On Friday, America lost a legend. And now we move on to the rather silly activity of watching the media, and our politicians, try and tell us what it all means.
This is pretty easy for progressives, who operate under no defining political principle, you simply pander to whatever group you're wanting to pander, try and hit the Republicans for something stupid they've done, and move on. It's a little harder for Conservatives, who first have to reconcile the fact that they disagree with many of the things Ali said as a young man. Ali joined the Nation of Islam, an organization with which the conservative thinker often finds themselves at cross-purposes.
Quite often, this leads to politicians whose names are trailed by (R) making silly statements, like the member of Congress from Tennessee who disparaged Ali (posthumously of course) as a "draft dodger". Ignoring for a minute that the esteemed congressman's taunts are factually incorrect (more on that later), his timing is poor and displays cowardice, and it also provides progressives a platform on which to forward their dishonest "All conservatives are racist" screed.
What we forget, over the passage of time, is that Ali was just as polarizing in his day as the Bronzed Ego and the Anointed One are today. Possibly even more so. In fact, his stance on the Vietnam war, his role in it, and what his country was requiring him to do was one of the most controversial personal acts in recent history.
It was also brave. And while I disagree with Ali's contention (as a young man) that Vietnam was a continuance of the "white man's attempt to enslave people of darker color" I do respect his convictions and attempts to not participate. I respect the fact that he refused conscription into the armed forces and fought the government to the extent of personal and professional ruin. For 3 1/2 years the United States of America stripped Ali of his means of earning a living, he lost his boxing titles and most of his personal wealth trying not to go fight in Vietnam. Say what you want about anything else, but you have to admire the conviction.
In my lifetime I knew Ali primarily as a fighter, as a boxing fan I knew him as the greatest heavyweight of all time, and then as an almost mythical figure whose physical shell abandoned him but his works and philanthropy survived. I had heard about his not participating in Vietnam but didn't think much of it. As I read about it however I came to admire him even more, despite not agreeing with him politically.
And that's OK. Because if we didn't like everyone with which we disagreed politically then conservatives would face a pretty barren entertainment landscape. I have nothing politically in common with Rage Against the Machine, yet I am a huge fan of their music. Mark Ruffalo is one of my favorite actors on the big screen today. Despite this he has stated a preference that me, and people like me, be deprived of our personal freedoms and placed in prison. But I don't care about that because he's a good actor and I have enjoyed his movies up until now.
Part of the reason that we're starting to see America burn under the fire of riot in our political process is because we're starting to think that the people who believe a different way are sub-human. We're falling into the same trap that people did back in the late '60s during Ali's time. As much as we like to say that we've grown and become more sophisticated America is still nothing more than the same apes throwing the same rocks at one another, only now it's happening in a digital, social-media driven, age where everything is shared with everyone instantaneously.
What this means is that, when Tennessee Rep. Martin Daniel says something Stupid and Keith Olbermann says something stupid back an army of Internet culture keyboard warriors skulk anonymously to social media to try and score settle. What we should all agree on is this: Daniel is an idiot, Olbermann is a moron and neither of them speak for the majority of us.
Because if they do we're in a world of trouble.
RIP Champ, thanks for the memories.
