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If Smollett isn't charged with a hate crime, then no one should be. It's either a legal principle or an instrument of totalitarian political power. If the latter, then we should get rid of hate-crime laws immediately and should have done so long ago.
It's also time to formally acknowledge that left-wing hate hoaxes are one of the most prevalent and dangerous hate crimes in America right now. They're exceptionally dangerous because they instantly benefit from the combined power of credulous news media and celebrities.
We're all supposed to be very concerned about information warfare, disinformation, and "meddling" in our politics and society. Hate-crime hoaxes are prime examples of all of those things, and they are far more influential than Russia buying $1000 of Facebook ads or whatever.
We're also supposed to be concerned about the social environment that makes various pathological behaviors more common. Okay, let's talk about the social environment that makes so many people think nothing of reporting false hate crimes.
Criminal behavior is usually influenced by risk-reward calculations. At the moment, people see little risk in reporting false hate crimes and enormous reward - instant celebrity, the righteous rush of secular sainthood, possible financial benefits.
And they don't feel like they're doing anything "wrong" because they've imbibed the left-wing concept of Deeper Truth. Sure, maybe *I* made up my story of MAGA lynch mobs, but they're a real threat lurking all over the place and I'm doing a public service by "raising awareness."
We can take a step toward fixing that by throwing the book at Jussie Smollett if he's found guilty of faking a hate crime, which absolutely MUST be considered as much of a hate crime as the incident he faked.
Otherwise, we are reinforcing all of the awful forces that inspire people to invent phony hate crimes, including the poisonous totalitarian idea that some groups are incapable of hatred, while others DESERVE to be hated, so slandering them is not a serious offense. /end
