Missing the point on the Axios 'Old Yeller' article
On July 10, Axios published an article titled "Old Yeller: Biden's Private Fury," where they talk about how Biden is quite the old curmudgeon behind the scenes at the Oval Office. Dutifully, like clockwork, all the conservative sites pounced (the left love that word) on the juicy details of an old man who, while whispering in public, lets his true personality out in his private surroundings. And of course, the conservative comments section was on fire with people relishing what a nasty character this befuddled old man really is behind the scenes, and how the left are getting suckered into thinking otherwise. Conservatives interpreted the article as a takedown of the president. But I believe that something else was afoot here, an entirely different agenda in writing this article from what most conservatives think.
Among all the pronouncements in the piece, like "Biden has such a quick-trigger temper that some aides try to avoid meeting alone with him. Some take a colleague, almost as a shield against a solo blast," what Axios was really trying to impart to its readers was that Biden is a man in control — a man who knows BS when he hears it and has no patience for it. If you are unlucky enough to have a one-on-one with this oh, so capable man, you had better have the answers he's looking for, or watch out!
In essence, this was a flattering propaganda piece designed to make Joe look like the boss man, the mover and shaker of the White House, and just forget what your lying eyes tell you. He's not, in truth, the doddering old demented ice cream–eater in chief you see on TV or social media. He's Dark Brandon!
What many conservatives fail to grasp is that to a leftist, Joe being a nasty man who likes to curse and yell and demean his staff is not a detriment at all, but rather the opposite. Screaming and cursing to a leftist is a sign of power and command. Strangely, to them, it's also a sign of confidence and competence. Anyone who has tried to talk to a leftist about politics can attest to the fact that things quickly devolve to an unhinged barrage of insults on his part, with an abundance of loud, obnoxious pronouncements and accusations (transphobe, racist, etc.) devoid of logic. So to the average leftist, according to the Axios article, Joe is speaking their language (especially when he curses — the left love that).
So reading all the conservative "gotcha" articles and comments deriding Biden's abusive ranting to his staff shows me that we, as a movement, still fail to understand our political enemy and what makes them tick. We judge what they do by our own values, and in doing so, we fail to see what's really going on when they publish articles like this in their media. We must understand how they think in order to outthink them. And we must always keep in mind that in many ways, they simply do not think like us.
In the end, if we don't understand the mind of those who are looking to destroy our way of life, it will be impossible to defeat them. The lesson we should glean from this Axios propaganda piece is that they are selling Joe as a capable leader who is at the top of his game.
Image: Axios.