Poetry in Motion

Atrios has already covered this, so normally I wouldn’t post about it because of my neurotic reluctance not to duplicate what someone on the A-list has already posted, but I had to make an exception in case there are readers here who don’t read Atrios. The Washington Post reports on this beautiful moment at the award ceremony for the Medal of Freedom, illustrating that even with Parkinson’s disease Muhammad Ali still knows an idiot when he sees one, and can point it out with a poetic flair even though he might not be able to speak.

Bush, who appeared almost playful, fastened the heavy medal around Muhammad Ali’s neck and whispered something in the heavyweight champion’s ear. Then, as if to say "bring it on," the president put up his dukes in a mock challenge. Ali, 63, who has Parkinson’s disease and moves slowly, looked the president in the eye — and, finger to head, did the "crazy" twirl for a couple of seconds.

The room of about 200, including Cabinet secretaries, tittered with laughter. Ali, who was then escorted back to his chair, made the twirl again while sitting down. And the president looked visibly taken aback, laughing nervously.

Was Ali making a political statement? In his remarks about the fighter, Bush mentioned the Olympic gold medal, the grit, "the Ali shuffle, the lightning jabs . . . the sheer guts and determination he brought to every fight." He did not mention Ali’s very public opposition to the Vietnam War, which led the prizefighter to lose his boxing license for three years when he refused to serve in the Army.

Or was the boxing legend living up to another trait the president noted, his penchant for psyching out the challenger?

I watched the video and attempted to capture a couple of screen shots of the moment.

Look at the pictures, Watch the video and decide for yourself. The Post might not be sure, or may be trying to spare the Bush the embarrassment of saying exactly what happened in that moment, but I don’t have either of those problems. If you ask me, it’s pretty clear what happened. The Champ delivered another knock-out punch. And, as usual, the other guy didn’t know what hit him.