[it’s incredible to think that after this election–where president-elect obama was at various points accused of plagiarism, derided for being over eloquent, and praised for his rhetoric–the power of speech is being minimized by suffolk county executive steve levy. levy doesn’t see the connection between anti-immigrant opinion and the death of marcello lucero even as long island doorsteps are being littered with kkk flyers in an area where residents draw “sharp distinctions between assimilated immigrants, who they said should be welcomed as friends and neighbors, and newly arrived illegal immigrants, who they said do not belong.”
the rhetoric gets deeper as ecuadorian officials want stiffer charges to be brought forward in the attack and others feel that hate crime charges shouldn’t be inflated “even if you choose racism.”
all this speechifying can take a back seat as marcello lucero’s mother has the ultimate say: