"Nicknames!"

How many of you remember guys called “The Sultan of Swat”, “The Brown Bomber”, “The Galloping Ghost”, “The Georgia Peach”, “The Kansas Comet” and “Sweetness”? Those of us who are a little long in the tooth can name them fairly easily as Babe Ruth, Joe Louis, Red Grange, Ty Cobb, Gale Sayers and Walter Payton. The list of famous athletes with catchy nick-names is virtually endless. We now have “A-Rod”, “Big-Daddy”, ”Co-Co” and “El’ Duque”; better known as Cecil Fielder, CoCo Crisp, and Orlando Hernandez; these names are also followed by countless others in today’s sports arenas.

How did these men earn those nicknames? Nicknames are a way of describing something unique or special about the person of whom you are speaking. Babe Ruth was an easy pick for “The Sultan of Swat”, as he was the inventor of the “home run hitter”, and his record stood until 1961, when it was broken by Roger Maris. Joe Louis was a menacing heavyweight champion who could devastate an opponent with a punch from either hand, thus the name “Brown Bomber” was quite appropriate. Red Grange was so elusive in his running style, it was said it was like trying to “catch a ghost”; he was there, and then he wasn’t! Ty Cobb wasn’t quite a peach though; he was known for his violence on the field toward the opposing teams; but, was held in high regard from his home state of Georgia, and he was a great competitor. Gale Sayers once said “All I need is 18 inches of daylight”, and that was just about right; like Red Grange, Sayers was as elusive as trying to tackle fog. Walter Payton fit his nickname to a “T” as he was so well respected by every team in the NFL, not only for his ability, but for his demeanor as a man; the ultimate team player, Mike Ditka, said “He was the best football player I have ever seen”.

America has had many Chief Executives with colorful and distinguished nicknames. Obviously, we all think of George Washington, the “Father of his Country”. Thomas Jefferson was known by a couple of nicknames, “The Apostle of Democracy” and “The Sage of Monticello”; pretty impressive! Andrew Jackson was called “Old Hickory ‘and “The Hero of New Orleans”; he was a real tough guy! Poor Andrew Johnson, a man clearly over his head as President, was known as “The Grim Presence”. Grover Cleveland was famous for his tendency toward the VETO, was called “His Obstinacy”. Teddy Roosevelt was famous as “The Hero of San Juan Hill”, and “The Lion”; another tough guy. Dwight D. Eisenhower was simply called “Ike”, and that was enough of a nickname for the great hero of WWII. Jack Kennedy was happy with “JFK”, as he was a great admirer of FDR. Lyndon Johnson caught on with “LBJ” and used it in his campaign slogan “All the Way with LBJ”. Richard Nixon got stuck with “Tricky Dick” from a Democrat campaign ad in 1950. Ronald Reagan was called “Dutch”, a name he acquired while a student in high school that remained throughout his life. Bill Clinton was known as “Bubba” and “Slick Willie” as he could slide out of many difficult situations virtually unscathed.

We now have Barack Hussein Obama, and there have been many proposed nicknames for him already. We have heard “No Drama,Obama”, as he doesn’t seem too excited about things going on around him. I would like to propose some names of my own on this subject; how about “The Debt Master”, “Master Spender”, “Constitution Killer”, “The Obamanator” or “Odumba”. I’ll admit these names aren’t very flattering, but they do seem to fit Mr. Obama well, after all, he has vastly increased our debt, worked around the Constitution to achieve his ends, slowed the economy to a crawl, and seems clueless when questioned about significant issues.

Yes, my fellow Americans, people earn their nicknames, and Barack Hussein Obama has certainly earned some “nicknames” from many Americans. What do you think he should be called? I like “Former President” the best!!