Methinks the “old gray lady” doth protesth too much…
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OK, so Pres. Biden speaks in a creepy monotone as he squints from at a staff-loaded teleprompter … and steps in “it” when he “disobeys orders” and swings extemporaneously on soft-ball questions from his fawning media.
Not to worry.
Last week, the New York Times reported that “Beneath Joe Biden’s Folksy Demeanor, a Short Fuse and an Obsession With Details”.
The Times concludes that quick decision-making is just not Biden’s style … and, that’s a welcome relief from Trump’s “shoot first” style.
The Times concedes that “Biden’s method of governing can feel at odds with the urgency of a country still reeling from a pandemic and an economy struggling to recover.”
It’s not that he’s not willing & able to make decisions, it’s because he’s a deep thinker who has to feel comfortable with the details before reaching a decision that he’s comfortable pitching to the public in a finely honed teleprompter statement.
More specifically, “dozens” of current and former Biden associates told the Times:
- The President’s mantra is ‘You can never give me too much detail.”
- Advisers are “peppered with sometimes obscure questions, going beyond vague talking points.”
- Biden sometimes loses sight of the bigger picture.
- When frustrated with answers, he is prone to outbursts of frustration, often laced with profanity (but, of course, he “never erupts into fits of rage the way Trump did”).
- He demands hours of debate from scores of policy experts.
- He often takes days or weeks to make up his mind as he examines and second-guesses himself and others.
- He needs time to process the material so that he feels comfortable selling it to the public.
- He checkpoints decisions against campaign promises.
- Biden stays in regular contact with a couple of historians: “four white men who are the ones the president goes to for a final gut-check before making a decision.”
- He often calls aides as late as 10:30 or 11 p.m. as he gets ready for the next day’s speeches.
- Aides say it takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work to prepare him to project his assured demeanor.
To illustrate Biden’s style, aides throw DHS Secretary Xavier Becerra under the bus, leaking:
Some advisers who are new to Mr. Biden’s orbit have been on the receiving end of his anger in recent weeks.
During a meeting on March 30 in the Oval Office, the president lashed out at Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, for failing to have answers to his questions about the agency’s ability to take care of migrant children, according to two people familiar with the exchange.
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OK, so what’s the message that the Times is trying to convey?
> Biden is in charge, he’s the decision-maker … not Staff Chief Klain … nor Kamala … nor Susan Rice … nor Barack Obama.
> He is deep into the details of multiple complex issues … inclusive of alternative points-of-view
> He operates at game-speed … long hours in the White House, late night calls to aides.
> His “no drama” presentation style reflects his confidence and self-assurance.
> He obsesses over keeping his campaign promises (save for that part about being a bipartisan moderate.)
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My take: Nice try by the Times to conjure an Ox-like alternative universe … but, c’mon, man!
The Homa Files 