Thomas makes second political statement

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BUFFALOTim Thomas is at it again.

The 37-year-old goaltender only just recently rode out the storm created by his decision to skip a White House visit with his Bruins teammates several weeks ago. But on Wednesday he decided to weigh in on a political issue via his Facebook page.

Thomas wont be getting the start against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night at the First Niagara Center, so perhaps he had some extra free time to surf the web and update his social media pages. Thomas wrote out a quick Facebook message hitting on a hot-button political, including an ominous quote from a survivor of Nazi Germany:

I Stand with the Catholics in the fight for Religious Freedom.
"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."
-- by Martin Niemller, prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor, best known as the author of the poem First they came....

Thomas' post appears to be about President Barack Obamas new rule on contraceptives that requires health insurance plans, including those offered by Catholic charities, hospitals and universities, to provide birth control to women. The Catholic church clearly isn't in favor of the rule, and Thomas seems to be standing with the church.

While this would all appear to be in line with Thomas personal beliefs and politics, there are a few things that could rub people the wrong way about the post.

First off taking an argument over contraceptives being offered to women and comparing it to Fascist Nazi Germany with reference to the Holocaust could be seen as bothersome to some and wholly off-base to others.

When Thomas skipped the Bruins' White House visit, he insisted over and over again after the fact that hes much more comfortable talking about hockey rather than politics. He even had interviews cut short recently when the subject matter turned to things outside of the realm of hockey.

The thinking was that the Bs goaltender made his statement and had nothing more to say on the matter.

Now this.

If hes continuing to post such material on his Facebook page, then it appears as though he should be a little more open -- a little more willing -- to discuss these topics when asked to address them off the ice.

In the land of the free and the home of the brave Thomas is welcome to speak about whatever he wants through whichever lens he chooses. Thats the American way and everyone should be 100 percent behind that.

But its also fairly disingenuous to act surprised -- or annoyed -- when these same subjects keep coming up in locker room conversations before and after hockey games. Each hot-button posting also takes the risk of blowing up into a much bigger team distraction depending on the subject matter and the context.There's also the matter of posting something sure to gather attention at 1:30 p.m. on the afternoon of a game day with his goaltendingpartner, Tuukka Rask, set tomake the start. Doesn't that post -- on some level --unfairly take some of the attention away from hisgoalie tandem partner?

If Thomas really wants the entire White House brouhaha to go away he certainly has a funny way of showing it.

Or perhaps he doesnt want it to go away at all.

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