Bush to Veto Hate Crimes Bill

A couple weeks ago I posted that, cynically, that a federal hate crime bill expanding protections to gays was unlikely to become law anytime soon. A statement for which my dear friend Scott criticized my pessimism.

Unfortunately, it appears that I was right. Although the bill has passed the House by a respectable 237-180 (meaning that 18 members were too cowardly to vote on this bill at all), the fear and hate mongering President Bush has threatened a veto of the legislation.

The reasoning from these people just boggles the mind.

The White House said state and local criminal laws already cover the new crimes defined under the bill and there was "no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement."

How about the fact that many local governments are so overtaken by the bigotry and hatred that you enable in this country that these kinds of crimes regularly go unprosecuted?