The Desire to Bite People
President Biden and his dog Commander are experiencing "cute aggression"
This evening I was surprised to discover a large literature claiming that dogs and their owners look and act like each other. I don’t really believe this, but I think it’s a fun idea. What prompted me to research this notion was a report in CNN that President Biden’s two-year-old German Shepherd, Commander, is fond of biting people, and has now bitten about about 11 members of the White House staff.
First Lady, Jill Biden, initially defended the young and rambunctious creature by saying that he was just being playful, even when he hospitalized one of his victims.
Could it be that Commander is, like his Master, President Biden, experiencing what psychologists call “cute aggression”—that is, the paradoxical urge to devour an adorable animal or human, the sight of which overwhelms us with emotion?
People who are crazy in love says things like, “you’re so cute I could just eat you up.” However, public expressions of “cute aggression” can be disturbing when made by an octogenarian U.S. president and the recipient of the love bites is a frightened toddler on the tarmac at an airport in Finland.
When I read that Commander is also given to biting people, I figured an easy solution would be to muzzle him until he grows out of his playful biting stage.
Then I saw this photograph of President Biden walking Commander on the beach, but instead of muzzling the dog, he has muzzled himself.
Perhaps the expression 'Once Bidened twice shy' is relevant here. The mask suits him, but possibly should be replaced with the standard wire mesh version, which would be equally effective against viruses and would deal better with the biting problem. I assume he's wearing it in this instance to protect Commander, who possibly is unvaxxed. Or it may be to hide bruising from a punch in the mouth delivered by a bitee.
This is sooo funny. Nothing like a bit (pun intended) of humor to soothe the madness of this very evident clown show. 🤣🤣😜😜