The NYC firefighters might quite rightly have been briefly acclaimed as heroes after September 11th - but it seems it doesn't take long before once again it's "Get back in line you bums."
And here is a quote from that report: Eleven firefighters were arrested and five police officers were injured after a clash at the site of the destroyed World Trade Centre yesterday following a protest at the scaling down of the numbers of rescue workers searching for the remains of victims...
The arrests of senior firemen, including a captain, a retired captain, a fire marshall and a lieutenant, prompted New York's mayor Rudolph Giuliani to say that the firefighters were "out of control" and that they did not have the ability to contain themselves emotionally. Those in custody included three top union officials...
The city's police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, said he hoped the men involved in the fighting would be jailed.
I'd hope there wouldn't be a jury in New York - indeed anywhere on the planet - that would convict, even if the judge were to tell them they had no choice but to do so,
Here's a link to a thread lining to some of the songs that have come out about them, in case we need reminding. And here are some quotes from them:
So tell all your children to tell all their children
never pass a firehouse without a brief pause
And thank all the heroes who work on those engines
Each day they risk all in humanity's cause
And
Tell me now, are these your heroes?
Those who fear and yet still dare;
When we all would flee to safety
Here's the one who climbs the stair.
And again
Now every time I try to sleep, I'm haunted by the sound
Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down.
But of course, "they did not have the ability to contain themselves emotionally" - and "The city's police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, said he hoped the men involved in the fighting would be jailed."