In a May 13th post, on the Daily Dish, Andrew Sullivan impugns the motives of those behind the federal hate crimes legislation.
In a short post Sullivan
quotes opponents, and proponents, of the federal hate crimes bill and
concludes that the real reason for the law is to raise money rather
that to prevent crime. He sites the Matthew Shepard case as an example.
Sullivan says "Matthew Shepard's murderers were successfully
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in a state with no hate
crimes law at the time." i.e. murder is already illegal. He said the
real reason for the law is "...special interest groups which need
boutique legislation to raise funds for their large staffs and
luxurious buildings." He spacifically calls out the
Human Right Campaign.
He wonders aloud "...how many direct mail pieces have gone out
explaining that without more money for HRC, more gay human beings will
be crucified on fences." He calls it a powerful tool to make money. He
notes the this as a possible reason for the bill not having passed yet.
He notes that even defenders of the bill think the "federal
boondoggle is superfluous - given the vast number of states with such
laws on the books." He is afraid that the Obama administration will use
the laws passage "...as an excuse for doing nothing actually
substantive to help gay citizens." He states that more would be
accomplished by getting rid of the "...disgusting ban on gay
servicemembers." He admonishes his readers to stop sending checks to
the HRC who uses the hates crime bill as money making tool.