The Orwell Maneuver

In his epic novel "1984", George Orwell wrote about totalitarian regimes shaping the narrative by simple repeating self-evidently false statements so often that people ended up questioning their own beliefs and ultimately relinquishing what they knew to be true. That tactic was on full display today.

First Trump claimed victory in Syria even though he got nothing of substance from Turkey in return for not imposing sanctions; his boast (obviously) ignored the fact that the situation he claimed falsely to have resolved was one entirely of his own making in the first place.

Then there was Mick Mulvaney's admission that a political quid pro quo did take place in Trump's dealings with Ukraine but that this was business as usual. Yes negotiations involve the use of leverage, but that should be to extract concessions in the national interest, not for personal political gain.

Mulvaney tried to suggest that the action being called for was backward looking to the last election. That could be construed in two ways: it might be taken as evidence of an effort to prevent future meddling in the upcoming election by better understanding what happened three years ago. But that seems to very unlikely given that Trump has shown no interest in preventing foreign meddling in US elections; indeed, he has encouraged it. A more likely explanation is that Trump's ego (and rellection chances) require that any suggestion that his win was tainted by interference be purged from public memory, that the Meuller report was a hoax and missed the "real villain". To do this he needs a countervailing conspiracy theory that the Democrats were somehow guilty of instigating and benefiting from foreign election meddling.

But despite Mulvaney's claim, the action being sought clearly isn't just about interference in the last election. His admission of a quid pro quo is particularly problematic given the ample evidence, specifically the transcript of the conversation with Ukraine's President Zelensky, that the ask was not limited to an investigation of possible tampering with the last election but an effort to smear a current and future political opponent. Having admitted that aid (and a visit) was part of the bargain and given that what was being asked has been clearly stated elsewhere, Mulvaney has, in essence, made an iron clad case for impeachment.

As if not content with all this, Trump then confirmed that he wants to use his own hotel to host the upcoming G7 conference, a clear violation of the emoluments clause.

In an era of astonishing stupidity and corruption in the White House, this was one of the most head-spinning days in living memory.