I'm amazed that I'm writing this, but I actually agree with Andrew Sullivan and Bill Maher here and I couldn't have explained this better myself. Maybe someone out there should send this piece to No. 1 far-Left gay advocate Ellen Degerenes (who is the person who made Tyler Clementi out to be a martyr in the first place) so she could see two far-Left loons state passionately that being stupid and mean doesn't mean you deserve 10 years in prison:

On tonight’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the host and gay columnist Andrew Sullivan spoke out strongly against hate crimes legislation, branding it as the government trying to regulate people’s thoughts. Sullivan argued that in an ideal society based on the rule of law, a person should be judged on their actions, not their thoughts. Maher and Sullivan also agreed that the roommate of Tyler Clementi, the gay Rutgers student who committed suicide after said roommate pranked him, should not be charged with bias intimidation.


Fellow panelist Wendy Schiller disagreed with Maher and Sullivan’s arguments, saying that “an inclination to hate causes destruction,” and said that certain mental states may lead a person to commit a violent crime in the future. Sullivan shot back that people hate and resent other people for a number of reasons, including class resentment or personal animosity, and there are no hate crimes laws that encompass those mindsets.


On the other hand, Maher also brought up crimes of passion, where people tend to get lesser sentences because of their emotional state, and said that the law should just tell people it’s not okay to kill someone no matter your personal emotional state. Sullivan made it clear that neither he nor Maher are “standing up for hate,” but that they were trying to be intellectually consistent when it comes to defending the rights of all people, including homophobes.


“The right of a bigot to walk down the street is the same right of a drag queen to walk down the street. You attack it for one group, every group will suffer.”


Maher shifted the discussion to Dharun Ravi, the roommate of Tyler Clemente, who was found guilty of all charges and may face 10 years in prison. Ravi did spy on Clemente, and Maher didn’t doubt “he was a mean kid” but he said that Ravi shouldn’t face that much jail time for being “mean.” Sullivan agreed, saying that most people who are the subject of pranks that border on horrible don’t end up committing suicide, and said that if everyone who’s ever pulled a prank on someone and hurt them, whether homosexuality was an issue or not, “half the country would be locked up.”


Schiller tried to argue that Ravi specifically targeted Clementi because he was gay, but Maher disputed that notion, calling him a “kid in a dorm” who did something stupid, and said that pushing for hate crimes legislation “gives liberals a bad name.” Sullivan pointed out that Ravi vigorously denied that he was homophobic, and argued that the justice system was trying to decide what was inside his mind and his heart for him.

RELATED: Chris Cuomo Grills Tyler Clementi Roommate Dharun Ravi: Did You Frighten Him?

Desperate For Black Votes Barack Obama Exploits Tayvon Martin's Death

Actually I'll give Barry a little benefit of the doubt here. Because after speaking out on white, liberal shill Sandra Fluke a couple of weeks ago he really had no choice but to say something about Tayvon Martin. But considering how it's an election year and the fact that Barry has done nothing for the 98& of the black electorate that voted for him in 2008, it's not wrong to say that this comment on the Martin tragedy may have killed two birds with one stone despite the fact that Barry shouldn't have said anything about Fluke in the first place:

President Barack Obama spoke out Friday for the first time on the growing national controversy over the shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager in Florida, saying that the incident requires national "soul-searching."


"When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids," Obama said. "And I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together, federal, state and local to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened."


Trayvon Martin, 17, died February 26. Police say he was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, who said he was acting in self-defense. Martin was unarmed, carrying a bag of Skittles candy and an iced tea, according to police.


Although a grand jury will convene April 10 to look into the case, authorities so far have declined to arrest the volunteer, George Zimmerman, sparking a national debate over Florida's "stand your ground" deadly force law amid concerns about racial profiling.


Martin's family asserts that race was a factor in the teenager's death.


A police report describes Zimmerman as white; his family says he is Hispanic and that he has been wrongly described as a racist.


Obama's unexpected comments brought a new dimension to a case that has generated intense response from across the country, elevating what the White House had previously described as a matter for local law-enforcement into one deemed worthy of presidential comment.


Obama praised Florida Gov. Rick Scott's decision to create a task force to review the "stand your ground" law and said that it would be important to "examine the laws and the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident."


"But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon," Obama said.


"I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americas are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we will get to the bottom of exactly what happened," he said.

RELATED: Geraldo: Blame the hoodie for Trayvon Martin shooting as much as the shooter; Update: Florida law explained

Rick Santorum Is Bitter, Says America Is Better Off With Obama That Mitt Romney

Yeah, he went there. So sad to watch.

ABCNews.com:

Rick Santorum played off of the Mitt Romney campaign’s Etch A Sketch gaffe today when he told an audience that the country might be better off with President Obama than with a candidate who will shift his positions with ease and who he believes is not very different from the president.


“You win by giving people a choice. You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there. If you’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future,” Santorum told a crowd at USAA.


During a press avail following the event, Santorum, who carried the Etch A Sketch during his speech, argued that Romney knows he can’t win in the general election.


“All the things that allow Romney to win the primary are unavailable to him to win the general and that’s why you see these Etch A Sketch comments because he knows he can’t win,” said Santorum.


As he spoke to a crowd which included people standing on other levels peering over the ledge to hear him, Santorum stressed the weight the Texas primary will carry on the overall race, saying the race will continue through Texas, whose large delegate count of 155 offers him the “opportunity to reset this race.”


“You have a very important role to play in this election, here in the state of Texas. It’s the second-biggest delegate prize, and you’re going to have an important role. This race will not be over when Texas is coming around. And you’re going to have a choice, an opportunity to really, and I think we’ll have again this Saturday, to reset the race. We have Louisiana coming up and another opportunity to reset this race. And you’ll have that same opportunity here in the state of Texas.”


Santorum has repeatedly referenced the “two-man race” evolving in the campaign but has yet to ask Newt Gingrich, who attracts many of the same type of voters, to drop out of the race. Asked if he has spoken to the Gingrich campaign, Santorum said he himself has had no contact with the candidate or his campaign.

RELATED: Santorum’s lost message

Rep. Steve King: Losing Health Care Battle In Supreme Court Could Help Obama’s Re-Election

I agree and I'm surprised that more conservatives haven't spoken about this interesting little tidbit. If the Supreme Court strikes down ObamaCare, what could the GOP candidate for President say about a corrupt and controversial legislative move that no longer exists?:

Steve King, a Republican congressman from Iowa, expressed concern on Wednesday about the effect the Supreme Court’s heath care decision would have on President Obama‘s re-election effort. Contrary to what many may think, King said if the court declared the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional, the decision would help the president win a second term.


At a news conference, King said:


“If the Supreme Court should find this unconstitutional, which I believe is the appropriate decision, then we still need to repeal Obamacare to follow through on that. But I think then that there is more risk that President Obama will be reelected because people will think they are protected from this egregious reach into our freedom.”


The court instead rules the legislation is constitutional, King said, “then I believe President Obama will not be reelected because [voters] will understand that they have to vote him out of office to repeal it.”


Regardless, if decided it’s unconstitutional, the decision would be a huge blow to a cause the Obama administration championed and fought incredibly hard for.

RELATED: Supreme Court and health care law: state sovereignty at stake

Actor Kirk Cameron Defends His "Controversial" Comments About Homosexuality

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Only in 2012 does a Christian man have to defend himself for daring to have Christian views:

On “The Today Show” this morning, actor Kirk Cameron told host Ann Curry that he stands by his past controversial comments about homosexuality. Earlier this month, on “Piers Morgan Tonight,” Cameron said he does not support gay marriage and thinks that homosexuality is “destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.”


In his conversation with Curry today, Cameron said it would have been more newsworthy if he had said otherwise — and he has a very valid point:


“I was surprised, frankly, that people were surprised by the things that I’ve said,” he told host Ann Curry. “I have been consistent for 15 years as a Christian. I’m a Bible-believing Christian. What I would have thought was more newsworthy is if I had said something that contradicted the word of God, if I had contradicted my faith.”


Curry asked the actor if he hated homosexuals.


“Absolutely not,” he said. “I love all people, I hate no one…When you take a subject and reduce it to something like a four-second soundbite and a check mark on a ballot, I think that that’s inappropriate and insensitive. To edit it down to that, it certainly didn’t reflect my full heart on the matter.”


When you think about his comments in that light, any outrage over them does seem hyper-sensitive and strange. “Noted Christian believes what Christianity teaches.” How shocking!


What’s sad, though, is that it is a surprise to many non-Christians when they hear a Christian stand up for controversial Christian doctrines because so few famous Christians do. When actress and Christian Kristen Chenoweth, for example, appeared on “Piers Morgan Tonight” in the fall, she presented quite a contrast to Kirk Cameron — and, as I recall, created no stir whatsoever by voicing her support for gay marriage.


It’s also interesting that so few people seem to remember a couple important people who theoretically still don’t support gay marriage.


A quick note on Cameron’s comment that homosexuality is “destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization”: If you take that very literally, it’s actually pretty indisputable. The very first foundation of any civilization is existence itself. Human reproduction is necessary for human civilization. If our twenty-first century civilization consisted entirely of homosexuals who engaged only in homosexual behavior, civilization would rapidly cease to exist. From this literal perspective, homosexuality is no more destructive to civilization than contraception or abortion — but it is destructive. It serves no point to deny that.


Nor does it serve any point to deny what we all know from personal experience: Every single human being has certain destructive tendencies inside of him — the tendency to meanness, maybe, or to unkindness, to sloth, to gluttony, to thievery, to murder. What Christianity claims to offer or, more specifically, what Christ claimed to offer — and what many Christians joyfully attest to experiencing — is a grace-sustained way of overcoming those tendencies. In that offer is not condemnation, but an invitation to true freedom.

CNN's 'Objective' Don Lemon Appeared at Two Events Featuring Sebelius, Received 'Visibility' Award at Pro-Gay Gala

Newsbusters.org:

If you were wondering about CNN's objectivity on liberal issues like gay rights, the lines became a whole lot more blurred recently as anchor Don Lemon received a "Visibility" award from the pro-gay Human Rights Campaign at its North Carolina gala, where Obama's HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke and stumped for the President's re-election.


Then on Friday, Sebelius addressed middle school students at an anti-bullying event where Lemon served as the moderator of an anti-bullying panel. His appearances at events with an Obama cabinet member blur the lines of objectivity and his receiving an award from a gay-rights organization makes his liberal bias all the clearer.


At the anti-bullying event, Lemon asked Sebelius about combating bullying. She responded that kids should tell bullies they're being jerks, after a film had been presented telling the audience of kids not to call others jerks.


And at the HRC gala, Lemon quoted Martin Luther King in his acceptance speech that "There comes a time where silence equals betrayal," in reference to his own coming out as openly-gay. Could he also have been referring to his colleague Anderson Cooper's widely-discussed silence on his own personal lifestyle?


Lemon's words echo his statement from last May, where he professed his hope to "change minds" by coming out – as in, by coming out as openly-gay and not remaining silent, he hopes that will change people's minds on the issue. Contrast that with his telling Joy Behar that he would remain "objective" as a reporter.


And who was one of the corporate sponsors for the HRC gala? Time Warner, Inc., which owns CNN.

Barack Obama Blamed His Popularity Woes On Fox News

Because it's never his fault:

President Barack Obama blamed Fox News for his political woes in a private meeting with labor leaders in 2010, saying he was “losing white males” who tune into the cable outlet and “hear Obama is a Muslim 24/7,” according to journalist David Corn’s new book, “Showdown.”


In “Showdown: The Inside Story of How Obama Fought Back Against Boehner, Cantor, and the Tea Party” — which hits bookstores on Tuesday — the Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones chronicles the White House from the 2010 midterm elections to the start of the 2012 campaign. The book focuses on key moments of Obama’s presidency, such as Osama bin Laden’s assassination, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Arab Spring, the debt ceiling crisis, and the president’s dealings with Congress.


Corn writes that after the midterm elections, Obama told labor leaders in December 2010 that he held Fox partly responsible for him “losing white males.”


“…Fed by Fox News, they hear Obama is a Muslim 24/7, and it begins to seep in…The Republicans have been at this for 40 years. They have new resources, but the strategy is old,” Corn recounted Obama as saying.


(Also on POLITICO: Obama's go-it-alone program only goes so far)


Obama shifted his own tactics in 2011, Corn writes, moving from compromising with Republicans to challenging the tea party. The president, senior adviser David Plouffe and other top administration officials plotted a “secret strategy” — by not unveiling a specific deficit reduction plan and not instantly challenging the House Republicans’ budget cuts — to “draw the GOP into a trap.”


The book also highlights some of the administration’s battles on the economy. Corn writes that when then President’s Council of Economic Advisers chair Christina Romer advocated for more stimulus in a fall 2009 meeting, Obama said, “I can’t get it done. Don’t you understand that?”


And in a meeting with an adviser after the 2010 midterm elections, Obama slammed corporate executives for attacking him.


“I saved these guys when the economy was falling off a cliff,” Obama said, according to Corn. “Now I get nothing but their venom.”

Politiks As Usual: In The News 3/19/12

Poll: Gingrich Supporters Would Split Between…

Mitt Romney Projected Winner In Puerto Rico

Why We Defend Marriage

Drug Addict Rips 'Pathetic' 8-week Sentence

Gas Prices Up For 9th Straight Day

Robert Bales, Afghan Killing Suspect, Plagued By Money And Job Strife

Hollywood Promoting Women Behaving Badly

PHONY 2012: Fiction Trumps Fact in Many Media Reports

The Left’s Long-Time War on Women

Clooney Uses Star Power To Shine Light On Sudanese Atrocities

George Will: I Never Said The White House Wasn’t Winnable

Victory For Ellen Degerenes-Led Gay Mafia: Dharun Ravi Convicted Of "Hate Crimes", Alternate Juror in Rutgers Spy Case Disagrees With Guilty Verdict

Remember it was satanist and gay activist Ellen Degeneres who brought national attention to innocent Rutgers student Dhuran Ravi in the first place by attempting to make fellow student Tyler Clementi into a martyr for the morally bankrupt worldwide gay community and it's radical, anti-God leaders. Indeed, now just being accused of being "homophobic" can get you imprisoned, much less ruin your life:

What Dharun Ravi did was creepy and childish. He used a webcam to spy on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, kissing another man in their dorm at Rutgers. He invited other students to watch, and wrote about it on his Twitter feed. He was a geeky freshman trying to show off.


But that’s not enough to put him behind bars, in the company of rapists, muggers and killers — as allowed under the state’s sloppy hate crimes law. We hope the judge makes the exceptional call not to give him jail time — a decision that’s within his power.


Ravi wasn’t charged in Clementi’s death, though the gay student’s suicide was what poured gasoline on this fire. We’ll never know why Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge, so it’s unfair to pin that on Ravi.


He deserves the same type of punishment as Molly Wei, the other student charged with spying on Clementi: counseling and community service. Chances are, Ravi didn’t take a plea deal like she did because he was afraid he’d be deported to India. He’s here on a student visa.


Now, he’s looking at possible deportation and a state prison sentence. He’s certain to appeal, and the appellate judges should find this vague, confusing bias law unconstitutional. It’s a huge overreach in this case. What Ravi and Wei did was beyond mean. But it’s not clear they did it specifically because Clementi was gay.


Yes, they treated him like a sideshow curiosity. But lascivious pranks aren’t uncommon in a freshman dorm, and you get the impression the same might have happened if the shy violinist had brought home an extremely obese or particularly unattractive woman he met online. How uncool — easy target.


Remember, while Ravi made fun of Clementi for being gay, Clementi made fun of Ravi for his Indian heritage. Both accused the other of being poor. These were two roommates who didn’t know how to talk to each other, so they wrote petty jibes online. They were immature, not trying to instill fear. As Star-Ledger columnist Kathleen O’Brien pointed out, the other kids in the dorm, who said nothing and did nothing to stop Ravi’s scheme, are culpable, too.


Having a bias law is a legitimate way to highlight the threat of hate crimes, which are an attempt to instill fear in an entire community. If someone goes around burning crosses on lawns, it would seem odd to charge him simply with trespassing or damaging private property.


But here, there was no evidence that Ravi was trying to instill fear. None of the students who testified said they saw any evidence that he was bigoted toward gay people.


This case shows the danger of having such a broad statute. Legislators need to rethink this law, and tailor the punishments to fit the severity of the crime and the clarity of the threat.


We searched for proof of homophobia in Ravi, but we should focus that scrutiny on ourselves. Do we tell our kids it’s okay to be gay? Why don’t we accept soldiers and teachers and athletes who are openly gay? Or allow gay people to marry whom they love, like everyone else?


What kind of despair prompted Clementi to step off that bridge? Maybe it’s something he internalized, that we as a society have taught.

RELATED: Alternate juror in Rutger’s spy case disagrees with guilty verdict