[Dialogue] Anti-Bush Sign Has Bridge World in an Uproar

[Harry Wainwright]

Published on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 by The New
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/arts/14brid.html>  York Times 

Anti-Bush Sign Has Bridge World in an Uproar

by Stephanie Strom

In the genteel world of bridge, disputes are usually handled quietly and
rarely involve issues of national policy. But in a fight reminiscent of the
brouhaha over an anti-Bush statement by Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks
in 2003, a team of women who represented the United States at the world
bridge championships in Shanghai last month is facing sanctions, including a
yearlong ban from competition, for a spur-of-the-moment protest.
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At issue is a crudely lettered sign, scribbled on the back of a menu, that
was held up at an awards dinner and read, "We did not vote for Bush."

By e-mail, angry bridge players have accused the women of "treason" and
"sedition."

"This isn't a free-speech issue," said Jan Martel, president of the United
States Bridge Federation, the nonprofit group that selects teams for
international tournaments. "There isn't any question that private
organizations can control the speech of people who represent them."

Not so, said Danny Kleinman, a professional bridge player, teacher and
columnist. "If the U.S.B.F. wants to impose conditions of membership that
involve curtailment of free speech, then it cannot claim to represent our
country in international competition," he said by e-mail.

Ms. Martel said the action by the team, which had won the Venice Cup, the
women's title, at the Shanghai event, could cost the federation corporate
sponsors.

The players have been stunned by the reaction to what they saw as a
spontaneous gesture, "a moment of levity," said Gail Greenberg, the team's
nonplaying captain and winner of 11 world championships.

"What we were trying to say, not to Americans but to our friends from other
countries, was that we understand that they are questioning and critical of
what our country is doing these days, and we want you to know that we, too,
are critical," Ms. Greenberg said, stressing that she was speaking for
herself and not her six teammates.

The controversy has gone global, with the French team offering support for
its American counterparts.

"By trying to address these issues in a nonviolent, nonthreatening and
lighthearted manner," the French team wrote in by e-mail to the federation's
board and others, "you were doing only what women of the world have always
tried to do when opposing the folly of men who have lost their perspective
of reality."

The proposed sanctions would hurt the team's playing members financially. "I
earn my living from bridge, and a substantial part of that from being hired
to compete in high-level competitions," Debbie Rosenberg, a team member,
said. "So being barred would directly affect much of my ability to earn a
living."

A hearing is scheduled this month in San Francisco, where thousands of
players will be gathered for the Fall North American Bridge Championships.
It will determine whether displaying the sign constitutes conduct unbecoming
a federation member.

Three players- Hansa Narasimhan, JoAnna Stansby and Jill Meyers - have
expressed regret that the action offended some people. The federation has
proposed a settlement to Ms. Greenberg and the three other players, Jill
Levin, Irina Levitina and Ms. Rosenberg, who have not made any mollifying
statements.

It calls for a one-year suspension from federation events, including the
World Bridge Olympiad next year in Beijing; a one-year probation after that
suspension; 200 hours of community service "that furthers the interests of
organized bridge"; and an apology drafted by the federation's lawyer.

It would also require them to write a statement telling "who broached the
idea of displaying the sign, when the idea was adopted, etc."

Alan Falk, a lawyer for the federation, wrote the four team members on Nov.
6, "I am instructed to press for greater sanction against anyone who rejects
this compromise offer."

Ms. Greenberg said she decided to put up the sign in response to questions
from players from other countries about American interrogation techniques,
the war in Iraq and other foreign policy issues.

"There was a lot of anti-Bush feeling, questioning of our Iraq policy and
about torture," Ms. Greenberg said. "I can't tell you it was an overwhelming
amount, but there were several specific comments, and there wasn't the same
warmth you usually feel at these events."

Ms. Rosenberg said the team members intended the sign as a personal
statement that demonstrated American values and noted that it was held up at
the same time some team members were singing along to "The Star-Spangled
Banner" and waving small American flags.

"Freedom to express dissent against our leaders has traditionally been a
core American value," she wrote by e-mail. "Unfortunately, the Bush brand of
patriotism, where criticizing Bush means you are a traitor, seems to have
penetrated a significant minority of U.S. bridge players."

Through a spokesman, the other team members declined to discuss the matter.
Ms. Narasimhan, Ms. Stansby and Ms. Meyers have been offered a different
settlement agreement, but Ms. Martel declined to discuss it in detail.

Many of those offended by the sign do not consider the expressions of regret
sufficient. "I think an apology is kind of specious," said Jim Kirkham, who
has played in several bridge championships. "It's not that I don't forgive
them, but I still think they should be punished."

Mr. Kirkham sits on the board of the American Contract Bridge League, which
accounts for a substantial portion of the federation's financing, Ms. Martel
said, and has submitted a proposal that would cut the league's support for
the federation, one of two such proposals pending.

Robert S. Wolff, one of the country's pre-eminent bridge players, who has
served as an executive and board member of several bridge organizations,
said that he understood that the women might have had a legal right to do
what they did but that they had offended many people.

"While I believe in the right to free speech, to me that doesn't give anyone
the right to criticize one's leader at a foreign venue in a totally
nonpolitical event," he wrote by e-mail.

David L. Anderson, a bridge player who supports the team, said it was common
to see players at international tournaments sporting buttons bearing the
date "1-20-09," when George W. Bush will hand off to a new president, as
well as buttons reading "Support Our Troops."

"They don't go after those people," Mr. Anderson said.

C 2007 The New York Times

Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org 

URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/14/5233/

 

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