Hope-A-Dope
Man, just when I thought I couldn’t take any more "Change" talk from Osama Barack, now he won’t shut up about "Hope."
Is this guy a politician or a broken record? He’s got more double talk and empty speeches than…well…a “wrassler.”
In fact, as I think about it, that’s who Osama reminds me of, a smack talking wrestler, but without the yelling. And this train of thought led me to the great Muhammad Ali. Boxing isn't that much of a leap past boxing. Except boxing is real…
But back to Ali; here was a guy who talked some smack, but did so calmly and quietly, without a lot of rage. Ali was all class and a little bit of show.
So now I’m confused. All this time I thought Osama was channeling his inner John Kerry; he uses the same gestures as Kerry when speaking. (Funny, I was always taught NOT to talk with my hands.) But now I’m starting to see his inner stinging butterfly coming out. Yep, there it is, Osama is ripping off Ali.
Think about it. Ali protested the war in
Ali is famous for his rope-a-dope- a strategy of laying back and waiting for an attack, so as to conserve energy. Ali let the other guys wear themselves out fighting, then finished his opponents when they had exhausted their energy.
Osama’s doing the same thing. He’s spewing out his constant rhetoric about "Change" and "Hope" without really saying much of anything. Meanwhile, Hellary and Haircut Edwards went out and worked it, talking about what they would do, what their policies were… sounding just like politicians. But people are tired of hearing empty promises. Nobody believes ANY politician when they say they’re going to do this or that.
And therein lies the genius of the hope-a-dope. Osama’s just spewing out nonsense, totally unrelated to the issue at hand. He’s droning on, just to let people hear him talk. And of course, in our starry-eyed, celebrity-worshipping society, talk like that works. Since Osama isn’t talking politics, people like to listen to him.
But I’ve got news for Osama. He’s no Muhammad Ali.
John McCain said it best- "I will fight every moment of every day to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change."
That’s right Osama, McCain may not be the Rock, but he can smell what you’re cookin.
Whoops. Looks like I wasn’t the first to come up with this.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/hope-a-dope
However, isn’t it curious that so many folks agree- Osama bin Copyin is just full of empty air and no real substance?
Do a websearch for Hope-a-dope and see the MANY folks who think he’s all Hype and Hope, and just a big ole dope.
If it’s any consolation, I hadn’t heard of Hope-A-Dope before I read your piece. That said, Ali was calm and quiet? Ok, maybe you’re right, I was probably confusing him with Cassius Clay.
I echo Ted’s sentiments, as well, Trog. Don’t be too hard on yourself; at least you were honorable enough to give credit where it’s due. On top of that, I haven’t seen a better “political cartoon” related to Oblahma’s Hope-A-Dope strategy anywhere on the net. Awesome job on that image.
I guess by “Calm and Quiet”, I meant that Ali didn’t scream or talk LIKE a PREACHER man… WHEN HE talked… to the CAMERAS!