THIS is what tolerance for bigotry, violence, and hate produces

maybe, just maybe, america is beginning to extricate itself from the fetid morass of hate, prejudice, and advocacy for violence that such devout christians as james dobson and tony perkins have, tellingly, never explicitly renounced, and that such extremist, far-right mouthpieces as malkin and coulter have all but openly endorsed... tragically, for some, like matthew shephard and david ritcheson, it comes too late...

two and one-half months ago, david ritcheson testified before a house of representatives committee considering hate crimes legislation...

It was shortly after arriving at this private residence that a minor disagreement between me and the attackers turned into the pretext for what I believe was a premeditated hate crime. This was a moment that would change my life forever. After I was surprisingly sucker punched and knocked out, I was dragged into the back yard for an attack that would last for over an hour. Two individuals, one an admitted racist skinhead, attempted to carve a swastika on my chest. Today I still bear that scar on my chest like a scarlet letter. After they stripped me naked, I was burned with cigarettes and savagely kicked by this skinhead’s steel toed army boots. After burning me in the center of the forehead, the skinhead attacker was heard saying that now I looked like an Indian with the red dot on my forehead. Moreover, the witnesses to the attack recalled the two attackers calling me a "wetback" and a ‘spic" as they continued to beat me as I lay unconscious. Once the attack came to an end, I was dragged to the rear of the back yard and left for dead. Reportedly, I lay unconscious in the back yard of this private residence for the next 8-9 hours.

yesterday, he took his own life...

A Spring teen who survived a brutal beating with a pipe last year apparently jumped to his death from a Cozumel-bound cruise ship on Sunday.

we are all human beings, living on the same planet, trying to find our way... can we please stop this...? NOW...?

(thanks to mariachi mama at daily kos...)

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