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Mar. 6th, 2026 06:18 pmPeople in the persuasion business know very well that the best way to get someone to pull your chestnuts out of the fire would be to convince them that doing so was their own idea in the first place. That is, if you care about the outcome it doesn't matter to you who gets the attribution for the original idea and its execution. Moreover, а vain person is an easy target for such _inception_ manipulation because they crave flattery.
When a couple of days ago both Rubio and Johnson stated publicly that Netanyahu forced Trump's hand in starting the Iran war and the next day Trump said NO-NO-NO it was _my_ idea in the first place, it became obvious to knowledgeable people that Trump's _denial_ was actually a confirmation of the Rubio/Johnson story. Exploiting Trump's vanity is a big business now — from presidential pardons, to tariff exemptions, to foreign wars; those with access to the president send and receive strong signals about how to get things done.
upd: once, a successful litigator explained to me the difference between an ok lawyer and a good one. An ok lawyer, while presenting evidence, tells the jury what conclusion they should make. A good lawyer doesn’t tell the jury what they should conclude until they have already come to that conclusion on their own.
When a couple of days ago both Rubio and Johnson stated publicly that Netanyahu forced Trump's hand in starting the Iran war and the next day Trump said NO-NO-NO it was _my_ idea in the first place, it became obvious to knowledgeable people that Trump's _denial_ was actually a confirmation of the Rubio/Johnson story. Exploiting Trump's vanity is a big business now — from presidential pardons, to tariff exemptions, to foreign wars; those with access to the president send and receive strong signals about how to get things done.
upd: once, a successful litigator explained to me the difference between an ok lawyer and a good one. An ok lawyer, while presenting evidence, tells the jury what conclusion they should make. A good lawyer doesn’t tell the jury what they should conclude until they have already come to that conclusion on their own.
