That guy achieved some pretty amazing stuff, and I loved watching him, but then he starts publicly talking political bullshit to the media and it gets a bit hard to ignore that he is an asshole.
A lot of accomplished people are probably assholes in private, but they don't talk about it in public.
I wish Baumgartner would have just stuck to talking about the stuff he really knew very well.
You don’t need everyone to appreciate you, just enough people to love you and throw their money/interest back at you.
Grow up. One isn't an automatic asshole just because they don't share your worldview.
There's some things I know a bit about... But if I was spouting off about skydiving when I know little about it, that makes me an asshole. Especially, to extend the metaphor, if I was spreading misinformation that led to people being hurt.
Anyways, like I always say, parachutes are optional really.
Also, an opinion that doesn't tick all the check boxes of pro-immigration and open borders isn't automatically "hurtful misinformation" You should really qualify that particular line of censorious bullshit. More recently, the biggest fans of narratives about hurtful misinformation that I've seen tend to be authoritarians on the right, curiously enough.
Do you want to be known as a legendary skydiver? Then talk about the amazing achievements and plans for the future you made.
Do you want to be known as a former athlete with questionable political views? Then go talk to the media doubling down on stupid memes you posted on facebook.
I have no interest in learning more about the latter. I guess that's why most of us eventually forgot about him until he tragically passed away today.
Like any human being, an athlete can have other opinions on other things and all the right in the world to express them without having to be a certified expert. You're doing the same now, as did the comment above. That's the only qualification necessary.
If thats what you want to read about in the media, good for you, because that's what social media (and traditional media) provide plenty of.
I just wish that people who accomplish exceptional things would focus on those exceptional things instead of using their enormous publicity to stir controversy by sharing bland right wing talking points.
This has self contained irony; I hope you realize that.