A Real Headscratcher

Riddle me this:

Four NY American Muslims are arrested for attempting to blow up two synagogues and charged with "conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles". They allegedly said they were "eager to bring death to Jews".

Here's my question: Why the fuck aren't they being charged with a hate-crime statute?

After "they expressed a  hatred of Jews on several occassions", this seems to me to be a pretty obvious instance of a "hate crime".

Now, I generally think "hate crime" legislation is a total bunch of bull, as crime is crime, and we should punish the hell out of any and all who commit them (mercilessly, in my opinion, but I tend to be a bit tough). But since I seem to be on the losing side of this argument at the moment and must resign myself to the Big Brother tyranny of the few who push for hate crime legislation, I will accept that hate crime legislation and punishment is probably here to stay (although I still think it is wrong).

At any rate, my larger question--and I think a perfectly good example of why "hate crimes" are a nebulous, arbitrary assignment of one person's standards, completely unquantifiable and thusly wholly unjust, inequitable and unfair-- is why the hell doesn't this fall under a hate crime? Could it possibly be that these four jack-offs are not being charged with a hate crime because they are black? Or that they are Muslims? That can't be right, can it?

I have a hard time believing that if four Timothy McVeigh douchebags were foiled while plotting this exact same outrage that they wouldn't be charged with a hate crime, so what's the deal here? Seems the perfect instance to re-inforce hate-crime punishments, no?

 I'm hoping that the comcast.net story I picked this up on (see here) just overlooked this charge, or that more charges will be following shortly, but until I see evidence of that, this reeks to me of yet another example of how inequitable certain deviances from common (sense) law have become. At this point, it looks like the progressive left that pushes for stricter hate crime legislation is gouging out Justice's blind eyeballs with pencils. Or no, perhaps it seems more that they are fitting her with bifocals after forcing her to have Lazek. Yeah, I think that's a more appropriate metaphor. Wait, is that a metaphor at all? Well, you get my point.  Someone set me straight here. 

Am I to believe that only white Christians are capable of hate crimes?   

Comments

[Harry Pelosi]

Have they even been charged yet? I think you're jumping the gun just a bit. And I'll bet money that the activist liberal judge presiding over their case will let them off on some technicality, like the fact that they got stoned before placing their dud bombs!!!

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Accused-.html

[Nicfit]

Yeah, they've been charged. They were under investigation for a YEAR. You'd think that'd be long enough to put together a "hate crime" charge to tack on. Lookit, I don't give a crap about hate crime stuff ( useless AND redundant)-- but I'm just sayin'...

[Nicfit]

Furthermore, if they were high for the failed attempt-- where the heck is the posession charge?! If there's one thing I can't abide it is stoner bigots! Well, that and retard helmets for toddlers learning to walk who are not, in fact, retarded.

[Lisa]

Speaking of douchebags and haters, perhaps you'll appreciate this little note I received from a guy on an online dating site. He wrote me 3 times before I rejected him, and then I got this note: "you know when i was growing up, i always stayed away from the jewish girls for the most part because they were unattractive and self-absorbed. you definitely fit that same mold. Hitler had a great idea, too bad he didn't complete what his task at hand." This is from a self-described highly educated and successful 52 year old in the "top 10% in looks" who lives in a custom house built on a lake in Loveland. This is the 3rd time I've experienced anti-Semitism in Colorado. I've never had direct experience of it anywhere else.

[TOM]

I believe acts of terorism are an easier sell than hate crimes. Particularly in today's society. Hate crime legislation is not a precise instrument. Even if the assholes do admit their bigotry its a difficult process to negate any doubt. Further, bigotry is not a crime and to prosecute on the basis of bigotry is to navigate the minefield of first amendment violation. At its essence, hate crime prosecution is more of a compliment to the root offense anyway. An act of terrorism though; now here is something we can all sink our teeth into. These fuckers were attempting to coerce through violent intimidation which translates to a blatant attack on American freedom. I say keep them under the umbrella of terrorism. We stand a much better chance of seeing them rot in a cell.