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"While the journalists' outrage at the cancellation of our appearance in [Hall of Fame headquarters at] Cooperstown is not about my views; it is about my right to express those views. I am extremely grateful that there are those of you out there still with a fierce belief in constitutionally guaranteed rights," Mr. Robbins said.

This is where people such as Mr. Robbins just don't get it. None of his rights were being threatened. A private organization wanted to keep him out of a private function. No government soldiers were headed to his home to arrest him. Noone was going to pull his tongue out in prison for speaking out against government policy. The First Amendment does not and should not have any bearing on private disputes such as his disagreement with the Baseball Hall of Fame.

If Robbins has such a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the First Amendment, it is not surprising to see that he has no appreciation of the importance of freedom. Why he has more sympathy for a recently deposed genocidal dictator than he does for the democratic leader who just deposed him, in the name of freedom.

BINGO!

He confuses his rights with the opportunities to exercise those rights. No right exists to ignore and encroach upon the interests of others in the exercise of those rights without accountability.

Everybody likes to win, nobody likes to lose,...Robbins lost and his feelings are hurt. All the more reason for any good sportsman or sports institution not to endorse his behavior.