-Caveat Lector- http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeper/cst-nws-roep041.html Player's flag defiance turns the nuts loose
March 4, 2003 BY RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement Toni Smith's anti-war protest isn't exactly on a par with Muhammad Ali becoming a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s, or American track stars John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising black-gloved fists to the sky on the podium at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 or even Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf refusing to stand for the American or Canadian national anthems in 1996. But, in a few short weeks, Smith has burst into the national consciousness as one of the most controversial athletes of our time, even though nobody ever heard of her or tiny Manhattanville College, where she plays basketball, until she started turning her back to the American flag during the "Star-Spangled Banner." With that simple but incredibly incendiary 180-degree turn, Smith has become the most famous female hoopster in the world. She's been celebrated as a symbol of freedom and free speech by some, and despised as a traitorous punk by others. Her name has been invoked on a thousand talk shows and in hundreds of newspaper articles. Her team's games now draw more protesters than basketball fans. Even the protests against the protester have infuriated some. When a man claiming to be a veteran ran on to the floor during one game to wave the American flag in Smith's face, some were offended because the man was dragging the flag on the floor. Then, there was the woman who heckled Smith--while wearing a halter top with an American flag design. What's more disrespectful? Turning one's back to the flag to protest war against Iraq, or wrapping one's boobs in the red-white-and-blue? (And what's your guess as to who's more likely to vote on a regular basis--the 21-year-old sociology major, or the heckler in the halter?) In any case, it's gratifying that so many hardcore patriots can get so worked up over the pre-game "National Anthem" behavior of one college kid. Surely, none of Smith's critics has ever gone to a ballgame and observed the playing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" by ordering a hot dog, flagging down the beer vendor, chatting with their neighbors or chomping on gum while checking out the cheerleaders. Oh, no--these patriots always stand with hands over hearts, facing the flag and singing every word with tears in their eyes. As the weeks drag on and the war rhetoric from the White House heats up and it becomes more likely that some of the young men and women wearing the uniform of this country will be coming home in body bags, the battle of words between the anti-war activists and the bomb-'em-now crowd is spinning into that weird zone where the very definition of what it means to be a good American is the first casualty. There's also a whole lot of silliness out there. Janeane Garofalo regularly gets into heated exchanges with Fox News hosts--who keep inviting her back because she's damn good television. Sheryl Crow sports a "NO WAR" guitar strap at the Grammys-- but half the time only the word "WAR" is visible, because her long locks block out the first part of the message. Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit says we're all in "agreeance" that war is bad, and later tells Howard Stern he's against war because he likes being alive. Republican stalwart Fred Dalton Thompson and liberal icon Martin Sheen film dueling ads. Online campaigners call for boycotts of movies starring anti-war activists--as if anyone is going to remember what Carrie-Anne Moss or Keanu Reeves might have said about the war when "The Matrix Reloaded" opens. Those examples are entertaining diversions. But the debate gets scary when some conservative commentators and pro-war activists fall into the age-old and constitutionally ignorant trap of labeling critics of the White House as anti-American traitors. How can they not understand and respect the simple fact that you don't have a free country if you're not free to criticize government policy? A conservative columnist wrote that Toni Smith "has turned her back on families of firefighters and policemen who lost their lives at the World Trade Center." Another hysterical commentator, known for expressing loony beliefs, wrote that "Democrats adore threats to the United States" and claimed it was "treason" for Democrats not to join in on a standing ovation for President Bush during his State of the Union address when Bush talked about building a ballistic missile shield. The New York Sun ran an editorial making the ludicrous claim that anti-war protesters "are giving, at the very least, comfort to Saddam Hussein" and suggested that New York City police "send two witnesses along for each [protester], with an eye toward preserving at least the possibility of an eventual treason prosecution." What frightening times we live in, on so many levels. Make no mistake: The Hitlers of our time are the dictators who savage their own people and build weapons of mass destruction and torture or imprison those who disagree with them. But there also are some pretty scary concepts floating around in the minds of the self-appointed patriots who actually believe that, if you don't agree with them, you're a treasonous anti-American. Richard Roeper will appear on "The O'Reilly Factor'' on Fox News Channel tonight and on NBC's "Today" show Wednesday morning. Forwarded for your information. 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