Steam-whistle.

Earlier today an acquaintance introduced me to French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s concept of “kettle logic,” (la logique du chaudron), derived from a famous anecdote told many times by Sigmund Freud, describing the rhetorical fallacy of using multiple inconsistent arguments at the same time.

Freud talks about a man who lets a neighbor borrow a kettle, and then has the kettle come back damaged. When confronted, the indignant neighbor replies:

“I returned the kettle undamaged.”
“It was damaged when I borrowed it.”
“I never borrowed it.”

It’s a useful and elegant phrase to describe what we’re watching Trump and his supporters engage in as they continue to twist themselves around Putin’s ring finger.