Fri Sep 23, 2011
posted under General
Back in the day when sportswriters were a meaner bunch fighters who got knocked down a lot got the word “canvasback“ put in front of their name. The fighter being discussed was usually a loser who found himself on the canvas during the fight after being knocked down by his opponent.
Recent efforts by President Obama could easily put him the category of “political canvasback,” but Mr. Obama seems to have had enough of being punched around by his opponents. Last Sunday on Meet the Press, Republican operative Alex Castellanos mocked Obama as a whining child running around the country crying “mommy mommy the republicans won’t play fair.”
The President has struck back hard. In the course of his remarks on his jobs bill he managed to tell the Speaker of the House that the Speaker was not smart and he challenged the Republicans by saying he would veto any measure that did not include increased revenue along with program cuts. His talk was the strongest statement to date of his resolve to defend and fight for his jobs proposal.
Putting it in a boxing analogy go back to the great Jack Johnson during the “white hope” era when every Caucasian fighter was pushed to try to take Johnson in the ring and failed. Most notable was Stanley Ketchell the middle weight champ. Before the fight started Johnson promised to take it easy on Ketchell, whom he outweighed by forty pounds, as long as Stanley didn’t try and make Johnson look bad. Stanley was full of himself and thought he was the equal of the Heavyweight Champion, he succeeded in knocking Johnson down but then Johnson got off the canvas and hit Ketchell so hard that he not only knocked him out but two of Ketchell’s front teeth were imbedded in Johnson’s glove.
For his Democratic followers, the speech was a resurrection of the Barack Obama they have missed since the 2008 campaign. He was fighting back, asserting himself and using strong language against his opponents, in short he served notice he is no longer a pushover. It may come to be looked at as a defining moment in his presidency. The warning should go out to the Republicans he is not the whining child portrayed by Mr. Castellanos. The President may be channeling Jack Johnson.
The mutterings of those who would like to see a primary challenge against Obama include Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and the ever persistent Ralph Nader. They should be temporarily quieted by this performance. But if not they should realize that challenging Obama would be a suicide mission.