To Whom It May Concern

I Defend Your Right To Be An Ignorant Moron

Part of what makes our country a wonderful place to be is the ability to express yourself freely, without fear of governmental reprisal, for most any opinion you may have. This certainly comes into play with Toni Smith, a subpar women's basketball player from tiny Manhattanville College, a tiny school of about 1400 students from the town of Purchase, New York.

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Smith, a senior forward on the college basketball team, turns away and looks at the floor during the playing of the national anthem before every game. This has drawn outrageous criticism from all over the nation. Something to remember though is that, just as she has every right to express herself by turning away, she nor her supporters have any grounds to be upset if other people 'boo' her while she is on the court or wave flags and what not whenever she is around, for that is also their right to free speech. As a member of the military, I will fight vehemently to defend anyone's right to free speech and freedom of expression, regardless of how blatantly stupid they may be in expressing themselves.

But understand that I totally disagree with what she is doing. It makes sense though, Smith is a mediocre at best basketball player, averaging a pathetic 5 points a game, and yet somehow has a token title of 'team captain', despite making next to no contribution to the team's performance whatsoever. Smith is a sociology major, but obviously not a very intelligent one. In a statement she made reference to her disagreements with the war in Iraq, yet by turning her back on the flag it's more about turning her back on her entire nation of birth than any single political statement. Also interesting is the fact that she is turning her back on the symbol of freedom that allows her, by our flag's own representation of rights, to turn her back and express herself so stupidly.

What Toni Smith actually deserves is to be ignored, to be left out of the press, and to be left out of any sort of meaningful conversation at all, be it media or interpersonal. Obviously she was looking for attention when she did this, and that is what she got. Hopefully the media will show some sort of intelligence and just ignore Smith and see her for what she is: a half-assed dork making an ignorant political statement by blatantly displaying her own stupidity.