In the Age of Shamelessness, it doesn't matter if your entire argument falls apart in full view of the world. As long as you have a State TV network to feed a new bullshit line to the section of the country that has invested so much of themselves in your political movement that the sunk cost is insurmountable, you can carry on as if nothing happened. We've seen this time and again with Donald Trump, American president, but rarely so obviously as with the Ukraine fiasco.

When a whistleblower sounded the alarm that Trump had pressured the head of a foreign government to conduct a sham investigation of his political opponent to ratfuck the 2020 election, the president and his allies almost immediately staked out the position that there had been no quid pro quo, so it was no big deal. A quid pro quo was not necessary for this to be an impeachable offense, but witness after witness has nonetheless popped up to confirm the whistleblower's account and even to admit there was a quid pro quo. Career diplomat Bill Taylor provided texts to Congress showing a two-pronged quid pro quo as Trump sought the Biden investigation and a probe which would muddy the waters around Russia's 2016 interference. White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney admitted to the quid pro quo in a press conference, then tried to retract the statement because shamelessness. Then Trump lackey Gordon Sondland just up and admitted to Congress that there was a quid pro quo.

Anyway, now the call is coming from inside the White House. The Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, an Army lieutenant colonel named Alexander Vindman who earned a Purple Heart fighting in Iraq, will testify before Congress this fine Tuesday that he believed Trump's behavior with respect to Ukraine was jeopardizing United States national security. (It's almost like a shadow foreign policy you're running to boost your personal political interests may sometimes conflict with the national interest!) Vindman also happens to have been born in Soviet-era Ukraine and immigrated to the United States when he was 3. Naturally, within an hour or two of the news breaking that Vindman would testify, the president's propaganda network was smearing him as a double-agent.

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Oh my God, look at the spin they are using right now, actually saying that Vindman is a Ukrainian double agent....this is so freaking bananas pic.twitter.com/Oxpju5W23N — Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) October 29, 2019

Is there any evidence Vindman was actually working on behalf of Ukraine, without regard to the interests of the United States? No. But that's immaterial to Laura Ingraham (who once called the camps at our southern border where people keep dying "summer camps"), John Yoo (who provided the "legal" justification for the Bush administration's torture program), and Alan Dershowitz (whose sex life is going great). What a crew. Just say anything.

By the way, if you're keeping score at home, Rudy Giuliani's two Ukrainian-born henchmen, one of whom runs a firm called "FRAUD GUARANTEE" and both of whom have already been indicted, are nothing to worry about. A Ukrainian-born veteran who testifies about what he saw the president do is immediately suspect.

It wasn't just Laura and the Lawyers who took a shot at Vindman as soon as they heard his name, however. CNN, a putative news network with a mission of informing the public, has hired a new stooge who they will pay to defend Donald Trump no matter what he does in order to create WWE-style conflict with other on-screen characters who happen to retain some regard for observable reality. This is a strategy to boost ratings. The new recruit's name is Sean Duffy, and while they bill him as a former congressman, he's also a former star of The Real World: Boston. This is the discourse we deserve.

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Sean Duffy on CNN on Army Lt. Col. Vindman: "It seems very clear that he is incredibly concerned about Ukrainian defense. I don't know that he's concerned about American policy ... we all have an affinity to our homeland where we came from ... he has an affinity for the Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/dlsYlTnCwR — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 29, 2019

Did Sean Duffy actually know anything about Vindman at this point last night? It's incredibly debatable, but it doesn't actually matter. Duffy is paid to defend the president no matter what, because CNN. Meanwhile, the entire United States government used to be "very concerned about Ukrainian defense." That used to be "American policy," because we used to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression. Now, apparently, the president withholds military aid for that effort in order to extract personal concessions, one of which was an "investigation" into 2016 election meddling that would muddy the waters around what Russia did. Sounds like we're on a different side now! "We all have an affinity to our homeland," Duffy said, perhaps thinking back fondly on his time clubbing in Boston.

But the sprawling shameless dumbassery would not be complete without a visit from the Fox and Friends.

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Brian Kilmeade on Army Lt. Col. Vindman: "We also know he was born in the Soviet Union, emigrated with his family. Young. He tends to feel simpatico with the Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/mfjg9NUXSd — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 29, 2019

Vindman feels "simpatico" with Ukraine, says Brian Kilmeade. Again, this was the United States' position until the relationship apparently became a shakedown. But the details aren't actually important. They don't care about the country, they care about maintaining this Symbiosis of Stupid with the president so he and his followers stay tuned in all day every day. The same folks who smeared Colin Kaepernick as anti-military for protesting racial discrimination in policing are now smearing a guy with a Purple Heart because he will tell Congress what he saw Dear Leader do. They should just cut to the chase and say it's fine to do what Trump did—or, more accurately, it's fine to do because Trump did it.

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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