(Melchizedek Communique, MC012110) It has been one year since Barack Obama became president. "One year later, the ground has shifted beneath Obama himself," writes Nancy Benac of the Associated Press. [1] In a similar way, the ground had shifted beneath the Duchy of Grand Fenwick when an American winery began making a cheap knockoff version of that kingdom's Pinot Grand Fenwick wine.

Of course, the Duchy of Grand Fenwick was a fictional kingdom, imagined by Irish American writer Leonard Wibberley. Released in February 1955, Wibberley's novel first appeared under the title, The Day New York Was Invaded. It was later made into a 1959 film ("The Mouse That Roared") starring Peter Sellers in three roles (Duchess Gloriana XII; Count Rupert Mountjoy, the Prime Minister; and Tully Bascomb, the military leader). [2] But the presidency of Barack Obama is also a sort of fictional kingdom.

Unique perceptions of Obama have appeared in Harper's magazine. In its July 2009 issue, Harper's compared Barack Obama to Herbert Hoover. "To understand how dire our situation is now it is necessary to remember that when he was elected president in 1928, Herbert Hoover was widely considered the most capable public figure in the country." Hoover, like Obama, was well educated, intelligent, and had a wide knowledge of people. And yet, Herbert Hoover failed. [3]

When the economy of Grand Fenwick collapses due to devastation in their wine industry, their prime minister arrives at a plan: declare war on the United States. The keen professorial thinking is seen in the brilliant nature of the plan: of course, Grand Fenwick will be defeated, but then the tiny kingdom will qualify for massive foreign aid from the United States. So also does Professor Obama have a plan: destroy the United States so that we can rebuild it.

The Obama "Grand Fenwick" plan is nothing so crude as portrayed by Rush Limbaugh. Barack Obama truly loves the United States. It is just his brilliant professorial thinking which leads lesser minds to misunderstand his intentions.

The "Grand Fenwick" plan truly originated with Vice-President Al Gore. It was continued by George W. Bush (Tully Bascomb) along the lines of Wibberley's "The Day New York Was Invaded." Now, once President Obama has finalized the plan and the United States is ruined, then the world will feel sorry for us and provide foreign aid. That, at least, is the brilliant professorial thinking.

Harper's magazine gives this evaluation of one year of Obama in its latest issue: "That Obama is in most respects better than George W. Bush, John McCain, Sarah Palin, or Joseph Stalin is beyond dispute and completely beside the point. Obama is judged not as a man but as a fable, a tale of moral uplift that redeems the sins of America's shameful past." [4] Barack Obama is, in other words, a golem, as suggested by Melchizedek Communique way back in late-November of 2008. [5]

Zwakh the Puppeteer theorizes, "Just as on sultry days the static electricity builds up to unbearable tension until it discharges itself in lightning, could it not be that the steady build-up of those never-changing thoughts that poison the air in the Ghetto lead to a sudden, spasmodic discharge?" And then would appear, "a phantom that in expression, gait and behavior, in every last detail, would reveal the symbol of the soul of the masses, if only we were able to interpret the secret language of forms?" [5] This phantom symbol of the soul of the masses -- in other words, Barack the Golem -- continues the "Grand Fenwick" plan.

------- Notes -------
[1] "One year in, hope harder to come by, Obama finds", by Nancy Benac. AP, Jan. 20, 2010
[2] "The Mouse That Roared", Wikipedia, Jan. 21, 2010
[3] "Barack Hoover Obama", by Kevin Baker. Harper's magazine, July 2009
[4] "The Mendacity of Hope", by Roger D. Hodge. Harper's magazine, February 2010
[5] "Is Barack Obama a Golem?" Melchizedek Communique, November 28, 2008
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