We cats saw most of Ken Burns's eight-hour PBS documentary on Muhammad Ali this week. Eight hours! With that amount of time devoted to a single human, it would have been nice if Burns had included a little less about Ali himself — we've seen enough boxing to last our nine lifetimes — and a little more about what he meant culturally. Because the story of Ali morphing from despised draft dodger to national hero is a microcosm of contemporary America.
Well, never mind. Maybe Burns covered that in the first episode, which we missed. But we saw nearly all of the last three episodes, and one thing leaped out, big time. Ali's behavior at the height of his fame and talents — the Sixties and early Seventies — was so very Trumpy.
Or maybe Benedict Donald has been mimicking Ali. Whatever: The similarities are striking.
As even his biggest fans admitted to Burns, Ali was cruel. He belittled his opponents constantly, even calling handsome boxers like Joe Frazier "ugly" and stupid. He gave them nicknames. He was always unpredictable in interviews, which guaranteed compelling copy. If journalists disliked his conduct, they still couldn't afford not to cover him because he'd never fail to say something that would make a good headline or lede. (All in the prehistoric era before the Internet and social media. Imagine!)
So, out there in America, a lot of white people hated Ali: because of his brashness, his calling things like he thought they were, his refusal to go to Vietnam — and make no mistake, because of his race. How interesting that a black man trash-talking and mocking opponents was anathema to them — but let a white guy from Queens do the same things today, and it's not only acceptable, but the MAGAts love him for it. "Trump speaks for me!"
Perhaps it's better that Trump, who cheated his way through the University of Pennsylvania, is too much of a dummkopf to speak in poetry. And he's too old and fat to float like a butterfly. But what he's done to this country continues to sting like a bee. We cats HISS.
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