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Hey there George. How were the holidays? I spent mine back in the states in order to see my friends and family who came from every corner of the country to visit New York. Speaking of which, I saw on your web site a posting of Rudy's comments towards the judge who released a man who was arrested for cursing at a cop. Who does Rudy [Giulliani] think he is? I'd give HIM an 'F' in law for that comment. Of course the guy has a right to free speech. I've been cursed off myself a few times by completely mentally ill strangers when I've been up visitng friends in the City. If the guy was just talking, then he has no right to be arrested, no matter what his mental condition and how much drool falls from his lips. I find it galling that New York cops only a few hundred feet away did nothing while women were being sexually harassed at the Puerto Rican Day Parade last year yet think that it's perfectly okay to arrest a random lunatic (one of hundreds in the city) for yelling on a streetcorner. Radical religious groups standing on the street corner that tell me I'm going to hell because I'm white are even more a nusciance to me than Mr. Washington would be. It's simply one of those public nusciances that one has to get used to in New York. I'm not defending the man's actions, but I am defending his right to free speech. Nobody is always going to like what someone else says about him or her all of the time. Just because someone is a police officer doesn't give him or her the right to bend the law just to appease her or himself. One thing that I have heard from foreigners commenting on American police forces is that they tend to put personal interests and personal vendettas above their real job, which should be to uphold the laws of the land in spite of their personal feelings towards the situation. Lord knows that the NYPD doesn't have a good track record in that department. Police need more restrictions on their behavior, not less, judging from what I've seen in this country. While passers-by in New York may not enjoy the antics of Mr. Washington, Judge Edmead has protected the freedom of speech of each and every one of those passer-bys, including the cops. Just a bit of constructive criticism (and FREE SPEECH!) - nothing personal
against Rudy.
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