Teddy Kennedy's Hate Crimes Extension Dropped From Defense Bill

Teddy Kennedy tried to place an huge expansion of hate crimes categories into a defense appropriations bill, and that bill passed the Senate but the hate crimes provision has been stricken from the bill in conference committee:

House and Senate negotiators yesterday nixed a measure to expand hate-crime protections, removing it from a Pentagon policy bill that is now likely to pass both chambers by wide margins.

Negotiations on the defense authorization bill had bogged down, with House Democratic leaders worried that they did not have enough votes to pass the bill if it included the hate-crime measure. The bill, which has been vigorously supported by gay rights groups, would have extended hate-crime protections to victims based on gender, sexual orientation or disability. ...

House Democrats already faced a loss of support from many liberals in their caucus who would not support the Pentagon policy bill because it did not include withdrawal timeline provisions for the Iraq war. Many Democrats from conservative districts were afraid to engage in a showdown with President Bush on the bill over the hate-crime measure.

As I've said many times, I don't believe in the entire concept of hate crimes laws. People should be punished for what they do, not what they think. The current situation is bad enough, but adding a bunch of sexual orientation categories is just nonsense.