It’s not that this guy decided to make some “stand” that bothers me, it’s that his stand is friggin’ wishy-washy. It’s nothing but a boilerplate talking point memo.
“the Federal government has grown out of control”
“Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People”
“opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers”
“my right as a Free Citizen”
“both parties are responsible”
“a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.”
No stand, just bullshit, random capitalizing, gummint-hating whining. If he’d had shown some balls and said, “Listen, I don’t like Obama,” at least he’d have something to stand on.
Look, I’m not saying that I think he doesn’t have the right to not go. But I think its a dick move. This isn’t attending a rally for Obama, and there is no implied support for him or his policies in attending. If he had invited the team to attend the Democratic National Convention, I would completely support anyone not going in that circumstance.
Perhaps I worded my opinion a bit too strongly. I don’t really believe that someone who does this can’t possibly be patriotic..that was a bit hyperbolic; but it is rather disrespectful, and I do believe that the office deserves respect even if you don’t have particular respect for the man holding it.
He doesn’t have to make a spectacle out of it, but I have no problem if there’s some one on one time with each of the players with him voicing his concerns to the President. Yeah, if he just jumped up front and started yelling “you suck” that’d also be quite disrespectful. There is a way to show you don’t agree with the man, but still respect the office and take it as a unique opportunity to meet the leader of the free world.
Meh. If he doesn’t want to go then he doesn’t go. And he won’t have a picture of him with the President to show is grandchildren. I would never make the same choice, but I don’t think it reflects on much beyond the fact that he’s not very good at separating politics from the rest of life.
Not to mention that he’s sort of painted himself into a corner. It seems the guy is politically aware. But he can’t meet any politician now without being labeled a hypocrite.
Maybe that’s his game; maybe he had a big day of Madden '12 ahead of him and he doesn’t like to be bothered on weekends or something.
Geez this is like getting a bunch of politicians into a room full of people where someone identifies themself as a veteran and every politician feels compelled to start every sentence with “thank you for your service”
Can we please assume that EVERYONE agrees that everyone has the right to do whatever the fuck they want, especially if what they want to do is give their president the middle finger. It is our country’s most sacred and cherished right.
I think some people are getting the point and it seems like most people agree that it was a dick move
What promise did he make that he knew he couldn’t keep? Guantanamo?
How the heck does a goalie do that? I don’t follow hockey but I have watched a few playoff games. It seems to me that goalies are far more liekly to be on the receiving end of physical punishment.
Yeah, it wopuldn’t seem so lame but then that opens him up to kneejerks liberrals accusing him of disliking Obama because of his race. I don’t know what the source of his dislike might be but (fairly or not) the racist elements of the tea party have given credence to these kneejerk accusations. Better if the Tea Party had identified and ejected the racists early on (who knows if there would have been quite as big a turnout or quite as much vigor, see, how they open themselves up to all sorts of attacks?) so that we can have a rational debate about their stupid ideas. Instead we find out that there are racists in their leadership.
What?!?!? we haven’t annexed Canada yet? Well, we should.
It’s being a jerk in that he’s making a big deal out of it, and thus denying his teammates who do want to go a peaceful time.
But, here’s the thing: quite a lot of athletes are jerks. I really can’t get fired up over this any more than any other athlete who puts himself in front of his teammates.
Seems like a dick move. Obama wasn’t inviting him to a political function, but just as a generic “go America” type tying. Going wouldn’t have been any sort of statement, other then maybe a vague pro-US one (or at least, pro-US hockey teams). Trying to twist it into a political thing is needlessly combative.
And agree that posters stressing his right to decline the invite are arguing against a strawman. No one is saying the Secret Service should arrest him and haul him unwillingly to the Whitehouse. Obviously he can legally do whatever he wants.
It’s not even that. If you win a championship in a pro sport or a major college sport, you get invited to the White House. It’s just part of the package now. It has been for a while and even trying to curtail the practice might be more trouble than it’s worth.
And? I love the Steelers as much as the next western PA guy, but Harrison’s always been the (black-and-) gold standard for “being a tactless asshole in public”.
Harrison was mentioned earlier in the thread (not by name) as a player who refused to meet Bush. I was pointing out he refused to meet visit the White House under Bush and Obama. And from what I can tell, being an asshole is his primary talent.
Sign me up for “It’s a dick move, but in America everyone’s free to be a dick.”
That said, I find his statement entertaining, inasmuch as I believe that Tim Thomas has read and understood the Constitution about as much as I believe in fairies and unicorns.
Its a complete dick move against his teammates as opposed to the President. If I was his teammate I would be like “What the fuck? You don’t want to celebrate this massive achievement we pulled off as a team. Fuck you.”
How about a link to a recognized sports commentary source that makes this claim, eh? I would have picked Sean Avery or Matt Cooke, maybe that Jarko Rootoo guy from Ottawa. If I weren’t a Cappies fan, I might admit that Alex Ovechkin can throw a few knees.
But I’ve never heard Tim Thomas described as the dirtiest player in the NHL. (I assume your ‘NFL’ is a typo, since he’s certainly NOT an NFL player).
So – cite?
Or could it be that political zeal has caused you to say something that simply isn’t true?
It could also be that you misread the post. He was talking about James Harrison who plays Football in the NFL. But, then, we all know what happens when we assume, don’t we.
He likes the Tea Party and Glenn Beck and chooses to hide it in the statement you quoted, pretending to be non-partisan. He clearly doesn’t like Obama and I don’t buy his statement about blaming all government, because it’s boilerplate Tea Party words that never appeared prior to Obama. I would think more of him if he was honest about it instead of being weasily.