"No Vietcong ever called me ni*ger"

[WilliamPitt]

That was Muhammad Ali, another athlete who should have kept his mouth shut, kept his politics to himself, and just played his non-partisan sport like a good boy.

It was Muhammad Ali who, just hours after he won the title, threw aside his 'slave name' Cassius Clay and declared himself a member of the Nation of Islam. He should never have done so non-partisan a thing so soon after so large a sporting event.

He should definitely have allowed himself to be drafted. If he didn't, he should have accepted the censure he received from the boxing commission like a good boy. He should never have given speeches all across the country, and he should never have taken his drive to get his title back all the way to the Supreme Court. That was so wrong.

Or, in other words, this Curt Schilling issue is absolute crap. He said "Vote Bush."

Big fucking deal.

For years, I have wished athletes would become more socially active, like Ali and Jim Brown and others. Imagine the effect if Michael Jordan, at the height of his fame, had done a widely distributed commercial saying, simply, "Get out and vote."

If you're going to support the right to free speech, you will occasionally have to deal with opinions you don't like. That is the first price of entry. I despise what Schilling said, and if I had him in front of me, I'd ask him why his attention-whoring ass is ruining one of the better moments in my life.

But I am not going to boycott him for speaking his mind. Athlete or not, he has the right to do so. He even has the right to be an asshole and shill for Bush in New Hampshire.

You want to let him know you disagree? Go assert your own rights and protest his ass wherever he goes in the Granite State. Voice your own opinion.