The Fable of Barack and the Foxes

This resembles a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, “Le Corbeau et le Renard” (The Crow and the Fox).* As of his election, the new American president was submerged in flattery. Barack Obama became the messiah not only for the United States, but for the entire world. And among the sincere and naive fans, always on the lookout for an idol since Elvis Presley’s death, there are some foxes fixed on Obama’s cheeses. In Barack they believed. As Michel Berger sang, “they like me, they love me, it’s crazy that they like me.” And the pianist then extended his hand to his groupies, of course, but also to his enemies of yesterday, all the while thinking that a Ghandi-like approach will turn them into his friends tomorrow. And for one year, he showed his left cheek while swallowing so many snakes that [Prime Minister Francois] Fillon, though a specialist, could not compare.

All this would only be able to last for four years and then lead Obama to announce defeat. Only this: Ted Kennedy is dead. And a year to the day after the presidential election, a brutal “wake up call” resonates. An unknown, nude playboy became an eager triathlete and worked against all odds to allow the Republicans to achieve a miracle, causing Barack Obama to lose the qualified majority in the Senate. This is an earthquake. And this time it is too much. The young Barack rediscovered his fable book and the moral of La Fontaine: “the Crow, ashamed and embarrassed, swore, a little late, that he would never be fooled again.” And Barack read that he is not too late. He has lost the cheese, but not the war. He looked around him and noticed that his administration is full of defenders of special interests.

It began with Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary and the true mole of Wall Street. He withdrew himself to his faithful ones: David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs, Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett. After the hour of the outstretched hand, comes the hour of the slam. And it began with the banks. There were calls upon the old Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, and a decision to wash away the insult of the obscene bonuses of 2009 with an order: “The banks are going to pay.” And they will pay. Then it was China’s turn. No more bending over for the Chinese power that laughs behind his back. Within two weeks, there were attacks on all fronts: freedom of expression with Google, Taiwan with a beautiful delivery of weapons, Tibet with the Dalai Lama’s return to favor in the United States and finally the yuan.

Basically, all of the problems that are upsetting. Then he suddenly remembered that Bill Clinton had won in 1992 with the slogan, “it’s the economy, stupid!” But of course, he is stupid! He ended the games with the world’s presidents (leaving that to Sarkozy), and he ended the big, useless international summits and carbon dioxide reductions (he canceled his plans to attend the European Summit organized by Spain). It is necessary that he take care of the American economy — American jobs, small businesses, taxes. They elected him to be the Robin Hood of the modern woods. He goes, therefore, to take from the rich and give to the poor, and to put their feet back on solid ground while canceling the trips to the Moon and Mars.

Barack Obama reacted. He reacted quickly. It’s traditionally during the elections of Congress that incumbent presidents are drawn into question, but the elections in Massachusetts have won him a year. I must acknowledge that I did not like Barack Obama at first, probably because that would have been a big contradiction — I hate collective hysteria. But this new Barack, who has abandoned the habits of Jimmy Carter to don the suit of a Reagan Democrat, is beginning to please me. The big investors and the speculative funds will have had one certain impact on the metamorphosis of Barack Obama, and this impact will be crucial on the foreign exchange markets, the interest rate market, the equity market. One knew that 2010 would not resemble 2009 at all. Now we have the proof. After the “Yes I can” [campaign], doubt appeared with “Maybe he can’t.” Here comes the hour of “Maybe he can.”

*Editor’s note: Full Text of “The Crow and the Fox”:

Mr. Crow, sitting in a tree,

Held a piece of cheese in his beak.

Mr. Fox, mouth watering from the scent,

Uttered almost precisely this to him:

“Hey! Good morning, Mr. Crow.

How lovely you are! You look so beautiful!

Without lying, if your songs

Are in keeping with your feathers,

You are the Phoenix of the inhabitants of these woods.”

With these words the raven feels nothing but delight.

And to show off his beautiful voice,

He opens a wide beak and lets his prey fall.

The Fox grabs it and said: “My dear sir

Learn that every flatterer

Lives at the expense of the one who listens to him.

This lesson is worth a piece of cheese, no doubt.”

The Crow, ashamed and embarrassed,

Swore, but a bit late, that he would never be fooled again.