For the last two years or so, there has been endless speculation about who is really calling the shots in the Biden White House. If there is any consensus, it is that the the maestro is not the senescent, doddering Joe Biden. Other names are bruited about, none more regularly than Barack Obama. That said, Obama has always been more of a puppet than puppeteer. Having written four books about the man, I feel confident in that conclusion.
Although immersed in leftism since childhood, Obama never left the shallow end of the pool. He proved so adept at breaking promises as president because he did not care deeply enough to ensure they were realized. What mattered more for Obama was that he be seen striking the right pose, finding the right groove, spinning the right narrative. He is not a serious man, never was.
Other suggested candidates for chief puppeteer are equally lacking in gravitas – Susan Rice, Anita Dunn, the Clintons. International scoundrels like George Soros or Klaus Schwab, haunt our imagination the way Lex Luthor did Superman’s, but they are not hands-on kind of guys.