"The power and precision of the right word at the right moment can be intoxicating"

Not only intoxicating but immensely powerful - we live in an age where politics is dominated by form rather than content, "spin" and being "on message" are more important that policies. Orwell, Koestler and others who were directly familiar with the totalitarian regimes understood the power of language and idea to shape and control people.

Think of how important Goebbels was to the Nazis or how important the arts (or at least his control of the arts) were to Stalin - those are direct indicators of important these topics are.

I'm rather amused that Orwell's essay on Politics and the English Language is features on HN's front page at the same time as this discussion.

Edit: From 1984

'He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.'