Archilochus of Paros, who flourished around 650 BCE, not more than a century after Homer, was the first Greek poet to draw on his personal experiences for his subject matter, not on mythological tradition.  Hence he is an extremely important figure in the history of Greek (and all Western!) literature.

We do not know the context of the famous fragment that Isaiah Berlin picked up and ran with, "A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one great thing."  Since Archilochus was a soldier who practically rejected the heroic code of Homeric society, possibly he is telling his audience that his simple strategy of looking out for his own survival is superior to the more clever and acquisitive approach that can get a soldier into trouble.  Cf. how Odysseus got into trouble, not once but twice, with the Cyclops (Odyssey IX).

It is also interpreted, somewhat more in line with how Isaiah Berlin takes it, to refer to a literary style: Archilochus sees himself as a hedgehog, a poet who writes on one limited subject, but with great effect, unlike the more learned and more widely experienced fox-poets whose poetry is perhaps not so impressive.

Since the hedgehog's "one great thing" is presumably the defensive maneuver of curling up into a ball, offering a predator an array of spikes, it is not easy to see how Berlin uses the metaphor as he does.  The authors whom he calls hedgehogs certainly seem far from lacking in creativity and variety.

But by the same token, DR's assertion that Al Gore is a hedgehog makes a good deal more sense than Berlin's about, say, Dante and Tolstoy.  Certainly, to use a rather different contrast of animals from Archaic Greece, Aesop's Hare and Tortoise, Gore could be said to resemble the relentlessly plodding, single-minded Tortoise.

As for whether Bill Clinton is "the foxiest fox of our time," that is very possible.  But meanwhile, some of the pundits have lately been telling us that Hillary is a shrewder politician even than Bill.

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.

Love them both, but disagree with the analogy.  Gore gives the focus - scares folks into believing - but Clinton provided a rationale that appeals to a populous more scared by the economy than climate change: clean energy is THE solution to economic stagnation and inequality, and to a future independent of foreign oil.

He then went on to outline an 11 (eleven) step plan.  

It's critical to build the national mandate needed for implementable change: an invigorated national energy infrastructure and extended tax credits for renewable fuels for a start. In order to do that, we need to focus not just on climate change, but on the enormous economic opportunities for jobs, growth and energy independence.  

Clinton spoke beyond the choir. I, for one, applaud his bravery in talking hard issues.

Tana Kantor The Green Economy Magazine