[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

It comes across as virtue signalling because your view of Ovechkin hanging as heavily on the profile photo he uses on one of his seldom-used social media profiles that he only posts on in Russian is absurd. I very much doubt anyone who actually believes that Ovechkin is committing a serious moral transgression would give a #### about one profile photo.

My view of Ovechkin is based on the entirety of his friendly interactions with Putin since becoming an NHL player. In reality I want him to do much more than just change the profile photo, but also understand that it's not realistic to expect him to do anything beyond that due to family safety reasons. Maybe he can't do that either, but the mess he's in is due at least in part to his own decisions. Since becoming a multi-millionaire he has had ample opportunity to get his family out of Russia, yet they're still there.

Combined with the immediate dismissal of things like supporting the invasion of Iraq,

The invasion of Iraq was one of the most egregious foreign policy blunders that any country has ever committed, and has had disastrous consequences. I am not dismissing it for a second. But it still doesn't rise to the level of what Putin has done in Ukraine. There are important differences between the two situations.

You can be pedantic about the exact definition of it if you want,

Correcting a significant mischaracterization of something is not the same as being pedantic. He called something virtue signalling that in fact wasn't.

it’s certainly hard to believe your position and the positions of some here (certainly not all) isn’t based on you thinking it’s the correct opinion to have rather than basing it on actual morals.

There's been a misunderstanding then. This is not about pushing a "correct opinion" or anything like that. I'm simply sharing my view on the matter. Ultimately there's nothing morally wrong with cheering for Ovechkin to break the record. It's just not something I'm going to do.