This article is republished with permission from our friend Stilton Jarlsberg at Hope n’Change

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The Biden curse strikes again.

In a cruel twist of fate, the celebratory mood we all feel on this first day of Ramadan has been darkened by the passing of America’s most beloved Muslim, Muhammad Ali (not to be confused with Muhammad every other Muslim).

Born Cassius Clay (after his parents rejected the name Pontius Play-doh), Ali bravely outed himself as a pugilist at a time when a heavily-segregated society did not even accept the idea that pugilists deserved their own bathrooms. He later blazed a trail through the world of heavyweight boxing, his record marred only by the brutal beating he gave the gentle inventor of the George Foreman grill.

Over the years, Muhammad Ali came to be known as much for his whimsical eloquence as his thundering fists, coining such unforgettable phrases as “I’m the Greatest,” “Hell no, I’m not going to Vietnam,” and “Float like a butterfly, Sting like Paul Newman and Robert Redford.”

In all seriousness, Ali was a true cultural icon in a time when celebrity was actually predicated on achievement. He was both larger than life and all too human in his failings (politically, we agreed with him on very little). That being said, he was one of a kind and will be missed.

This article is republished with permission from our friend Stilton Jarlsberg at Hope n’Change