Republican Presidential Candidate's Name In Public View Called A "Hate Crime"
How soon before breathing while being a student Republican is considered a "hate crime"?

I'm not a Republican. (I'm libertarian and fiscally conservative.)

And I'll vote for my dog or your dead cat before I vote for Donald Trump.

What I am is for free speech. But free speech is something the Big Girl's Blouses on campus these days (aka current students) are having a terrible time with.

In latest report from the capital of ridiculous -- Steven Glick writes at Campus Reform that a Claremont Pitzer student government member has deemed pro-Trump graffiti "a hate crime."

Yes, really.

Yesterday, the phrase "Make America" (presumably the beginning of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump's slogan, "Make America Great Again") appeared in faint letters on a mural at Pitzer College. Additionally, the word "Trump" was spray painted on Pitzer's clock tower.

In a widely shared Facebook post, Pitzer College Student Senate Executive Board member Elijah Pantoja described the statement as a "hate crime," and called for the individual who painted it to be prosecuted. Pitzer College joins Scripps, Emory, Michigan, and other schools in protesting recent pro-Trump messages.

"A 'post-racial America' is far from what we have," the Pantoja writes. "Instead, we face hate crimes like this across the nation and in high frequency. This isn't simply vandalism. And, in case it's too difficult to read, the mural with the flag and faces has, 'Make America' scrawled on it. This is a clear attempt to intimidate students of color at Pitzer College. I'm honestly in disbelief at how light the response has been."

"We are a community with a core value of 'social responsibility,'" the statement continues. "Yet the perpetrators most likely committed these acts in broad daylight? I have seen campuses across the country deal with similar attacks, and felt a great anger, but the proximity of these atrocious acts shake me to the core. This isn't a lighthearted joke we can simply laugh away, this isn't a drunken mishap that can be solved with a sheepish apology. Under California law, this is a hate crime and I hope the individual/s responsible are dealt with not only by the institution, but by the law of the state as well."

Yes, graffiti is obnoxious and some low-level offense, but as for the messages, even when we don't agree with what you're saying, we call this "political engagement."