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The definition of the federal hate crimes law might finally get expanded to include sexual orientation, as the House of Representatives approved the bill yesterday, which was an attachment of the $680 billion Defense Authorization Bill. The Senate could vote on the bill as soon as next week. Obama has said he will sign it into law -- unlike his predecessor, and Pelosi said this legislation has been on her agenda for two decades.
Republicans, who are normally staunch supporters of defense bills, are opposing this one, referring to it as a "thought crimes" bill. "This is radical social policy that is being put on the defense authorization bill, on the backs of our soldiers, because they probably can't pass it on its own," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said. (How about the backs of soldiers affected by Don't Ask Don't Tell, including a disproportionate amount of women?)
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Why did they have to sneak it in as an attachment to another bill? Democrats have enough votes to slam anything they want through Congress right now.
Can we fly MalcoveMagnesia to D.C.?
This is amazing news, someone needs to alert the Democrats!
I almost said "sneaking in through the back door", but something about it didn't seem quite right.
Youd be surprised, Mal - the number of procedural bullshit things that can be done to stall legislation, including killing it in committee, are myriad.
And frankly, while its not the most high-road of tactics, in this current legislative climate of "if yer fer it, im aginnit!" - getting something meaningful passed without gutting or castrating it over nine months of stalling and attrition is probably the more important thing here.
I do find it a bit ridiculous that republicans are acting like this is the first time anyone ever thought to do this, but its not really surprising. Both sides have been doing the non-sequitur thing with larger bills forever.
I'm all for gay rights, but I think the Republicans have the better argument here. Hate crimes are "thought crimes" because they punish you for your thoughts. If you beat up a guy because of his race, it's somehow more offensive than beating him up because he's homeless, or because he's fat, or some other reason? It's silly.
That said, we all know this argument is a red herring. Republicans just can't stand to see gays join mainstream America.