“Inconceivable!”

Twelve years after Senator Edward Kennedy introduced legistlation which became the foundation for The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the bill is facing a veto…from a Democratic President.

As I wrote yesterday, under the brilliant guidence of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, this important piece of legislation, which quite frankly should have been debated openly and voted on separately given its importance in sending out a tougher message that hate crimes will no longer be tolerated, was tacked on as an amendment to the Department of Defense (DOD) reauthorization bill.

President Obama has threatened to veto any DOD bill that contains funding for an F-22 program that both the White House and Defense Secretary Robert Gates oppose. As the bill stands now, $1.75 billion has been set aside for the F-22 program.

Thanks to the wisdom of Harry Reid, [who I have to believe thought the threat of a veto would be "Inconceivable!"], instead of discussing the merits and importance of the Matthew Sheppard Act, we are instead holding our collective breath as a Presidential veto looms.  It is important to note that President Obama gave his personal assurance to Matthew's mother Judy, that he would sign an inclusive bill. That promise is now in serious jeopardy.

The only hope as it stands now is a bipartisan compromise to be introduced by Senators John McCain and Carl Levin on Monday that would remove the controversial F-22 from the current DOD bill.  However, according to multiple sources it is unclear if they have the votes necessary for its successful removal.

At the end of the day, it simply can not be said enough that until important issues such as the hate crimes bill are discussed in an open forum, the message behind it won't mean much because without the debate people can't learn.  And if that can't learn — nothing changes!