Obama as Kobe

Kobe Bryant wasn’t always Kobe Bryant. (Stating the obvious. I’m good at it.) Kobe Bryant was a superstar when he walked onto the court as an 18-year-old NBA rookie but that doesn’t mean he was the player who would win all those championships. I remember so vividly the FOUR airballs he shot in a 1997 playoff game against the Utah Jazz. The first airball came at the end of regulation and would’ve won the game for the Lakers. The next one came near the start of over time and the last two came in the waning seconds of the game, the Lakers needing a three to tie it. He got the good look, he got open shots, but he just flat out choked. He was terrible. Here was someone who was supposed to be great, and he was just awful. Really awful.

Kobe’s career could’ve gone one way after that kind of performance, like Mitch Williams, or he could go on to become “Kobe.” We all know what he did. Barack Obama is in the same position.

Obama has thrown up airball after airball in his first term even though he came into office as a superstar. He passed on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, he failed to achieve health care reform with a public option, he didn’t close Gitmo, and he lost the Kennedy seat to a centerfold. So what kind of a guy is he? We’re getting a sense with the renewal of the fight to end Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. We’re getting a sense of it with his focus shifting from health care to jobs. But there’s more he needs to do. It’s time for Obama to start calling the shots, making the shots, and not letting Pelosi or Harry Reid bring the ball up the court. It’s the final two minutes of the game and they’ve proven the only spot they deserve to be in is next to Rahm Emmanuel on the bench.