Dear Rep. Boehner:

This is choice -- or would be if it weren't so ubiquitous:

Based on that statement, CBSNews.com contacted Boehner's office to find out if the minority leader opposes all hate crimes legislation. The law as it now stands offers protections based on race, color, religion and national origin.

In an email, Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said Boehner "supports existing federal protections (based on race, religion, gender, etc) based on immutable characteristics."

It should be noted that the current law does not include gender, though the expanded legislation would cover gender as well as sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

"He does not support adding sexual orientation to the list of protected classes," Smith continued.

Boehner's position, then, appears to be grounded in the notion that immutable characteristics should be protected under hate crimes laws. And while religion is an immutable characteristic, his office suggests, sexual orientation is not.

Uh, Rep. Boehner? Religion is not an immutable characteristic. Stupidity is an immutable characteristic.

Note: The article is good -- it actually does something besides stenography. Like, actual journalism. The comments, however -- well, let's just say the Republican noise machine has once again successfully fuzzed the discusson.

At the risk of repeating myself, I'm going to put it in terms even Andrew Sullivan can understand. (I single out Sullivan because his views on hate crimes legislation are ridiculous and completely wrong-headed.):

Hate crimes, by their result if not their intention (and frankly, I'd say as often as not by intention as well) are acts of terrorism. Their effect is to send a message to members of a group: You could be next, because we don't like you, you uppity (fill in favorite target here).

So, using the approved logic of the right wing, Boehner, et al., support terrorism.