"Yesterday, a genuinely historic moment passed with scarcely a blip of attention from the media: President Obama signed into law the nation's first genuine federal bias-crimes statute.
Everyone interested in advancing civil rights in America and defending the nation's minorities from the deprivation of their rights by terroristic thugs -- particularly their historic victims, from African Americans and Asian Americans to Latinos, to Jews and other religious minorities, to gays and lesbians and transgender folk -- have real cause to celebrate.
Then, of course, there's the Religious Right, which is holding its collective breath and
pouting over the event. Case in point:
Pat Robertson at The 700 Club, ripping into the new law both yesterday and today on his show.
His basis for opposing the law, however, is completely detached from reality. For instance, Robertson argues:
"You know, there’s a law –
what about a law that says it’s a federal crime to attack somebody because of his religious beliefs? Not a chance!"
