If I were drafted I would go, but I don't think the draft itself is moral. Hell, we fought a war with Britain twice in part due to forced conscription. And when Madison wanted conscription during the war of 1812, Congress voted it down because they felt it was unconstitutional, so I don't have to wonder very hard on how our Founding Fathers would view a draft. Land of the Free, unless the government decides to draft.
I feel the exact same way. Don't forget Ali also threw the gold medals he won in the Ohio River. He hated America unless it was convenient for him. He was a gigantic POS in my opinion. He was anti-America his whole life anybody who says different is wrong. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I imagine having your race treated like sub humans has an effect on your willingness to fight for said country.
I think he embodies everything that is great about the country. Can't blame a black person from that era feeling that way. I'd be bitter, I'd be angry and if I had his platform, I would have demonstrated it.
I don't care about his religion or his race. But, by God when you take full advantages of living in the land of the free and act the way he did towards it, you can FO in my opinion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
He had no respect for America and was a racist. He was quoted as saying interracial couples should be lynched. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I can respect a man for standing up for what he believes in, even if I don't necessarily agree with it. The man had principles, like them or not, he stood for something. Which is a hell of a lot more than most men will ever get to say.
I wonder how much Ali's legacy was helped by him being a feeble old man the last what 20 years? guy was certainly far more flawed than the media reports of the past couple of days. He was a general selfish asshole for much of his life even if you agree with the politics. Or at best far more selfish than social activist then we are led to believe today. How much of that shit he said was almost all for self promotion? Whatever. I get he was a huge social figure in an era for some reason worshiped by this country, but I'm not sure I've ever seen this level of dead man ball washing in my entire life.
I wouldn't necessarily go, if drafted. I've never understood the sacrosanct connection between "your country needs you" and the draft. The fighting in Vietnam, due to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, was the result of one man, Lyndon Johnson, deciding the entry and course of the war and he did it for personal reasons, not ones for the betterment of the country. If he's making decisions for his own political perception on the war, why am I supposed to put my ass on the line, especially if it has nothing to do with the defense of the country or the preservation of the Republic? I see the war as being a military intervention at the behest of Johnson and not on behalf of America. So, no, I wouldn't have gone to Vietnam. I would have refused and accepted the consequences of my refusal, not running away or trying to stay in college for 6 years. World War II? I'd be in line at the recruitment office on December 8th.
I think a lot of people in the spotlight, especially on that level, are assholes on a personal level. I can't imagine how much of a [Penis] I might have been had I become hugely rich and famous for, basically, being able to beat the shit out of anyone else in the world at age 22.
That doesn't change that the guy isn't this hero he's being painted as. He wasn't the peaceable religious fanatic he's painted as. It was convenient to avoid the law. He was as selfish as any athlete ever. The press has gone way around the bend to bury that.
I agree that he could be a selfish asshole. His treatment of Frazier and some others, as well as some of the ridiculous stands he adopted through the Nation of Islam, were pretty shitty. On the other hand, he was willing to give up everything in his life in order to stay true to his unpopular convictions, at the time. Like him or not, it was, without a doubt, a pretty remarkable stand. He was a Muslim before the war even started, so I don't believe it was some epiphany for convenience.
He stayed true to avoid combat, not to stick with his convictions. He didn't avoid conflict in any way in his Muslim life. He avoided combat. I'd prefer we just call it what it is. He was a great boxer and charismatic cat in front of the camera. Beyond that, he wasn't much. Used the camera and his charisma to get popular opinion to help him avoid prison.
His conviction was to avoid what he felt was an immoral conflict and he didn't run away when so many did, at the time. That's exactly what it was that he did and should be called. Popular opinion didn't have anything to do with him avoiding prison time.
