Brought To You By The Letter "E"

Effigy and Equality.  (You can almost sing that to the tune of Ebony and Ivory.)

I will disclose that this post is being written in a buzzed stupor while watching the remainder of of Game 5 of the World Series.  My apologies ahead of time for any incoherence in the narrative.

Chad Michael Morrisette, the gay West Hollywood resident whose recent display of Sarah Palin in effigy has some in California and most in the rest of the country in an uproar, is on record saying it's "all in the spirit of Halloween".  What a convenience that All Hallow's Eve is so close to Election Day.  It must be one of those rare instances where the planets align, clouds part, and angels break forth in chorus to provide the perfect environment for inappropriate political commentary.  (I mean, how often does October 31st fall so closely to the 1st Tuesday in November?)

What another convenience that Faggy-Three-Name (I will henceforth one up him by going by my four legally given names, "Charles Jason Kraft Tully") did not bother nailing The Messiah to a burning cross or hanging Biden by any of the numerous nooses he himself has manufactured ("Jobs" is a three-letter word, paying taxes is patriotic, etc...)...  All in the "spirit" of the season of course.

My initial gripe is that this West Hollywood coward doesn't have the sack to admit his disdain for Palin is the motivating factor behind his holiday festivities.  The fact that he also has McCain surrounded in flames really belies any questions that this is anything but politically motivated.  The holiday is the thinnest of veiled excuses.

My main gripe though comes from the double standard that exists were I, as an Obama detractor, to do the same to the Democratic ticket.  Thanks to the beauty of hate crime legislation, displaying a black man in effigy gets me arrested, Halloween or no.  

Now, I could be wrong, but I highly doubt Miss-Tri-Name actually wishes death upon Palin, nor do I think s/he would actually be a physical threat to her well being (he makes window art for Christ's sake).  And I, on the same token, do not wish death upon The One and actually find the recent plot to assassinate him to be downright sickening.  Intentions aside, however, I'm still getting cuffed by the LAPD.

This is the double-edged sword of hate crime laws.  In a well-intentioned, though poorly thought out, attempt to bring equality to the minority, they devalue the exact same behavior perpetrated on those not covered under the legislation.  They are, in effect, the affirmative action of the legal domain.  

The irony is that the supporters of these laws, instead of raising the bar of justice for all, diminish it to the lowest common denominator.  Which, in these days, equates to whatever the "politically correct" Left defines that denominator to be....

.... In this case, hanging a vice-presidential candidate from your rooftop.