Glenn Loury and John McWhorter are my favourite pair of bloggingheads. In this clip they discuss the effect on people in the Middle East of America's president being named Barack Hussein Obama, leading Loury to make a suggestive analogy between Obama and Muhammad Ali. The particular connection Loury makes between the two figures isn't the only one. When observing Obama's performance in the campaign it was impossible not to be reminded of Ali's rope-a-dope strategy in the Rumble in the Jungle. Rather than respond, furiously, to his opponent's attacks, Obama soaked them up and waited for his rival to punch themselves out. Clinton came closest to knocking him off his rhythm; McCain never did.
(clip via Andrew Sullivan)
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