Who’s pulling Joe Biden’s puppet strings? You doubtless have heard that question more than once during the 2020 presidential campaign, post-election drama, and the early days of the Biden administration. The presumption behind this inquiry has always been, sotto voce, that of course he could not be making his own decisions, they are being made for him, by some person or persons hidden behind the curtain.
Article by Tim Donner originally published at Liberty Nation.
And Joe Biden has heard the chatter too – the talk that he’s an empty suit, controlled by others, transparently in decline, not the man he once was. A marionette manipulated by undisclosed power brokers, likely intent on little more than refilling his oh-so-familiar establishment Swamp which was drained by Trump.
What, you thought his aides and family, who for months kept him more hidden than a down-on-his-luck shut-in, were able to block it all out for him? Okay, that’s a rhetorical question, but the new president’s style of leadership so far may actually reveal his own pointed reaction to the notion that he’s in way over his head.
Biden’s term, if continued on its present course, would be viewed by objective historians as an imperial presidency – for one simple reason. He has handed down edicts from on high, requiring only his command, at a record pace. Most of his more than 40 executive orders have been aimed at sanitizing the presidency of Trump and demonstrating to the left that he can keep them at least satisfied if not overjoyed. We have postulated here on LN that, while both of these objectives were highly predictable, the record-shattering volume of executive orders immediately upon taking office would suggest a man who knows his time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue may be limited. But there may well be yet another motivation.
Ask yourself how you would react to the widespread notion that you are addled, unable to make decisions, essentially incapacitated to a point perhaps short of panic but beyond mere concern. Would you send out the signal that, yes, I really am pretty weak so I’ll go ahead and let Vice President Harris and congressional leaders play an enlarged role while I recede into the background, the stick figure I’ve been depicted as by my detractors? Or would you say hell yeah I’m my own man, and I’m as capable as ever of setting my own agenda and making my own decisions – whether you are or not? And would not the best way to achieve that objective be to grab the (carefully set) stage with all manner of early moves requiring only the stroke of your pen – and certain to get major play in the friendly media – while keeping the VP and others who seek to control you at a comfortable distance?
This does not answer the question of who might or might not actually be exercising outsized influence on this president. As a political lifer and admitted transitional figure – in every way the reverse image of Donald Trump – President Biden understands that the battle to succeed him started the day he was proclaimed president for the one term he is likely to serve, in whole or in part. However, that this president appears laser-focused on removing doubts about his competence at least adds to our limited understanding of the current state of mind of a chief executive who was kept more distant from the voters than any presidential nominee in modern American history.
Could it be that Joe Biden’s extraordinarily swift, unilateral, and voluminous decrees are not only his way of leaving his footprints in the sand, but also a desperate attempt to transmit the message that the person who’s pulling his puppet strings is … the president himself?
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Read more from Tim Donner.
COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outlet
Nobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.
Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it.
When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that.
Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance.
The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated.
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