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Patrick finally breaks silence on Thomas affair
By adamg on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 12:15pm
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Comments
He's right.
John Adams stood in the court of King George III as an ambassador. He was also diametrically opposite of Jefferson, yet they remained colleagues and good friends. Our history is wrought with people with very different ideas coming together for common ground, and fighting cordially when their opinions differ.
Timmy wasn't really standing up for anything. He was sheepishly standing against it. If his politics is "Fuck You", he mise well be sitting in the Anonymous/anarchists corner. Nihilism is an anticivil pathology.
If you want to be political, take off the gold foil hat and get involved. Don't piss off half your fan base by being disrespectful and coy, about something that wasn't political to start with.
Not Political?
Of course it was political. Every time a politician (any politician) congratulates a sports team or sporting figure, in public with the cameras present, it is political. It is pandering to that team's fans or fans of that sport, pure and simple.
It is accepted practice, expected in many corners and seen as a slight by some if NOT done with their particular favorite team, but it is never anything less than political.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Head of State
Sorry Sul, but I don't agree. People might make it political, but there's plenty of duties of the office of the president that are not political.
Unless the Obama administration has some freemason political initiative on sports teams that I'm not aware of. I've been trying to keep away from Glennie poo lately.
Not A "Duty" Of The Office
It seems I'm obviously arguing on the losing side of this, at least in this forum, but I'll give it one more try.
Meeting and greeting sporting figures is not a "duty" of the office. What it is, plain and simple, is a photo op for the President (no matter whether it be Obama or any of his predecessors from any party) and it is designed to put a friendly face on the President, make him look like a regular joe and a fan, and to up his appeal with a certain segment of voters. It is strictly, without any doubt, unequivocally, 100% political in nature.
Let's take this from another angle: If it is NOT political, what is the purpose? Give me a solid answer to that question and maybe I'll be able to see it from your angle.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
...on the losing side of this, at least in this forum
There's no greater badge of honor. +1.
B-but dissent was the highest
B-but dissent was the highest form of patriotism when George Bush was president!
HOW DARE one of the little people decide they don't want to spend any of their personal time in the presence of a politician they don't particularly care for.
And I'm back to thinking of whiny babies
You know, most of us (though clearly very few members of Congress, and the occasional sports personality) out grew the whole "I don't like you so I'm not going to talk to you!" concept of public discourse when we in elementary school.
But hey, if Mr. Thomas doesn't want to stand with the rest of his team while the President of the US applauds their success, he of course has that right.
It still makes him a freaking narcissistic cry baby.
No, Actually It Proves His Bravery
The easiest thing in the world would have been for him to go receive some applause, have some photos taken, share a few contrived yucks, and then go about the rest of his life. By separating himself, he made a conscious choice to become the target of abuse. Agree or disagree with his actions, give him credit for being a man about it.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
No, it proves he's a selfish little bitch
Selfish because the day shouldn't have been all about him, it should have been about his team and their accomplishments. And a little bitch because he hid behind a Facebook post instead of actually confronting the people he disagrees with.
People sure have a weird definition of what it means to be a man these days.
So...
You would have preferred that he go there and mouth off to The President, confronting the person with whom he disagrees? If you consider what he did disrespectful, how can you consider that less so?
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Who said he needs to mouth off?
He could have made this political, like he wanted to do, and gone too. Releasing a PR on his political views, but on the non political nature of the event would have gone over much better. Give a call for Obama to recognize his views, ect. There's ways to come out way ahead in this situation, without being disrespectful or nihilistic.
Honestly his "Free Citizen" comment should have raised some questions. The sovereign citizen crowd isn't exactly a mainstream political group. I'm hoping he just misspoke, which is possible.
Come on, Suldog
Making yourself a martyr doesn't automatically make you noble.
No, But It Does Generally Take Some Guts
That's all I'm saying. Calling someone a "whiny little bitch" implies that the person is a coward. I'm saying that logic would indicate that as being incorrect, and it shouldn't matter whether you agree or disagree with somebody's actions to understand the truth in that.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
I'm sooooo sure all these
I'm sooooo sure all these libs would also have been worried about respecting the office of the President if Gerry Cheevers had skipped meeting President Nixon in '70 and '72 had the tradition existed back then.
You can substitute Reagan and Bush if you want to try imagining a Bruins team winning a Cup during those years.
More recent examples
The Pats won 3 and went during Bushs two terms. I'm sure there were a few that didn't agree with his politics. I'm sure there were also a few of Timmys politics that are repulsed by both parties. To my knowledge, they all went. If a few didn't, they didn't make it into a circus about them.
I'm as librul as they get (well not really) but I would have said the same about them. Bush sucked, but a visit to the white house for the head of state recognizing the national winners of a sport is about as political as reading to school children.
Maybe the real problem is that what used to be rather benign acts of state have been trumped up into battle in the 24/7 ideological war that some feel they need to wage.
Bleacher Report makes the clearest argument so far
Tim Thomas wasn't invited to the White House. The Boston Bruins goalie was. Tim Thomas just happens to be the person filling that slot right now.
Basically, when he chose to become a part of the team, Tim Thomas stopped being a private citizen and started being a portion of the team he agreed to get paid to be a part of.
This reminds me of when I was in the marching band in high school. We were told that when we got off the bus we weren't acting as individuals, but as a group. We represented our band and our school and anything we did reflected on both of those things. Tim Thomas is a member of his team. The team was invited to the White House. If he wanted to act individually, then he should have quit the team.
Love it or leave it, Tim!
Either you're part of "Team America" or you're one of the terrorists. I think this stuff is all bogus. Kaz, you'd really have the same perspective if this was Bush? Either you go and pay homage or drop out and become a monk or something- no middle ground? Personally, I suspect Thomas isn't all that bright, and probably he ran into trouble with the IRS because his accountants aren't as good as Romney's. Hence the grudge. But I wish people would stop this line of argument- it just rings false to me.
If it was Bush
I don't have an equivalent "liberal acts like an ass to Presidency". But I can tell you that I like Curt Schilling even though politically I think he's a schmuck. He didn't turn his back on the team when the team ha somewhere to be as a team. This, like the link says, isn't about Tim's politics. It's about how much he is a team player and off the ice he's proved he has no interest in being a part of the team.
Team
Team ends when you go home, Kaz. Otherwise, everybody's wife would be subject to a gang bang.
I'll tell you what - Seriously - If Thomas's contract contains language making it imperative for him to attend team functions outside of games and practices, then you're absolutely right. He should have gone. If that language doesn't exist, then he can do whatever he damn well pleases, so long as it is legal, once outside the team's facilities.
If you want to limit this to some sort of moral high ground, though, and leave out contractual obligation, then we're going to have to return to the argument of whether or not it was a political function he was being asked to attend. And I know damn well you're too smart to argue it wasn't and mean it.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Funny thing is...
Just because they call it the White *House* doesn't make it "home". In other words, as the Bleacher Report says, Tim Thomas didn't get a personal invite in his mailbox to come to the White House. The TEAM got one and he is part of team.
TEAM
Team encompasses many people beyond the ones we see on TV. There are those who were with the team for part of the season, but not at the end, whether because of injury or trade or waivers or demotion to the minors. There are those who perform functions with the team that do not include skating, such as team doctors, physicians, trainers, coaches, etc.
Get a list of all those people either given a winning share or a partial share, and those given rings, and tell me how many of them were invited aside from the players who were on the bench for the final game. When you realize that only certain segments of the "team" were invited to the shindig, then you'll understand more readily that this is always an event for publicity purposes and political gain. Folks occupying The White House, during any administration, don't truly give a flying fuck about the real "team" that made a win happen. They only care about the publicity inherent in rubbing elbows with those who were in the public eye in some good way, and gaining whatever political capital can be had from doing so.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
If you disagree with this administration, you're unpatriotic?
I couldn't agree more! Thank you Secretary Clinton and MVP Thomas. At least two public figures have integrity.
Cheers for Tim Thomas
He, as an American, has the freedom to choose what to do. I personally love that he did not go and kiss Obama's a** . If he doesn't want to go, he doesn't have to. But all that should matter is getting in net and stopping the pucks. That is what he is hired to do.
His complaint sounds phony
Tim Thomas talked in epic language about threats to rights, liberties and property of the people - in capitals! He talks of actions opposing the Constitution and the Founding Fathers. But he didn't provide details. That - as well as his petulance - makes me very suspicious of his actual motives.
He disagrees with the President. Nothing new there. Does disagreement justify a public proclamation that he chooses to ignore an invitation from the President? Of course not. He simply could have just not gone. No announcement needed.
The best that I can make of Tea Partiers, Mr. Thomas, rich people like the Koch brothers, et al. is that the intensity of their animus toward the current President derives from and reveals a mindset that is based on fear, self-righteousness and, where Obama in particular is concerned, nothing more than old fashioned racial hatred.
Hey, Deval
You can take time out to weigh in on this non-issue...
But your Greenway Conservancy friend and her greedy co-horts are stealing the state blind, and you pull a Sgt. Schultz?
Wikipedia called. They want a recent picture of your's to go along with the entry for the word "irrelevant".
Hey Bluto
Go back to making speeches about the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor.
Dumbass Herald trolls are OVER.
didn't support his team = lame
Sorry, but he should have sucked it up and showed up. Did he forget he's a part of a team... remember, the Bruins?