Maybe a difference of scale.
Ali, standing upon his religious convictions, refused induction into the United States Army during the Viet Nam War. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
Although he eventually won conscientious objector status in the courts, he was stripped of his heavyweight title and his license to box, and lost three prime earning years of his boxing career. He publicly opposed the war before opposing the war was cool. He was one of the first well-known Americans to take a stand, risking his career, his livelihood, and his freedom.
I am glad Patrick is not facing the same challenges of that era. It's a shame the Americans are letting go of the freedom Ali and others fought so hard for. No telling what Patrick, and we, will have to face in the current and rapidly unfolding painful transition into a new era. I think the writer's admiration is in the title. It's about talking the talk and, in Patrick's case, skating the skate. Patrick always speaks from the heart. He faced the world, explained his talk but he didn't take it back. As I said before, his career, maybe his life, is like that SP quad combo, too big and at full speed, so it hit the board. He got right back up and thundered down the other end and put down his problem jump and delivered the winning program. Unstoppable. A follow GS member expressed in a PM worries for Patrick before the competition and I told her Patrick was tough and this would be just another learning opportunity for him. Glad I was right, but I never doubted it. I am a fan because of what I saw in him, and joined the forum declaring my fandom when he had fallen 8 times in 2 events and getting slammed relentlessly.
Imagine if Patrick were a politician!
That would be the most interesting scenario ever! I bet he would be loved for his integrity and honesty and hated for the same qualities. Nah, too dangerous for him.
IPogue, as
Mathman said, it's a matter of scale and far from the same thing. But the writer did see what many missed -courage and integrity in the face of injustice and persecution.
Patrick attracted so much condemnation and hatred he did not deserve because of his heritage, which he refuses to deny even under such attacks. There would not have been any national news if similar things were said by someone with a, say, Irish heritage. As I posted before, other Canadian skaters have actually skated for various other countries without raising an eyebrow. Here he is called a traitor and told to leave Canada just musing about his feelings about being Chinese at an emotional time, both because of the recent visit to his parents' homeland (which can be overwhelmingly majestic and historical), and his immence gratitude to his parents and the Chinese community in Canada. He never considered giving up representing Canada but in answering a question, said yes, it would be ideal (i.e. impossible in reality) if he could represent both countries. What an uproar that caused! But he didn't shirk from the storm, and answered back with integrity and with his skating. As much as his performances have been criticized because he won, did anyone actually think it was an easy feat under the circumstances? He showed a lot of heart and courage.
Actually NYC is not typically American. It offers the best and the worst of the US. Lately I wouldn't want to be in the US at all or even try crossing the border. I know it's become much more cosmopolitan these days, but it's still a melting pot with a main stream culture. The reverse assimilation of mainstream Americans adopting some of the ethnic cultures have helped the minority communities thrive but this past decade has been tense and liberty and acceptance have reverted.
