How ironic is it that the same Supreme Court that voted 9-0 to force President Richard Nixon to release the tapes in the Watergate scandal also voted 9-0 to uphold Muhammad Ali's right to refuse induction into the military during the Vietnam war on religious grounds ("Ali's hometown joins together in prayer and celebration," June 6).
Muhammad Ali was my generation's Joe Louis who famously said that America would triumph in World War II because "we were on God's side." Mr. Ali uttered the simplest explanation of why so many of my generation were against the war in Vietnam when he said that "I don't have any quarrel with them Viet Congs."
Like Joe Louis, his greatness transcended sports and like Mr. Louis, he was probably the most widely known person on the planet at the height of his power.
Let him now rest in peace. He has earned it.
Marc Raim, Baltimore