In 2000, Jesse Jackson tried to make political hay against candidate George W. Bush with this ‘hate crime’ nonsense. It made the national news when some drunk klansmen dragged a handicapped black man to his death in rural Texas. They were quickly caught, charged with Murder, and excecuted within 6 months of being charged, iirc. It was the fastest death penalty I’d ever heard of, and Texas moves pretty fast on this.

Anyhoo, Jesse Jackson was shocked, SHOCKED to discover that the excecuted murderer had not been charged with a hate crime, just murder. All the left wing types feigned shock, because that’s how they showed their colleagues how enlightened they were.

Hate crimes legislation is always a bad idea, without exception. It is never the government’s business what is in your mind. Crimes should never be defined beyond one’s actions. Otherwise, Orwell gets it right yet again when some animals are more equal than others.