Unclear on the Metaphor

Here's the lede to a recent post from Chicagoist:

If you're enjoying the fact that Illinois has become the nation's 95-pound weakling for other Charles Atlas-like Governors to kick sand in our face while attempting to steal our jerbs, you'll love this.

We here at Kicking the Sand always love a good Charles Atlas reference, but sadly, this isn't one of them. We'll forgive Chicagoist the reference to the "95-pound weakling" ("97" is canonical), but really - Charles Atlas would never kick sand in someone's face; that's work for bullies, not for the World's Most Perfectly Developed Man. Sheesh!