeat….

State		Dist		Name
California		CA-45		Bono, Mary
Connecticut		CT-4		Shays, Christopher
Delaware		DE-0		Castle, Michael
Florida		FL-21		Diaz-Balart, Lincoln
		FL-25		Diaz-Balart, Mario
		FL-18		Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana
Illinois		IL-13		Biggert, Judy
		IL-10		Kirk, Mark
		IL-18		LaHood, Ray
Louisiana		LA-4		McCrery, James
Maryland		MD-1		Gilchrest, Wayne
Nevada		NV-3		Porter, Jon
New Jersey		NJ-7		Ferguson, Michael
		NJ-11		Frelinghuysen, Rodney
		NJ-2		LoBiondo, Frank
		NJ-3		Saxton, H.
New York		NY-29		Kuhl, John
		NY-25		Walsh, James
Ohio		OH-15		Pryce, Deborah
Oregon		OR-2		Walden, Greg
Pennsylvania		PA-15		Dent, Charles
		PA-3		English, Philip
		PA-6		Gerlach, Jim
		PA-19		Platts, Todd
Washington		WA-8		Reichert, Dave