Yesterday, a reader wrote:
Okay, I completely agree with your point about Obama, but the metaphor is killing me. "Mushy steel?" It makes my head hurt. Steel that was mushy wouldn't have the primary characteristics that you're trying to convey -- sharp, deadly, unyielding.
How about the T-1000 android from Terminator 2: Judgment Day? T-1000 was made of mushy steel, and, as this un-embeddable YouTube shows, it was certainly "sharp, deadly, unyielding."