It makes sense that the vibes were different. Abe was the Frank Sinatra of Japanese PMs, a charming crooner with a hint of a bad boy aura. Kishida is, I still think, Charlie Brown, with many a Lucy in the LDP snatching the football away. But that’s okay. He’s a good match for Biden – a bland and stodgy but competent and principled manager. Joe and Fumio are similar in that sense. They tend to do the right things but get no respect. After this shindig, they’ll go back to face poor approval ratings and rants from their respective citizens about how everyone is paying $100/¥15,000 a day on groceries. Will Joe and Fumio still have jobs this December? Hope you can share your insight into this vexing question, Mr. Harris.
Abe’s real talent was in the way he handled Donald Trump. Maybe the “personal baggage” element helped – game recognizes game. It was weirdly fascinating to watch Abe get into the good graces of Trump with hamburgers and golf and sumo, of all things. This is something Kishida probably wouldn’t be good at. Which begs the question, who would be a good PM candidate for managing the Don in his second term? Maybe Shinjiro Koizumi, who could put Trump at ease with his youthful and fawning “aw-shucks” attitude. I can see Koizumi Jr. becoming pals with Don Jr. Then there’s Taro Aso, who likely won’t be PM but is a great Trump whisperer nonetheless. Aso went to see Trump recently, and I can imagine them swapping stories about how yakuza/mobster figures approach them, tears streaming out of their eyes, begging, “Sir, sir, can I have your fedora/MAGA cap?”
It makes sense that the vibes were different. Abe was the Frank Sinatra of Japanese PMs, a charming crooner with a hint of a bad boy aura. Kishida is, I still think, Charlie Brown, with many a Lucy in the LDP snatching the football away. But that’s okay. He’s a good match for Biden – a bland and stodgy but competent and principled manager. Joe and Fumio are similar in that sense. They tend to do the right things but get no respect. After this shindig, they’ll go back to face poor approval ratings and rants from their respective citizens about how everyone is paying $100/¥15,000 a day on groceries. Will Joe and Fumio still have jobs this December? Hope you can share your insight into this vexing question, Mr. Harris.
Abe’s real talent was in the way he handled Donald Trump. Maybe the “personal baggage” element helped – game recognizes game. It was weirdly fascinating to watch Abe get into the good graces of Trump with hamburgers and golf and sumo, of all things. This is something Kishida probably wouldn’t be good at. Which begs the question, who would be a good PM candidate for managing the Don in his second term? Maybe Shinjiro Koizumi, who could put Trump at ease with his youthful and fawning “aw-shucks” attitude. I can see Koizumi Jr. becoming pals with Don Jr. Then there’s Taro Aso, who likely won’t be PM but is a great Trump whisperer nonetheless. Aso went to see Trump recently, and I can imagine them swapping stories about how yakuza/mobster figures approach them, tears streaming out of their eyes, begging, “Sir, sir, can I have your fedora/MAGA cap?”