Hate crime?

Dear Editor,
Early Saturday morning, fire damaged property of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka.
Fire investigators said the flames originated outside the detached garage, near two large trash can totes. The fire destroyed both cans and their contents as flames spread to the exterior of the garage and an adjacent privacy fence.
Rev. Fred Phelps, pastor of the church, has written the U. S. attorney for Kansas, Michael Mukasey, demanding that the fire be investigated as a "hate crime."
Certainly, whoever set this fire (if it was actually arson) committed a despicable act which endangered human life, but the irony of Rev. Phelps denouncing a "hate crime" is overwhelming.
Fred and his church are best known for their politics of hate -- picketing funerals of American servicemen and reviling homosexuals.  The brave firemen who fought the blaze carried signs saying "God hates fags" from the burning structure.
Regrettably, as the fire was being extinguished, the Phelpites vowed that nothing will deter them from delivering their message of hate.
Timothy A. Short
Attorney at Law
Pittsburg