once more on trumpbidenoldguy
The number of strange sensations I get in the current administration. You watch the over the top glad handling of a Trump administration meeting, where everyone goes out of their way and makes over the top statements on Trump’s greatness and what he has bestowed on the American nation. The obvious parallel is to the dictators of North Korea — or any dictator, but Saddam is long gone and you can jump to the one most comically exaggerated. And there is that power dynamic certainly in making sure he knows you are on his good side always with no deviation.
But there is a different point this reminds me of. Joseph Biden. At the end of his administration, post debate, and in particular post campaign quitting. And trying to parse the dynamic and if there is something in the Trump dynamic that is the same. The manner in which Kamala Harris seemed required to pay deference, and the manner this came off as pumping up a doddering old man — “nice” in its dictionary pejorative definition. And Biden is and was reportedly brittle — especially with Obama — did not get a phone call of thanks in a long series of phone calls thanking different people for their support through his career — and this strikes me as more human and relatable than the constant harping for Trump and his reselling of the package of Trump Greatness — it suggests Biden has an understanding of the political dynamics of two faces around him. But the North Korea model of glad handling to parody levels may have that element — and sure, it is the manner of getting what you want now (Marco Rubio and a war with Venezuela), but it is also the manner of pushing past the doddering old man.