Extension of justice for targeted minorities.

[Ben Kenobi]

Because the Republican Party has been actively courting white racists ever since Nixon's "Southern Strategy" got him into the White House, I'm not surprised to see Repubicans in Congress opposing efforts to end domestic terrorism.

Is that why 4 republican appointees to the Supreme Court are Catholics. Yeah, the KKK really loves Catholics.

[Monk]

Hate crimes are bull****. Punish the crime, not the motivation. Murdering a gay person should hold the same penalty as murdering a straight person - the death penalty.

Got the point.

But if I kill somebody just because I don't like him, it's murder. If I kill somebody by accident, it's manslaughter. If I kill somebody because I think they're aliens sent from out of space to enslave us, I'll get some other interesting treatment.

What I'm asking, even if it's mostly to play devil's advocate, is that don't we already take motivation into consideration in lots of cases? And do you object to that?

[Zevico]

Is that why 4 republican appointees to the Supreme Court are Catholics. Yeah, the KKK really loves Catholics.

I do not know whether the suggestion put-i.e. that Republicans court racists--is entirely true.
However, I think it is a mistake to conflate racists with members of the KKK. The two are not equivalent. Racists don't have to wear hoods and burn crosses. They can simply espouse vague feelings of prejudice, alienation and disaffection, and there are many such people. there is a difference between attracting the racist vote, and the (smaller) Klan vote.

[Ben Kenobi]

Racists don't have to wear hoods and burn crosses. They can simply espouse vague feelings of prejudice, alienation and disaffection, and there are many such people. there is a difference between attracting the racist vote, and the (smaller) Klan vote.

There are racists in both parties. Case in point, 97 percent of black people voted for Obama. If 97 percent of white folks had voted against him, we'd be hearing nothing but how 'white people are so racist'.

Besides, historically the KKK was strong in the north among the 'copperheads'. It's not a southern institution.

[loinburger]

There are racists in both parties. Case in point, 97 percent of black people voted for Obama. If 97 percent of white folks had voted against him, we'd be hearing nothing but how 'white people are so racist'.

Over 90% of the black vote has gone Democrat for the past two elections, but suddenly black people are racist for voting for Obama? Or were the racist Democrats in your example the fictitious ones calling white people racist for overwhelmingly voting McCain? "If white people had voted along racial lines then I'll bet those racist Democrats would call them racist!"

[Riesstiu IV]

Besides, historically the KKK was strong in the north among the 'copperheads'. It's not a southern institution.

Your a fat Canadian dumb**** who knows **** all about American history. The KKK was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee by Confederate veterans and always remained much stronger in the south. Just look at any study that shows lynching and you will see that the vast majority were carried out by klansmen, like yourself, in the southern states.

Go suck Jesus' dick you ****head.

[chequita guevara]

Why are certain people given special protection? Was it legal to kill homosexuals before?

De facto or de jure?

[chequita guevara]

If you ignore BK, your blood pressure will be much happier.

[Zevico]

If you ignore BK, your blood pressure will be much happier.

[MrFun]

If you ignore BK, your blood pressure will be much happier.

That's what I've been saying! But fools like Riess keep quoting him just to get their rocks off.

[Zkribbler]

AFAIK all it requires is an executive order to begin the process, so yes he can.

You're confusing don't-ask-don't-tell with the racially segregated army that Truman overturned with an executive order in the '50's.

The difference is that don't-ask-don't-tell was created by a statute passed by Congress. There was no such statute requiring racial segregation. Indeed, when it became clear that Truman was going to sign an executive order, southern congressmen attempted to pass such a statute, but it was defeated in Congress.

There is also a provision in the don't-ask-don't-tell law which permits the President to ignore the law based upon a finding that the policy is preventing the military from recruiting the necessary personnel. However, all four branches of the military are recruiting at least 100% of the people they need.

Hate crimes are bull****. Punish the crime, not the motivation. Murdering a gay person should hold the same penalty as murdering a straight person - the death penalty.

That isn't what a hate crime is.

The penalties for killing a straight man and killing a gay man remain the same. It's only when the prosecution proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was motivated because the victim was gay, was black, was Jewish [etc] is the additional penalty imposed. This is because these minority groups historically have been subjected to violence by bigots, who have used the violence to terrorize entire communities.

[Zkribbler]

From Wikipedia:

Although the phrase "Southern strategy" is often attributed to former Richard Nixon strategist tuned liberal political commentator Kevin Phillips, he did not originate it,[1] but merely popularized it.[2] In an interview included in a 1970 New York Times article, he touched on its essence:

From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don't need any more than that... but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That's where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats.[3]

While Phillips was concerned with polarizing ethnic voting in general, and not just with winning the white South, this was by far the biggest prize yielded by his approach. Its success began at the presidential level, gradually trickling down to statewide offices, the Senate and House, as legacy segregationist Democrats retired or switched to the GOP. In addition, the Republican Party worked for years to develop grassroots political organizations across the South, supporting candidates for local school boards and offices, for instance. Following the Watergate scandal, there was broad support for the Southern Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election.

From 1948 to 1984 the Southern states, traditionally a stronghold for the Democrats, became key swing states, providing the popular vote margins in the 1960, 1968 and 1976 elections. During this era, several Republican candidates expressed support for states' rights, which some critics claim was a signal of opposition to federal enforcement of civil rights for blacks and intervention on their behalf, including passage of legislation to protect the franchise.[4]

...

In 1980 Republican candidate Ronald Reagan's proclaiming support for "states' rights" at his first Southern campaign stop was cited as evidence that the Republican Party was building upon the Southern Strategy again. The location was significant - Reagan spoke at the Neshoba County Fair near Philadelphia, Mississippi, the county where the three civil rights workers were murdered during 1964's Freedom Summer,[6][7][8] even though political speeches from local, state, and national politicians at the fair had been a long-standing tradition at the Fair dating back to 1896.[9]

[Ben Kenobi]

Over 90% of the black vote has gone Democrat for the past two elections, but suddenly black people are racist for voting for Obama?

Again, if 90 percent of white people had voted for McCain, would they not be considered racist? Yes or no. I guarantee you if that had happened, it would be the top story. We'd be hearing nothing but 'racism is king in America', etc.

Or were the racist Democrats in your example the fictitious ones calling white people racist for overwhelmingly voting McCain? "If white people had voted along racial lines then I'll bet those racist Democrats would call them racist!"

Let me get this straight. Do you sincerely believe there are no racist democrats? There's only one Senator who's a grand wizard, and that's Byrd (D).

[Ben Kenobi]

Your a fat Canadian dumb**** who knows **** all about American history. The KKK was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee by Confederate veterans and always remained much stronger in the south.

Yes, it was founded there for Confederate Vets. Then it morphed into something else. The state with the highest registration is Indiana, and you mean to tell me Indiana is a southern state?

Just look at any study that shows lynching and you will see that the vast majority were carried out by klansmen, like yourself, in the southern states.

Wow, I'm a klansman. Piss off. Racism isn't the purview of southern states only, plenty of racist folks in the north.

[Wezil]

Your a fat Canadian dumb**** who knows **** all about American history. The KKK was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee by Confederate veterans and always remained much stronger in the south. Just look at any study that shows lynching and you will see that the vast majority were carried out by klansmen, like yourself, in the southern states.

Go suck Jesus' dick you ****head.

Ben's issues have nothing to do with him being Canadian. We think he is a ****head as well.

Thanks.