[Stinky Pete]

I agree with Hustler on the hate crime thing. I spend so much time disagreeing with him that I felt obligated to post this.

[Phaedrus]

Consider this SP. Do you think history has shown that minorities that have been attacked by whites have always received justice? Did Emmet Till receive justice? Does a black man receive the same justice from an all-white jury as would a white man?

Creating a category of hate crime allows the Federal government to intervene and seek justice when justice is denied - as happens too often still. It is not a special category, it is a rebalancing.

It also makes people think twice before acting on their hatred.

[Mondo Man]

Consider this SP. Do you think history has shown that minorities that have been attacked by whites have always received justice? Did Emmet Till receive justice? Does a black man receive the same justice from an all-white jury as would a white man?

Creating a category of hate crime allows the Federal government to intervene and seek justice when justice is denied - as happens too often still. It is not a special category, it is a rebalancing.

It also makes people think twice before acting on their hatred.

So is the US gov't playing prejudice games against caucasian people? Basically saying that they can not hold a fair trial? Here is a way to shoot holes in your theory. Eliminate all white juries. I wonder what % of juries end up being ALL WHITE in today's time anyway. Would you be ok to remove the "hate crime" charges if the jury pool is made up of a nice mixture of people? Wouldn't that solve this shadow of unfairness?

[Ryan]

I think by definition , discrinination involves a group. The owner of Chick Fil A isn't one. I don't think one can discriminate against an individual.

What? discrimination doesn't occur until it is directed toward an individual. And Mr. Cathy does belong to a group. It's that group that believes in the traditional definition of marriage.

Furthermore, none of this is the issue really. It's the fact that a government official (Mayor of Chicago) crossed the line and proposed turning the government against a private business (zoning restriction) based on a statement an individual made. The first amendment is supposed to protect him from this type of government action.

You are free to "discriminate" against a business for ANY reason. It really doesn't matter if you refuse to buy chicken from the man because you hate chicken, or because he is white, or because he is an axe murder or pedifile. In a free society you are free to do so. You are even free to organize and protest and boycott. But when government uses it's influence to do so the socitey takes a very dark path.

“Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. “They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents.”
There is no evidence of any actual discrimination against any individual, it's the company's "values" that Emanuel cites as justification for his opressive action toward the company. Mr. Cathy simply stated his personal beliefs in an interview in which the reporter specifically asked for his position on gay Marriage in the context of reviewing his religious beliefs.

What's really scary is that this man is now added to the long list of radical leftists that opertate is Obama's sphere of influence. It's simply disgusting that the radical left has infiltrated the great American experiment and has initiated the unmoring of the Constitution. If Obama is re-elected America is doomed!

[Stinky Pete]

What? discrimination doesn't occur until it is directed toward an individual. And Mr. Cathy does belong to a group. It's that group that believes in the traditional definition of marriage.

Maybe, but it's generally a group that you don't have a choice about being in (blacks, women, elderly, etc.) . For the sake of argument, I'll give you that point. Still, disagreeing with someone's values isn't discrimination. You need to act on it in order to create discrimination. Just saying, "I don't agree with that guy's values, so I'm not going there" isn't discrimination. Mr. Cathy saying that he doesn't like gay marriage isn't discrimination either. If he refuses to hire gays, maybe that's another story, but there's no discrimination from either side in this story.

[Mondo Man]

I just find it funny that Rahm is the one making these remarks. He's a man all about respect. The man's character speaks for itself...

Emanuel is known for his "take-no-prisoners style" that has earned him the nickname "Rahmbo."[27] Emanuel is said to have sent a dead fish in a box to a pollster who was late delivering polling results.[22] On the night after the 1996 election, "Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting 'Dead! ... Dead! ... Dead!' and plunging the knife into the table after every name."[10][11] Before Tony Blair gave a pro-Clinton speech during the impeachment crisis, Emanuel reportedly screamed to Blair's face "Don't --censor-- this up!" while Clinton was present; Blair and Clinton both burst into laughter.[28]


At a closed-door meeting in the White House with liberal activists, Emmanuel called them "f*cking r*tarded" for planning to run TV ads attacking conservative Democrats who didn't support Obama's health-care overhaul. In February 2010, Emanuel apologized to organizations for the mentally handicapped for using the word "retarded." He expressed his regret to Tim Shriver, the chief executive of the Special Olympics after the remark was reported in an article by The Wall Street Journal about growing liberal angst at the Chief of Staff.

[Phaedrus]

Ryan,

I agree that it is wrong for the government to take action against him for his views or for giving money to support those views. However, you are dead wrong if you think this kind of thing only happens from the left.

[Phaedrus]

Consider this SP. Do you think history has shown that minorities that have been attacked by whites have always received justice? Did Emmet Till receive justice? Does a black man receive the same justice from an all-white jury as would a white man?

Creating a category of hate crime allows the Federal government to intervene and seek justice when justice is denied - as happens too often still. It is not a special category, it is a rebalancing.

It also makes people think twice before acting on their hatred.

So is the US gov't playing prejudice games against caucasian people? Basically saying that they can not hold a fair trial? Here is a way to shoot holes in your theory. Eliminate all white juries. I wonder what % of juries end up being ALL WHITE in today's time anyway. Would you be ok to remove the "hate crime" charges if the jury pool is made up of a nice mixture of people? Wouldn't that solve this shadow of unfairness?

Why is it you only leap to the defense of white people? Hustler launched a horrible smear on gays and you just let it pass. Your constant choice of when to step in shows your own discriminating tastes.

[BigGabber]

Phaedrus, just sit back and watch everyone dig their own graves. It's something you can laugh at before you go to bed:-)

BTW, I don't eat at that chicken joint. If I'm gonna drop $7 on a meal I'll spend the extra bucks and eat at Outback Steakhouse. As far as the whole thing in general for businesses, they just need to keep their opinions to themselves and then no one will know. They can just keep on making their cash. Some things are better left unsaid.