Tim Thomas White House Snub: His Rights vs. What's Right

The big story in the hockey world on Monday was Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas’s “snub” of President Barack Obama, and a quick glance at any news article, blog posting or lengthy comments section makes it painfully clear that few people have the proper perspective on this issue, if you insist on considering it an issue.

It would seem that many people with an opinion on the matter insist on discussing Thomas’s “right” to refuse to attend the White House, as if that is even remotely pertinent to the argument. Is there anyone arguing that Thomas does not have this right?

Yes, Thomas was exercising a right in choosing to skip the visit to the White House, but rights are funny things. It’s great to have them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is right to exercise them. 

And just because a person behaves in a manner that is protected by law, citizens have no responsibility to condone that behavior.

We sometimes behave as though rights are more important than reason, when this is simply not true (think: Westboro Baptist Church, protesting funerals of homosexuals and soldiers). In a perfect world, reason would always prevail, no matter which rights were protected. 

And the way Thomas behaved was unreasonable.

I take no issue with Thomas’s personal politics, largely because I do not care. What I take issue with is the fact that Thomas’s protest is completely hypocritical, and runs in direct contrast to what he is protesting.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Thomas said that his choice was “not about politics or party,” yet immediately prior to that section of his statement, he specifically declared that he believes that “the Federal government has grown out of control,” among other things.

If this protest is not about politics, then why does Thomas offer his political opinions in the explanation? Is that not inherently political?

Furthermore, Thomas’s decision took an apolitical tradition, an American team that has won a championship visiting the White House, and made it political. We citizens consistently criticize politicians for being unable to reach across the aisle and work with the opposing party, yet here, one of these concerned and politically active citizens refuses a handshake and a photograph with the President of the United States. 

What kind of message does that send?

By the same token, critics of Thomas have shown themselves to be equally misguided.

While Thomas’s decision was obviously political in nature, many of his critics have the perception that Thomas put himself on some kind of soapbox in order to make a moving political statement.

Instead, Thomas simply released an explanation describing why he chose not to attend the White House.

No direct criticism of President Obama. No explicit endorsement of a Republican candidate. No horrifically specific calls for policy change—just a simple, boring, generic comment reflecting his own political angst.

People criticize Thomas for drawing attention to himself during a time when his team should have been the focus, but that criticism is harsh. Thomas, as much a team player as any goaltender in recent memory, clearly had no interest in stealing the spotlight from the Bruins organization when he made his choice.

Unfortunately for Thomas, in this day and age, you cannot make a decision like this without becoming a distraction.

So, criticize the Bruins netminder for his judgment if you must, but do not criticize his intentions nor his merits as a teammate.

It is a shame that one of the few times that the District of Columbia has the chance to transcend politics in favor of teamwork, sportsmanship and victory has been spoiled by the decision of one politically concerned American and the media’s reaction to that decision.

But perhaps that is the sad state of American politics today, one that consists entirely of bad-blood rivalries, unnecessary cheap shots and an insatiable desire to get an upper hand over the opponent, at all costs.

Come to think of it, all the things that make politics disgusting make hockey great.