A Bid for Freedom of Speech

Debbie Rosenberg didn't want to be anybody's hero.

She didn't want to be a martyr, either. She just wanted, in her own small way, to let others know she was an American uncomfortable with her country's role in the world.

And so, when the 39-year-old mother joined her six teammates on stage to accept the women's world bridge championship trophy at an awards dinner in Shanghai, China, last month, she held a small sign. It was the back of a menu, and on the back of it, one of them had scrawled:

"We did not vote for Bush."

That was it. No calls for impeachment. No profanities or insults against the commander in chief. Just six words from seven women who do not support the policies of the current president.

It was a protest on a whim.

"We were expected to stand on the stage while they played the national anthem," Rosenberg said Wednesday in a telephone interview from her home in New Rochelle, N.Y. "And we started talking about how we could make a simple statement to our international friends that we don't support what our country is doing in the world right now."

It took a month for the media to unearth the mess that has been brewing in America's bridge community ever since. Some bridge players have accused the women of "treason" and "sedition." One member of the U.S. Bridge Federation warned Rosenberg that the board of directors is "out for blood" against her and three others who have not been contrite.

The federation wants to suspend them from competition for a year, followed by another year of probation. The board also wants Rosenberg and her teammates to perform 200 hours of community service "that furthers the interests of organized bridge" and offer an apology to be drafted by a federation lawyer. A hearing is scheduled for later this month.

The federation also apologized for the women's behavior to their counterpart in China — where they imprison and torture their dissidents.

Quite a reaction to an impromptu protest that echoed the overwhelming majority of Americans who, in poll after poll, say they disapprove of George W.

Bush's handling of the war in Iraq.

At such moments, it feels as if a bitter and mean-spirited minority is trying to hijack our country.

Federation President Jan Martel insists a private organization can regulate the speech of its members. But Danny Kleinman, a professional bridge player and columnist, countered that curtailing free speech disqualified the federation from representing the U.S. in international competition.

In other words, what's un-American here is a squelched opinion, not an ill-timed one.

The media are now comparing Rosenberg and her teammates to the Dixie Chicks, whose popularity plummeted in 2003 after lead singer Natalie Maines bashed Bush at a concert in London. Back then, radio stations banned Dixie Chicks music, fans plowed their cars over Dixie Chicks CDs and lunatics threatened the Dixie Chicks' lives.

A consultant prepping Maines and her band members for a television interview at that time told them, "Try not to be judgmental of the president. … He's got sky-high approval. The war couldn't be going better."

Four years later, the president's ratings have tanked, the war drags on and the Dixie Chicks won several Grammys for their song "Not Ready To Make Nice," a blistering retort to their critics.

Rosenberg knew virtually nothing about the Dixie Chicks controversy until this week. She feels some kinship, but points out that the majority of her e-mails have been supportive.

"Even if they disagree with me or thought what I did was inappropriate, they support my right to say it and think the charges against us are outrageous," she said.

Rosenberg's voice softened when asked whether she wished she hadn't held up that little sign. "I don't know yet," she said.

She was 14 when her grandfather taught her how to play bridge, and she has loved the game ever since. For 20 years, she has made her living playing and teaching.

It's a lot to lose.

For all of us.

Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House: "Life Happens" and "… and His Lovely Wife." To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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