It's easy to blast Tim Thomas for skipping the ceremony at the White House on Monday. 

All his teammates (even Tomas Kaberle, the original Ochocinco) showed up to meet President Obama, give him the shirt (No. 11) and listen to the president as he pretended to have a clue about the 2011 Boston Bruins (Obama is the most powerful man on the planet and also one of the three or four worst sports fans in America; he's even bad for a politician).

The front office and ownership -- I suspect not a left-leaning group, not exactly a George Soros crowd -- were in attendance. 

But Tim Thomas -- the Conn Smythe winner, the Vezina winner, the should-have-been SI Sportsman of the Year, the man who had as good a postseason as any athlete in Boston history -- decided that his political beliefs outweighed any desire to meet the President of the United States.

Turns out that Thomas is from the Glenn Beck School of Conservatism. He's a Tea Party guy and FreedomWorks donator. This is a group of people fundamentally opposed to the Obama presidency on almost every issue. To them, Obama is Public Enemy Numero Uno. 

When you first hear that an American goaltender (and unquestioned Most Important Player on the team, the absolute face of the franchise) blows off the President of the United States in his house because of a disagreement on what the role of government should be in our lives, it's a tough one to swallow. The first instinct is go full Archie Bunker -- call Thomas un-American, unpatriotic, ungrateful, basically a meathead with a terrific goals-against average. 

And as a teammate? Forget it. This was supposed to be their day. When you win a Stanley Cup or Super Bowl or World Series or NCAA title, the White House visit is one of the sweetest perks. Thomas elected to put himself above his teammates, above the guys he won with, above the organization. He's now the story.

Whatever you think about his politics vs. Obama's (and I'm somewhere in the middle, I guess), can we all agree that everything we've seen and heard about Thomas over his years with the Bruins suggests that we aren't dealing with a moron? Thomas knew full well what this would look like, that he would be cast as the heavy for the first time in his NHL life.

The ability to tell the President that you'd rather hang out in your room at the Marriott than shake his hand at the White House is, when you really think about it, a fairly stunning example of what makes America great. Think that would fly in Cuba? Or how about Cold War Russia? Uday Hussein would torture and even kill soccer players for collecting penalties in games. You might not always like how someone exercises their freedom of expression, it's not always comfortable, but there is no more essential act in enabling the health of a democracy. 

(Note: This was written before Thomas issued a statement regarding his no-show late Monday afternoon. The verdict? Not overwhelmed. "This isn't about politics are parties" bit is a particularly tough sell.)

Look, this isn't Rosa Parks, I get it. And if I were Thomas, would I have skipped the ceremony? Nope. Again, there's plenty of stuff about the Obama administration that drives me nuts, but I would respect the office if not the man currently holding the title. Put on a tie, smile, shake hands, laugh at lousy jokes, take some pictures and leave. Suck it up, in other words. This is an opportunity that will probably present itself exactly zero more times in a lifetime. 

But Tim Thomas decided it wasn't worth it. Might he regret decision that 30, 40 years from now? Possibly. I know I would. Is he about to lose a portion of his fan base? Maybe, though I suspect a shutout or two would go a long way in wiping out any controversy. Will he take some serious heat from the mostly liberal media? (Let's be fair about this, if this was an athlete skipping out on George W. Bush in 2006, he'd be looked at as a hero by most influential media types, another Muhammad Ali.) I'm sure he will (and as much as I disagree with some Obama policies, Glenn Beck has some terrifying stances on plenty of issues). But it's his ultimate right, and the largest platform he'll ever have to express his disagreement with the President. 

Bottom line: Tim Thomas made a choice. Agree or disagree on his beliefs, his conviction deserves our applause.

Think he'll get it?