Political Animals

Peggy Noonan asks whether Obama is a hedgehog or a fox. No, its not a racial thing; get that NY Post chimpanzee cartoon out of your mind.

The "hedgehog/fox" dichotomy, proposed by Isaiah Berlin, breaks people into two groups. There are the hedgehogs, who know one big thing, and the foxes, who know a whole lot of little things. Then there are the amoebas, who know only one little thing, but the less said about them the better.

So which is Obama? Noonan takes a look at his first few months in office and decides he's...neither, really:

In political leadership the hedgehog has certain significant advantages, focus and clarity of vision among them. Most presidents are one or the other. So far Mr. Obama seems neither.

That's the inevitable consequence, I guess, of being all about Change. Obama was going to Change Washington. He was going to Change politics. He would reach deep inside all of us an Change our hearts, Change our beliefs, Change our very souls.

His most fervent followers seemed to think that he wouldn't just stop there; he'd come to our houses and Change our kid's diapers and Change our kids linens and Change the oil in the car, which we'd been meaning to do for a while but never really got around too.

Well, Barack, you're in the White House now, and it's a lot harder to talk about Changing Washington when you are Washington. It's as if somebody told LeBron James that he wasn't allowed to dunk anymore. He would have to completely change his game.

So far, Obama isn't doing so hot at changing his game. He's switching from one persona to another like a speed-dating schizophrenic. Barack Obama, hard-headed realist. No, wait: Barack Obama, FDR redux. Wait, lemme try again: Barack Obama, optimist-in-chief. No, wait...

Until Obama figures out what he is he'll be neither a fox nor a hedgehog. He's a jellyfish: brainless, spineless, and drifting wherever the current takes him.