You can, but it doesn't mean you should, and it doesn't make you a nice person.
In Robert McIntosh Jr.'s case, it makes him a "fucking ass" and a shmuck to boot.
Earlier this week, McIntosh was awarded $20,000 after winning a civil rights lawsuit that he'd filed against Boulder County, saying his First Amendment rights had been violated.
In October 2010, a Boulder County sheriff's deputy pulled McIntosh over, saying he was doing 41 mph in a school zone, where the speed limit was 20 mph. According to the report, McIntosh was talking on his cell phone and didn't notice the flashing lights at first. When he finally did pull over, he started cursing the deputy, telling him he was being "a fucking ass" and he'd see him in "fucking court."
McIntosh tried to stare the deputy down and pointed out that the speed limit is normally 35 miles per hour, the report says. Eventually, the deputy saidhe'd arrest him if he didn't stop cursing. So when McIntosh yelled, "Screw you," he ended up in jail.
Should McIntosh have been arrested? No. Is he a jerk? Yes. And not just for swearing at the cop, but because he was doing 41 in a twenty mph zone and talking on his cell phone (he pleaded guilty to the speeding charge, by the way).
He got to see the cop in fucking court, all right, but the real fucking ass is looking McIntosh in the mirror -- the rearview mirror that he should probably check more often.
More from our Shmuck archive: "Balloon Boy family auctioning their helium-filled hoax: Now if only the Heenes would float away."