One of the most famous and possibly apocryphal quotes of the Bush 43-years was about the nature of reality. A now-recognized article in the New York Times, Ron Suskind, describes a scene at the White House, in 2004, and a dispute.
According to the aide, guys like me are “in what we call reality-based community,” which he described as people who believe that solutions can emerge from your careful study of discernible reality. […] He said, “That’s not how the world works anymore.” We are an empire now. When we act, we create our reality. And while you’re studying that reality–judiciously, as you will–we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We are history’s actors. You, each of you, will just have to study what we do.”
Karl Rove has denied that he was the source of the exchange, even though it took place years ago. Most prominently, The wise man of the GOP establishment (as Washington Examiner‘s David Drucker said, “such is it”) has fought with indie royalty band The National over the use of the quote in their 2017 offering Sleep Well Beast. We live in an ever-present 2000s.
A recently reported email exchange among top American and Saudi officials was enough to prove that. Energy Amos Hochstein challenged the Kingdom over production increases or the lack thereof that were allegedly promised during Biden’s humiliating hat-in hand trip to the country this summer. Hochstein informed the Saudis that they had not kept their promise. Hochstein told the Saudis that they had broken their word. This is another story.
Hochstein is who? You probably don’t know the name of this Hochstein if you have never been to a Washington greenroom. Who is this spin doctor who can call America’s petroleum partner a lying pack?
Maggie Haberman’s long-awaited treatment of Donald Trump is titled “Haberman’s Life Story of a Confiance Man “. This describes Hochstein’s role in the crisis administration (check out CNBC if you feel the need to watch the pumps); the behind-the scenes confidante, the newcomer who has the credibility to threaten another nation on behalf of the commander of the United States Armed Forces.
Hochstein is a “Special President Coordinator” and has been associated with Biden since the beginning. Hochstein, though he was not a gentile, served in the IDF and has been a key aide for a number of Silent Generation senators, including John Kerry, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden. Hochstein was even the deputy campaign manager for the sad-sack Dodd 2008 affair in which the Connecticuter, along with his young daughter, moved to Iowa to take sixth place. Biden and Dodd both dropped out of the race on the same day.
Hochstein was an entrepreneur who later made a lot of money in the private sector while playing with the State Department’s heavies. It was a lesson in not losing. Hochstein’s natty gasoline background can be a liability to the left. However, in an energy shock it pays to have the best knowledge on a subject.
The demographic tensions that are shaping the modern Democratic map of power lie below the surface or above the surface in the City of Angels. This administration is headed by the oldest president ever: The younger, more diverse and often more female generation. An ex-Trump administration official described the incoming Biden team to me as a Layer Cake: an older white man in high command at top level, hidden from the public and his team dyingly afraid of their more, Red Guard subordinates, who brought them into power.
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James Carden reported this year on the Biden inner circle for Asia Times: That it is ruled by figures even most news junkies are only passingly familiar with: “During Reagan’s first term, that job fell upon what was called the Troika,” which was chief of staff James Baker, counselor of the president Ed Meese, and deputy chief-of-staff Mike Deaver ….. The White House of Joe Biden might be ruled by White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and Bruce Reed, White House Chief of staff Bruce Reed.
For “once-in-a century” reasons the president is the only holder this office who won a general election. He moved left following his win. Bloomberg Jonathan Bernstein states that the Democratic Party needs to know from him about a reelection effort ASAP.
Is there a centrist future, with empowered “Cardinals”, and figures like Hochstein amplified, if he cannot? There is no reason to believe that this is a repeat of 1994 with Bill Clinton or 2010 with Barack Obama. Power comes with a price.
