Tim Thomas

Monday, Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, who led the B's to the Stanley Cup last June, declined to meet President Obama at the White House, the only player on the team to do so.

On his Facebook page, Thomas posted his reasons why:

I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.
This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.
Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.
This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT

Reaction has been varied. Some people are angry at Thomas, calling him everything from an Obama-hater to hypocritical to unpatriotic. Others are happy that he took a stand and some take it even further by launching into a tirade on Obama.

Here's how I feel:

Tim Thomas is indeed a free citizen, and as such I respect and applaud his decision. He does not have to attend White House functions, nor should he be forced to attend. The United States not a dictatorship.

That said, if I were in his shoes I would've attended. I've never met Tim Thomas, but his Wikipedia page  says he's a Republican, so it's tough not to find it ingenuous when he says "this was not about politics or party." Also, while I can agree that the size and scope of government is larger than I feel comfortable with, much of the mechanism for that was in place long before Obama assumed the Presidency. And meeting with the President after your team wins the Stanley Cup/Super Bowl/World Series/NBA Finals is such a nonpartisan event, it'd seem like a better way to express your political loyalties to donate money to or endorse a candidate.

Lastly, this Tim Thomas controversy has taken valuable time on sports talk radio away from what's really important -- 24/7 talk about the upcoming Super Bowl. So knock it off, people!