• Pistcow@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Maybe ban Russia from the Olympics? Totally, none of this Russian Olympic committee bullshit.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Maybe ban Russia from the Olympics?

      They’re already banned from the Olympics. Their athletes compete under the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” banner and represented by the Olympic Flag.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          That gets tricky, because there are a number of other Russian nationals competing under different national banners.

          Israel has welcomed the highest number of athletes, with 25 former Russian athletes now competing under the Israeli flag. Serbia followed closely with 19 athletes, while Germany and France attracted 13 and 12 athletes respectively.

          Would all these athletes also become banned?

  • alcoholicorn
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    5 months ago

    They’re even drafting Olympic athletes?

      • alcoholicorn
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        5 months ago

        Because Olympic athletes getting blown up in a dumb war is bad for morale.

        • Skua@kbin.social
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          5 months ago

          The Ukrainian government clearly reckons that famous people getting special treatment is worse

        • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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          5 months ago

          Never heard of a thing called a “celebrated war hero” and what it can do for the morale of ordinary conscripts?

      • alcoholicorn
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        5 months ago

        In both cases, they were seen as subversives who reactionaries were glad to be rid of.

        It’s not an automatic system, they stood in front of a draft board who ruled they’ll either join the army or go to prison.

        • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          I’m too old and a foreign national, but since my late teen years I was committed to doing a ted nugent if it came to it.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Ali was convicted of draft dodging when he very publicly burned his draft card and refused enlistment. He was arrested, in Houston, after repeatedly refusing to acknowledge his name during induction. Then he spent the next eight months fighting the charge of draft dodging as a conscientious objector, ultimately appealing and winning his defection in a SCOTUS decision. Along the way, all his titles were revoked.

        Presley got an absolute sweetheart deal and spent his two years “at war”, living in a West German hotel, recording for RCA in his ample downtime, getting addicted to amphetamines thanks to a ahem helpful senior officer, and then being discharged with honors after being promoted to sergeant as part of a giant photo-op.

        It does not look like Pielieshenko’s experiences were comparable in either respect.

        • chemicalprophet@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          Rather irrelevant to the original question. Any man can be drafted, whether they go or not is another question we aren’t addressing here. But thanks for that history brush up!