Many years ago, when I was learning the ins and outs of being an Army officer (full disclosure: I was an E5 before they pulled out my brains and made me a second lieutenant), one caution I remember us being constantly given was, "If you don't know where your people are, they're probably ahead of you." We were also constantly cautioned about the dangers of losing control of a situation. In military matters, losing control of a situation can result in your getting a lot of your people killed. In politics, it can result in one losing elections, which from a politician's standpoint, may be just as undesirable.

The Biden administration has fallen afoul of both of those traps.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, President Joe Biden’s consistent support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response has prompted a series of anonymous letters from staffers within the White House, the State Department and the Biden campaign — letters that have left politicos of a certain age shaking their heads.

The notion that junior staffers in such coveted jobs would dare cross the principal — even anonymously — would have been inconceivable not long ago, they say.

“There’s this whole, ‘You’re not the boss of me’ attitude now. ‘I might work for you but I have my own views,’” said longtime Democratic strategist James Carville, who worked for former President Bill Clinton as a top campaign strategist. “If you said you didn’t like some of President Clinton’s policies, the idea that you would go public with that would be insane. Just wouldn’t do that. It wouldn’t even cross your mind.”

It's crossing their minds now.

Just to belabor the obvious for a moment, it is always easy to point at the younger generation and say, "Kids these days, am I right?" But it's more than just the kids. This is an administration that has, from the first day, the first hour in the White House, been marked by incompetence and bad messaging. Hiring practices are clearly based on checking off the right DEI buttons, not on ability; as evidence one needs only watch a White House press briefing.

The Biden Administration clearly has little idea where their people are, which isn't surprising since the guy who is ostensibly in charge (I think we all know better) has very little idea of what is really going on.

Then there's this giggle-inducing bit:

“This president … does not shrink from criticism. We aren’t afraid to open up our policy choices to scrutiny,” one Biden aide, granted anonymity to speak about internal discussions, told POLITICO. “Even the anonymous campaign staffers said they were doing this because they have so much respect for him. That says a lot.”

Color me skeptical. Staffers - employees - don't do this kind of thing because they have "so much respect" for the principle. They don't do it because their principals are happy to open up their policy choices to scrutiny. Staffers - employees - do this kind of thing because they are frustrated with the decisions being made and the policies being set by the principal and are fearful of consequences should they announce their dissent openly. There can be no clearer indicator that the president does shrink from criticism than the fact that these young staffers are releasing all these messages anonymously.

Wasn't dissent patriotic not that long ago? Like, before January 2021?

See Related: That the Democrats Are Surprised at How Disliked They Are Says a Lot About Them 

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It's the same old story: When the staffers of a leftist politician object to their employer's policies or positions, anonymously, the legacy media faithfully reports that this is done out of respect, even love, for the principal and his/her positions. When the staffers of a politician on the right do this - and by on the right, I mean anyone to the right of Che Guevara - they are bravely coming forth to expose corruption, bad faith deals, and oppressive behavior on the part of their principle.

You can set your watch by it.

Here's what is happening here, spin by the legacy media notwithstanding: The Biden Administration doesn't have any idea what much of their staff really thinks, and they have zero message discipline. They have lost control, if indeed they ever had it. Since the word go they have relied on DEI hires and checking off "diversity" boxes instead of experience and competence; they are running cover for a principal who has very little idea of what goes on from day to day, and as the high-pressure campaign season kicks into high gear with the first primaries, it's very apparent that they aren't up for the task.

The question is this: Will whoever the GOP candidate ends up being be savvy enough to hammer this point home?