“Making  three point shots may be clever, but it has nothing to do about creating jobs; We need a President not an athlete” – Remarks by Newt Gingrich on President Obama at a recent Republican Forum.

This comment by Newt got me thinking. As far as I know, making three point shots is a skill, not soemthing being clever or cute. I must admit, I can’t throw the ball far enough to get it into the hoop, even from ten feet, so forget the three point shot. May be Newt has the same lack of skill here as well.

But, it is not clear to me why, he would mention that as being clever. I take Newt seiously. He is a clever man. He is the brain behind the Republican thinking or at least a large part of the Republical brain. When he calls the three point shot “clever”, you have to look into it seriously.

Certainly you can’t make the three pointer, unless you are in good physical shape, gifted as an athlete and possibly endowed with decent height advantage. Does Newt imply that President Obama acquired all this through some clever scheme, to become good at three point shots? May be not.

Even with all that, you have to be at the right place, get the ball on hand and have the guts to launch the ball, willing to live with the uncertainty of what might happen after you launch the ball until it reaches the hoop. You have to trust your instincts, have confidence in your abilities and may be even have the faith that your team mates can get the offensive rebound, in case you miss the shot. May be Newt sees all this in the President who makes the three point shot? May be he wants the President not to hide all these skills, but use them wisely in all the other things that matter to the country?

Now I get it. Newt is smart. He can’t advise Obama what to do, with out getting the ire of his fellow Republicans. He is already in hot water with Sarah Palin, who is questioning Newt’s wisdom by asking, “What is wrong with being the party of “No”?”. So, instead of being direct and obvious, he may be suggesting to the President, “Yes, you are clever. I can see that in your 3-point shots. But, please for the bettement of the economy, put your cleverness to good use and get cracking on some programs to create new jobs”.