Anybody who considers Barack Obama’s policies a “radical leftist gay agenda” is already demonstrably off his rocker. The notion behind a hate crime is that it’s already a crime—assault, for instance—but that the choice of victim is based on bias on the part of the perpetrator, and so the penalty is increased. The Supreme Court has held that hate crimes are not a violation of free speech, because the increased penalty is, like the difference between first and second degree murder, or the difference between murder and manslaughter, a reflection of the motive. Mr Huckabee can think, say, write, publish, and broadcast anything he cares to about gay people, or black people, or atheists. That’s thought, and it isn’t prosecuted. If he takes a baseball bat to an atheist’s skull solely because he is an atheist, then considering his state of mind at the time of sentencing is reasonable. You cannot be charged with a crime for hating people. You can have your sentence increased for committing a crime against a person in a group you hate solely because you hate them. It sounds like you need a better source of information than Mr Huckabee.