President Obama could learn a lot from The Greatest!
Thousands of people -- liberals, independents, and now even some conservatives -- are calling for this president to get tough. Americans who understand the problems in this country want him to take off the gloves and fulfill his promises.
The president is giving yet another speech on Thursday, this one about jobs and job creation. Without even hearing the speech, or knowing what the jobs program will be, many Republicans are already saying... Hell no!
With such intransigence how can the president get any responsible policies passed?
Eugene Robinson, Opinion Writer for the Washington Post, cited in his recent article, "On jobs, time to be bold," the need for Obama's jobs plan to be unrealistic and unreasonable; even unimaginable. Jared Bernstein suggested something similar. In essence, they want him to present something monumental and, not just introduce it, but battle for it.
Obama should heed their advice if he has any hope of securing a second term as president. The same moderate ideas will not be appealing to his base or stir excitement in Independents like me who believed in his platform of hope and change, but have been disappointed in his insane desire to compromise.
His unrealistic insistence on compromise has run its course. Compromise has failed and is impossible with a defiant Tea Party and obstinate Republicans.
Obama's efforts are reminiscent of Ali's rope-a-dope strategy he employed in The Rumble In the Jungle in 1974 against George Foreman. The strategy wore down his heavily favored young opponent and then he struck -- stinging Foreman like a bee.
Ali was unrelenting in his attack; knocking out his young, powerful opponent in the eighth round to regain the coveted Heavyweight Championship Belt.
Obama's supporters are tired of his rope-a-dope. We are in the eighth round. It's time to strike and he must strike hard. He must be relentless in his effort to create jobs, lower unemployment, and improve the economy.
He must overpower his opponents.
This may be his last chance at reelection. America is hurting! They want to see the fight they thought they saw in the candidate on the campaign trail just four short years ago. They're tired of compromise. Tired of the half-fulfilled promises. Tired of being held hostage by the corporate lap-dogs on the right.
They want to go back to work!
It has become glaringly apparent that the Right wants this country to fail -- undermining the president hoping to regain the majority in 2012 -- to the detriment of the American People.
Their destructive tactics are killing this democracy but their laser-like focus on making Obama a one-term president is working. People have been deceived by their rhetoric and lies because we have such an uninformed electorate in this country.
Though this unrelenting unemployment mess is the product of a failed Bush Administration, Republicans are able to dump it onto Obama. They believe they can continue to do it with impunity; without backlash from naive and uninformed voters.
Speaker Boehner, in his first days of leadership, promised the American People that his House majority would create jobs. Jobs were their number one priority. That was eight months ago.
And how many jobs has he and his Tea Party colleagues produced?
A big fat Zero!
The Republican House Majority has failed the American People; failed to create a single job.
Unfortunately, due to their failure, this task has been laid at the feet of the president.
If Obama gives in this time to the destructive and unproductive demands of the obstructionists he is potentially doomed to lose more of his declining base making it increasingly difficult to get four more years.
He must go with a bold plan and stand by his convictions.
Cassius Clay stood by his convictions and earned the respect of a divided nation, sacrificing the prime of his boxing career. He spent five years in prison for his opposition to the Viet Nam War. He paid an ominous price for standing by his beliefs.
It's disheartening to Obama's base and to the American People that this president isn't able to show the strength of a champion.
If he is a champion, if he can find the strength to fight for his convictions, his legacy will live forever.
Will Obama have the heart of a champion on Thursday -- the heart of Muhammed Ali?
There is no other choice!