I don't believe Wyoming has the patent on hate crimes--Oregon has been struggling with anti-gay and lesbian ballot initiatives from something called the Oregon Citizens Alliance for at least 10 years and the result has been a corresponding increase in all kinds of violence, not only against gay men and lesbians, but against anyone perceived by the perpetrators as gay or even sympathetic.

Hatred of any kind, the act of hating, seems to be, for the most part, acceptable yet unmentionable. Perhaps because I work with young children who have been abused by parents, step-parents, and foster parents, I am continually aware of how routine abuse is, and what is abuse if not a hate crime?

I tend to think of Bush's tax plan as a hate crime, as it will do nothing for poor people but fatten the already fat wealthy.

In Lakota, there is a word for white person: wasi'chu, meaning, the one who eats the fat. The Lakota people couldn't help but notice that when meat was available, the ravenous whites ate everything, even the fat. Sort of a prophetic gesture, as it turns out.

blt