One of the greatest things about living in America is that we have choices.

We can go just about any place we want, buy just about anything we want and worship just about any place we want (outside of schools that is).

And I appreciate that right.

Most of the time, my choices revolve around people and places that offend or annoy me. When I get bad service at a store or restaurant, I am inclined to stop patronizing that business. And when I come in contact with idiots, it is usually only once, and then I simply ignore them.

Over time I have compiled a list of people I care very little about, and recently I added another name.

The latest addition to my list is the actor Charlie Sheen. You know him n son of Martin Sheen and current star of the hit situation comedy Two and a Half Men.

While I think he is a very good actor, I believe he has been terribly misguided and comes off like an idiot.

And here’s why.

In a recent interview on The Alex Jones Show on the GCN Radio Network (don’t ask me; I’ve never heard of Alex Jones or that network) Sheen basically said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were a calculated plan by the United States government and the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City was brought about by a controlled explosion.

He believes there is a huge conspiracy theory surrounding the attacks, saying on that show, “It seems to me like 19 amateurs with box cutters taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75 percent of their targets, that feels like a conspiracy theory. It raises a lot of questions.”

Like millions of others around the world, Sheen was watching the events of that day unfold right before his eyes, and said even though he saw the second aircraft hit the south tower, he doesn’t believe it was a real plane.

“There was a feeling, it just didn’t look any commercial jetliner I’ve flown on any time in my life, and then when the buildings came down later on that day, I said to my brother ‘Call me insane, but did it sorta look like those buildings came down in a controlled demolition?’”

Well, he said to do it. You are insane Charlie!

How could anybody believe that what they were watching, live, wasn’t happening? And who, in their right mind (if you are out there I want to meet you, just once) would believe that the United States government conspired to do this?

What would the rationale be? What purpose would they hope to accomplish by attacking their own people?

In an article on prisonplanet.com (talk about a bunch of nut jobs,) Sheen is paraphrased as saying that most people’s gut instinct, that the buildings had been deliberately imploded, was washed away by the incessant flood of the official version of events from day one.

I don’t know who he is talking to, but I have never heard anybody, gut instinct or otherwise, who thought those buildings were deliberately brought down.

Didn’t this guy ingest illegal drugs some years ago? I’m thinking they have softened whatever brain he had, turning it to mush.

Sheen also had a few choice words to say about the plane that struck the Pentagon, wondering where the “expected” crash debris went.

Hey, bozo, when the aircraft hit the building, at an excessive speed, there was an explosion, as one might imagine there would be. That explosion and subsequent fire more than likely destroyed every bit of that aircraft, just like the one that hit the ground in Pennsylvania, killing all on board.

I don’t know where this man gets his information (and there are apparently more like him out there), but I would suggest he be a little more selective with the company he keeps.

As for me, I have placed Sheen on my “no-watch” list, which also includes Tom Cruise, who is fodder for another day.

As for Sheen, this is America. And if he wishes to speak out and make an ass of himself, well, he’s free to do it.

The rest of us just don’t have to listen to it.

May God bless America and may He especially bless those who perished that September day, at the hands of terrorists.

Grant is the managing editor of the Suffolk News-Herald. Contact him at doug.grant@suffolknewsherald.com