OPINION:
With the Middle East in an uproar, economic unease at home and cultural tensions at an all time high, it’s no secret that conservatives are at the end of their rope with President Obama. Other world leaders have been having a good laugh at the chap. Leftists will always valiantly defend him and deride the attacks as ad-hominem.
Amidst the tickling political circus, many people have missed the big point. The President’s policies are not the root cause of his problems at all. They’re merely a symptom.
Matter of fact, Obama’s policies only face the same problem as his hilarious training regimen (the one during which he grimaces through 4lb presses)… in that it’s being executed by a wimp.
President Obama…is a wimp.
“I wish to preach not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph..” So said Theodore Roosevelt
Comparing President Obama with the great leaders who have come before him is painful. Almost as painful as the curling of 3lb rubber-weight. It burns. It’s painful for me as an American for a different reason than one might think. Most notably it’s painful because of the simple fact that I believe in the president. I’d argue that I clearly believe in him more than he believes in himself.
I quote Roosevelt because he’s a perfect counter-balance to the gelatinous pseudo-leader currently inhabiting the White House. Unlike the current president, Roosevelt grew up weak, sick and of overall poor stature. He was never afforded the luxuries of someone as privileged as Obama. Roosevelt would never be caught smoking pot with his college professors… namely because he didn’t have the time. He was too busy improving himself every single day through what he advocated as “the strenuous life.”
Roosevelt was a brilliant man, yes. Just as many other presidents before and after him. Nearly all of them were men who certainly encouraged intellectual growth. Yet they were incredibly strong advocates of strength training. Roosevelt didn’t believe that it made you merely a stronger person, he knew that it made you a better man.
Strength training is a fantastic microcosm for a man’s life: pushing yourself through discomfort, every single day, is the only way to make measurable progress. It’s one of the few ways to grow as a man.
So sure, we all had a laugh at the president’s “workout” when it leaked. The image of the world’s most powerful man grimacing and groaning at the lifting of weights no heavier than coffee mugs is as hilarious as it is disheartening. I believe that Obama can do better. Barring some kind of genetic illness that’s never been disclosed, there is no reason for a man of his age and size to be using weight that would shame even the portliest of Kardashians…
… unless he’s taking the easy way out.
That’s my point. It may seem trivial, but any man worth his own salt can watch Obama’s workout video and see that he’s not a man who wants to be there. This is the same man who just doesn’t want to put the work into his presidency. That video is not of a man striving for self-improvement. It’s a video of a wimp who begrudgingly had to check “workout” off of his list.
Just like he “checked off” church when he sat in Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s pews for a few years. Have to go to church to be president, right? Check.
Just like he checked off “community organizer” to his list of confounding, non-existent titles. That’ll sound good in a general election, right? Check.
Just like his phony accent and speaking cadence that change with his audience. That sound will resonate better with this demographic, right? Check.
See, Obama’s physicality shows us what conservatives already knew. Obama’s a wimp of marketing, not a man of action.
I can’t stress enough that Obama’s problem has nothing to do with the weights (though they were funny). It has to do with the spirit of the man lifting them.
When I see out-of-shape, overweight people huffing and puffing in the gym, my eyes well up with tears of pride. I want to walk over to them, hug them and say “Good on you for getting in here. It gets better!” You know why? Because they’re challenging themselves. They’ve stepped out of their comfort zone to push themselves beyond what they thought possible. If they want to grow, they’ll continue to do it when nobody’s watching.
Obama clearly just “checked a box.” If he does that just because he knows people are watching, what do you think he’s doing when we aren’t?
By the way, how does a video like that get leaked?
Somebody’s getting fired…
Steven Crowder is an actor, comedian and writer (www.StevenCrowder.net).
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