What purpose is served by declaring an obvious falsehood? That is Faux News tactics
But it's not an "obvious falsehood." Creative lawyers and judges find ways to twist and expand laws every day and, sometimes, the results aren't good for society as a whole. You're assuming that won't happen here because you are emotionally invested in the law.
In fact, given how your own country has used laws against "
hate speech" to try and censor journalists, I could probably make an argument that you're the one being disingenuous. However, I prefer to give you the benefit of the doubt and refrain from accusing you of the bad faith you attribute to me.
So, answer me: do you actually believe that the current administration intended to create a loophole for pedophiles?
And yes, as I said, there are greater ills at play than the vague wording of the law. The bottom feeding, exploitative nature of you people is the problem here, not the intent of the law. I've no doubt that someone, somewhere will challenge the law. I've an equal amount of faith that pedophiles are universally regarded not as a sexual orientation, but as 'criminally insane'. As I've stated repeatedly, I don't see an argument that a pedophile suffered a hate crime standing up in court. It has not been, nor will be defined as a sexual orientation any more than 'rapist' has been.
I think you all do need more control over your...*ahem* journalists (term used lightly). I think sensational crap like this should be outlawed, and news presented as a series of facts, without such fantastic spin. You go off about "freedom of speech"...but freedom always comes hand in hand with responsibility. Laws come into effect when people cannot or will not respect their responsibility. Laws by their very nature are limiting freedoms. This is one area where I think it's appropriate. The story can, and should be presented...but biased tabloid style presentation should be held accountable for the bullshit it is, with penalties for this tripe.
That's merely an assumption on your part. Crime victims also report a feeling of mental violation regardless of whether the crime is a "hate crime." There's often a feeling of "what did I do to deserve this?"
Case in point: in traffic court I've seen people who were hit by drunk drivers who are emotionally distraught over what happened. Obviously the drunk driver didn't target them because of their race/gender/sexual preferance. He just got wasted and plowed into them. But the sense of loss and violation in the victim is still great.
Again, spoken like a straight, white, middle class male. Yes, it is going to affect you to be victimized, no matter who you are or when it happens. But hate crime is something else.
Imagine if going anywhere: every street, shopping mall, night club, corner store...was the equivalent of you walking your white ass through a ghetto in Detroit. Just think about the ramifications of that on your daily life, your psychological well being...and you'll start to get the idea. It.Is.Not.The.Same.Thing.
