Behavior had nothing to do with politics

This letter is in reply to a question raised by Bert Wallis in his Nov. 20 letter.

Mr. Wallis asked if a liberal would address what he called separate rules. He spoke of the difference in response to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and President-elect Barack Obama being hung in effigy.

To the point, there is no difference. These acts were perpetrated by people on both sides of the political fence who did not have the maturity or intellect required to make themselves heard without "acting out." This type of behavior has nothing to do with being a liberal or conservative.

As a human, not a labeled person, I find all crime is somehow a crime of hate. Often this is a hate of authority or a hate of difference, which is spawned by fear. Those people who "act out" like a naughty child need to be corrected.

The people in authority who failed to respond to the effigy of Ms. Palin were wrong in my opinion. Should someone have been arrested? I don't know because I don't know the law surrounding this issue. They certainly should have been outraged. I would suspect that a threat is real and since JFK, RFK and MLK were assassinated, that threats toward those in authority or high position need to be dealt with as real.

Separating rules as to degree of crime seems odd at best to me. Is the murder of a child more heinous than the murder of a gay man? Or is the opposite true? How can we call one a hate crime and not the other?

In closing, Mr. Wallis my prayer is that we of this country see ourselves first and foremost as Americans working toward the goal of peace.

JUDI FERRANTE

Sandpoint