Rev. Ted Pike reported last night in one of his indispensable e-alerts that the Hate Crime bill signing, supposedly set for Wednesday, is still in jeopardy because Congress also attached the $100 million F-35 jet engine project to the defense bill, despite Obama’s threatened veto.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that Obama would choose budget restraint over throwing a bone to his coalition of crazies, although he did show commendable irritation when harrassed about playing basketball with CongressMEN (”I gotta say I think this is bunk”). But you never know.

As I pointed out after the Holocaust Museum shooting, this legislation will certainly metastasize into an attack on political speech. Two recent atrocities from Britain show how it will be done:

Grandmother who objected to gay march is accused of hate crime, by Andrew Levy, London Daily Mail, 26 October 2009.

(She wrote a letter to her local council objecting to its permitting a Gay Pride parade and was investigated by police).

Motorist told flag could be racist, by Charley Morgan, Wiltshire Times, 23 May 2008.

(He had the England flag—the red cross of St George—inside his car and was told it ”might be offensive to immigrants” by police.