Do It Right

Over the past month we've seen two pieces of hate crime law that we thought were making ground wiped out--one at the Pennsylvania state level, and one at the national level. Understandably, a lot of people are upset about this; I certainly am not thrilled.

However I have to admit that I understand the reasons why they were wiped out--I can't argue against it. In the case in PA, the law actually was passed but was later overturned by the courts because of the manner in which is was passed; it had been tacked on as an amendment to a bill that dealt with agricultural vandalism. The court ruled that the amendment substantially changed the bill so that it bore little or no resemblance to its original purpose. At the national level, the hate crime piece was tacked on as an amendment in the Senate to a Department of Defense authorization bill, resulting in people on both sides being committed to opposing it; conservatives because of the hate crimes portion, and liberals because of the DOD portion.

I understand the political strategy, I do. Put legislation that others are opposed to in a bill with things that they want, to increase your chances of passing it. I just don't agree with it. Even though in this case it was attempted in order to pass something I think is very necessary and worthwhile, I don't agree with it. I'm always irked when I hear about someone advancing an extreme or wasteful agenda by riding on the back of otherwise worthwhile legislation. Legalize the ritualistic beating of kittens by adding it to a bill outlawing murder. Yeah!

So, yeah--another reason why I could never be a politician. Just vote on things and attempt to get them passed on their own merit. If you have to trick people into voting for them, maybe something isn't quite right. And as we saw here in PA, you just leave the door open into getting it tossed out and having your cause accused of using underhanded political strategy.

I have to wonder, though, about the closed mindedness of the group that challenged the PA law in court, resulting in it getting thrown out. I don't think we would be friends.