OUR OWN SHAKESPERIAN ROLE MODEL

(A little introductory note - this posting was written in response to a nasty letter posted by Joy Vestal in the paper, along with her co-editor Myron Silverman and her asst. editor Don Foster and written by Milton Cohen

Milton Cohen, thou art an ass. One with the gall of a demented frog. Don't like hearing the truth? Well, then you need to heal from your brain -mouth connectus interruptus and watch what you write.

Here is some information worthy of your perusal. After you read that, read on and see how things can escalate because of one's thoughtless actions and statements.

"Any intentional false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a person's reputation; decreases the respect, regard, or confidence in which a person is held; or induces disparaging, hostile, or disagreeable opinions or feelings against a person."

That is the definition of defamation.

To recover damages in a lawsuit, a person must show:

"evidence of four elements: that the defendant conveyed a defamatory message; that the material was published, meaning that it was conveyed to someone other than the plaintiff; that the plaintiff could be identified as the person referred to in the defamatory material; and that the plaintiff suffered some injury to his or her reputation as a result of the communication."

Oh dear, oh dear. Would you like to publish a retraction of your comments on my patriotism or is accusing me of being a traitor satisfactory to you? Your choice. In the meanwhile, while you try to re-engage your brain, let's take a look at your letter to the prejudiced editor who, by the way, should have contacted me to present my response to such a defamatory letter or should never have printed it at all. Oh, well, she will be part and parcel of the suit unless an apology is received - in public - where I and many others are witness to it - hey, like the DA. What an idea! Anyway, to your printed garbage.

First up, your "so called educator" comment. As I do not recall you or a child of yours or any one related or connected to you as one of my many wonderful educational kids, and certainly not one of the many who write to me, I would like to know where you get your information from and how you intend to prove this statement. Bad idea as you will have lost this from the getgo. But even if I were the worst educator in the world what does who I was in my professional life have to do with that DA? Perhaps you were a lousy student? Just saying.

Since when is protest an un-American act. Walking out of an assembly of some type, particularly when it is basically rigged, is a time honored American tradition. I am truly sorry if your reading and thinking ability might preclude you from reading about this but perhaps TV might help you with that. And doing so with dignity, after I spoke quietly and with respect to the president of UCO, and getting the answer I fully expected, yes, I asked people to walk out and yes, several people knew that I would ask this of them if it came to that but did I ask all of them? NO! Did I force anyone to take this action? NO!!! These people walked out because they were disgusted at the UCO pattern of behavior. And pray, tell me what my husband speaking has to do with the man in the moon. I know he spoke at some point but so what? Maybe you were bullied by your wife or you bullied her, but in my marriage, independent thinking is allowed and by the way, Gerry is considered to be one of the best guys in town so watch yourself here, Shakespeare's ass.

In any case, you accuse me of depriving people of the right to hear what else was to be said at the DA. Are you truly an idiot? Never mind, asked and answered. How, may I ask, was I to know what was to come and who cares anyway. People have the right to choose their own behaviorisms and are not held prisoner. In fact, walking out on the DA seems to have become an honored tradition here in the Village. Just watch the tapes and see how many are left at the end. And by the way, this action was towards the end of the DA anyway, so please, go see if it is raining around the corner. Hopefully that will not strain your brain too much.

The next bit is just really over the top. Here I am accused of misbehavior towards our soldiers of the Korean and Vietnam war. Well, considering that I was 3 - 4 years old when the Korean War ended in a truce, I believe that fear of being "potched" should I spit at anyone, would have kept me from doing so and certainly my parents did not raise me that way and they would have been appalled at such behavior. At that age I certainly did not disobey my parents.

As far as Vietnam, how dare you. While I at first believed the lies that our government told us about the Bay of Tonkin, I eventually saw the truth and the horror of it, the need to get the hell out and bring our boys and girls home, safely. Never, not then and not now, would I ever disrespect a serviceman of our nation. I am still my parents' child, dear Oberon. Thank you for your service if you fought over there, but I am indeed sorry that it was a wasted war, as are most wars, as war truly does not leave any victors. And by the way, just a question of conjecture - how did you behave when you walked into a Vietnamese village? My Lai ring any bells?

Now if you can explain why you bring in religion to the next topic I would be ever so grateful and here is something that is going to bite you in your rear.

"....the patriotism of people like Ms. Sutofsky, who seek to destroy our monthly meetings, is suspect."

Really? Now that takes balls to accuse me of being unpatriotic. I have no need to prove to you or anyone else in your demented and deluded world of my patriotism. We have no more Gene McCarthy, no more HUAC, though some of today's politicians are just as nuts in their own ways. How dare you say - print - such a statement. You will not have a great deal of fun in court trying to prove that statement while on the contrary I will laugh at your struggles and stupidity in the first place!

Now, fair is fair so let me ask you a few questions. Remember, these are general questions, asking about alleged possibilities in your past life as a NYC policeman. So....were you an officer serving at any of the precincts involved in corruption? If so, please delineate your actions so that you can try to keep your name clear and clean. If you were involved, did these alleged actions stop? When? Were you ever disciplined for alleged misdoings and deeds? If so, how , when and why? Just asking? Just raising a few possibilities.

Did you behave with the mindset of the police at the time, meaning did you ever beat any person brought in for questioning? How free were you with your nightstick? Did you respect the rights of the accused to immediately retain a lawyer and refuse to speak to any personnel? Did you keep any suspects from sleeping, a designated and known torture technique? Did you stop people because of racial or ethnic appearance? Did these alleged possible behaviors ever attach themselves to your portfolio of police techniques. Were you a cop from Public Morals or from SVU?

Remember, these questions are all concerned with alleged possible behavior and action. I am not accusing you, only asking, only conjecturing whilst you, my dear ass of Shakespearian proportion, actually accused me and hence left yourself WIDE open. Oh, dear. Tsk, tsk.

An apology will help, will go a long way, and tell your disgraced and disgraceful journalist who allowed this to be printed in her RAG, that an apology had better be forthcoming - both orally and in print. In public and in the next issue and even on the blog as this is also where it is found. Oh the messes one can get oneself into. Dearie, dearie, me - and you!

Think about it, drain your gall, recharge your brain and close your nasty little mouth unless it is to apologize. Unpatriotic indeed! Just who exactly is it, by the way, that violated the Constitution every day here with closure of media to people, with abrogation of the right to freely assemble and speak to others and to those Shakespearian critters who blindly follow on his trail? Brain/mouth connectus interruptus, a serious malady indeed.