I’ve kinda been glued to the TV the past few days. A few minutes ago, I saw Ari Melber ask Ted Lieu, “Why is this time different?” It’s a question I’ve heard asked several times since the breaking of the Trump-strong-arms-a-country-who’s-trying-hard-not-to-suck scandal. I have some thoughts on why this is different from the Mueller investigation scandal. Here’s my metaphor.
Imagine your 4 year old wandered out in the street with heavy traffic. Imagine you were momentarily distracted at the time and didn’t see him do it. Imagine a few days afterwards your neighbor told you they’d seen your 4 year old out in the street. Imagine you asked your 4 year old about it, and he denied it. Imagine your other neighbor had a video showing your 4 year old out in the street that day, but it was grainy and wasn’t timestamped.
You talk to your 4 year old about how dangerous it is to wander out in the street. Your 4 year old still denies that he did, but you think that at least he got the message about how dangerous it is, and he won’t do it again.
That’s the Mueller situation
Today, you are on the curb and your now 5 year old is in the middle of the highway on his rollerblades. There’s tons of traffic. Do you rush out there and make him stop prevent his destruction, or do you wait for the videos?
That’s the current situation.
Can you see the difference between the two situations?
It’s the presidency, not the president, who is represented by the child in this metaphor. The presidency is in the middle of a highway of oncoming traffic. We can act to save the presidency, but it will require removing the current sitting president, or at least making him powerless as he limps his way to the 2020 elections.
We have to, all of us, even the ones of the people who voted for him who aren’t totally lost causes, have to rush out into the street and grab that presidency and make it real clear that that will NEVER happen as long as I live and breathe.