bigotry is alive and well on capitol hill

i was visiting some of my commenters blogs, and came to me and the blue skies. this is something i always try to do since its a fun way to meet people around the blogosphere. and, i was horrified by this post on his front page. now, you see mr. blue skies is witty and smart. love him. no, somehow i slept on the news since friday. you see i'd like to think that bigotry doesn't exist, and people are as open minded as men. but, i get smacked in the face by news like this and am awoken to the reality that there are still a lot of ignoramuses out there. i'm not sure right now whether i want to scream or cry or both. mainly, i want to make people aware that this crazy lady (and i don't mean crazy in a good way) not only exists but is an elected official. republican congresswoman virginia foxx of north carolina was ballsy enough to say in regards to the hate crime bill on the floor friday that and this is a quote from the associated press:

"We know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay," Foxx said during debate. "The bill was named for him, the hate-crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."

for more, read this article from the associated press.
i am so disgusted. how horrifying. it is bad enough that there are bigots that would kill someone just because he was gay, but then to have someone not only attempt to take away the little bit of meaning from matthew shephard’s death in that hate crime laws have now popped up throughout the country and then to take it a step further by defaming his memory and label the victim as a criminal. her statement literally turns my stomach. after hearing about foxx’s comments, i have searched high and low on the web to see how she could have possibly come up with this wildly insane conspiracy theory about shepard. amazingly, the only mention i see of robbery is that shepard was robbed in addition to being pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence and left to die. in addition, his murders found his address and were intending to rob is home. i cannot believe she is now trying to get out of this statement by saying it was a poor choice of words to use hoax. i certainly hope that this woman does not win reelection. i wish i knew more people or any people for that matter in her district. oh, i am so mad now i am wringing my hands. the only good thing i can think of out of all of this is that the house passed the act.