Tuesday night at Steve's Bar in Puerto Escondido, the talk got around to Tim Thomas. Yes, Canuck fans, that Tim Thomas, the Boston Bruins goaltender responsible in many ways for Beantown's Stanley Cup win over the Vancouver Canucks. In the hockey world Thomas is known for a number of things, at 37 he's old for the NHL, he's won a Conn Smythe and two Vezinas, he's cool under pressure, he's one of two Americans currently playing for the Bruins and the only American on the team when they won the Stanley Cup. Politically he's known to be a little to the right of Attila the Hun and Monday night he shut out the President of the United States by no-showing a Bruins invite to the White House.
In a Facebook statement Thomas said, "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."
For sure, goalies like to live on the edge, how else can you explain what they do, but missing a command performance with the Commander-in -Chief, now that's a free spirit at its freest.
As we discussed the Thomas snub, one old cracker from the Southern States asked, "Who da hell Tim Thomas?'' One of us polite Canadians said, "He's an NHL hockey player from Boston who just turned down an invitation to attend the White House."
"Smart kid, 'specially for a northerner," one of them said then turned back to his buddy as the two of them continued an animated discussion about fishing. It's not gone unnoticed at Steve's Bar that race - though never openly discussed - has become a big factor in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Is Tim Thomas right? Is the U.S. government out of control? In Thomas' mind it is, and since he was the one invited to the party, he can do what he wants with his invitation. His opting out though raises a larger question; is he just using his hockey-star status to highlight a nasty winter of political discontent in the U.S.? And if he is, what's the remedy, and for those of us who watch these things, how did it happen?
If you analyse the Thomas statement, he's mostly right. The U.S. Congress has been unable to pass important budget and employment bills, in large part due to the inability of both the Democrats and the Republicans to work out solutions. Unlike Canada, where this type of stalemate would result in a non-confidence vote and an election, the U.S. has no remedy but to sit out the impasse and wait until the political differences are resolved in the November presidential election. But it's a given, the fall U.S. election - no matter the outcome - will have little immediate effect on the struggling American economy.
Currently, U.S. unemployment rates are still in the double digits and while economic signs in the country show a slight improvement, it's clear the mood is grumpy. In the meantime, the Republican nomination contest gets goofier by the day. The process seems totally caught up in arguments about past marital indiscretions, gays in the military, immigration reform - as they eat their broccoli - and how to get rid of President Obama's healthcare reforms. One candidate's ad criticised presidential hopeful Mitt Romney because he could speak French.
All of which leads to the conclusion that this fall when Americans go the polls they will be forced to vote for a dumbed-down, hard-right, stuck-on-platitudes-and-little-else Republican Party or Barack Obama. To many Americans, Obama is unacceptable. He's black, he has prestigious academic credentials, he's a self-made millionaire, he wants to tax the wealthy and he's not considered tough enough in the political trenches.
Tim Thomas may seem outspoken and belligerent, but by way of his actions and his statement he's saying the country is in trouble with little, if any, hope for improvement.
In Boston, they're saying Tim Thomas let his team down -could be. I'd say Tim Thomas is mostly upset about a country that is justifiably angry, and not at anyone in particular, but at itself.
