"Last Round?"

How many of you remember the heavyweight fights between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier? These two great fighters met three times in the ring, with Ali victorious in two encounters. Every time these two fighters met they turned their fights into more then an athletic contest, it became a battle of wills and skills of the two premier pugilists of their time. Ali was the consummate boxer, footwork and lightening fast hands, combinations of four or five punches peppering his opponents until he would wear them down and take them out. Ali was a "ring general" who could force a challenger to "fight his fight". Joe Frazier was one of the toughest men ever to lace on boxing gloves. "Smokin' Joe" was one of the best pressure fighters in history, he pursued his opponent with a relentlessness I've seen in no other fighter before or since. He had a devastating left hook that could collapse another fighter like a bolt of righteous lightening from above.

Most boxing aficionados say styles make fights, and in the case of Ali vs. Frazier they couldn't be more correct. After over thirty-plus years boxing fans still count those battles as arguably the greatest fights ever fought. These two gladiators reached the pinnacle of their sport when they faced each other. Many experts said after those encounters neither fighter was ever the same, they left their best in the ring.

The United States of America has historically been the "class of the division" when one spoke of power in the world, and we had a close challenger in the Soviet Union, who regularly flexed her muscles in numerous attempts to see if America would show weakness. We suffered a body blow at the "Bay of Pigs"yet like any "class fighter" we recovered, our nose bloodied, our pride hurt; but with a firm resolve to take the ring back from a determined foe. Not long after that the Soviets tried to deliver a knock-out punch with the "Cuban Missile Crisis", but they found out we were willing to take the fight to the limit, match them "punch for punch" if they were willing to take the risk. They retreated to their corner, they knew they were outmatched!

Years later Ronald Reagan took the fight to the Soviets, he grew our defense systems, updated our military, and pushed the Soviets into an arms race that they were incapable of winning. Like an exhausted fighter the Soviet Union sat on it's stool, beaten with no hope of a surprise knockout to save the day. We stood in the middle of the "ring", undisputed champion, the most powerful nation on Earth.

Today I feel we no longer sit in a position of power in the world. We have exhibited a tolerance for dictators, a sheepish attitude, the image of an appeaser. Iran in just the last few days has made it clear that they are steadfast in their pursuit of nuclear weapons and have no regard for the opinions of anyone else in the world, especially the United States.

Barack Obama's policy of apology and weakness is coming home to roost. Those who wish us harm are taking notice of the way we comport ourselves in this volatile situation. Weakness, real or perceived, is not the position the United States should ever occupy. Our continued reticence to show a response of strength only underlines the opinion that the United States is a nation in decline.

We are now sitting on our stool looking across the ring at a "hungry" opponent. The question is do we have anything left, or, are we "out of gas"? Are we still made of championship material? When will Mr. Obama show his "stuff"? Are we the "Champ" or a "has-been" who has passed his prime?

It's up to you Mr. President to see if we are up to the fight. Are we going to give up our title to a hungry "contender"?