A satire, written entirely from the critics’ side of the wall.
Photo: Bustle.com
Once upon a time, a very large Orange Egg climbed a very tall wall and announced that the laws of political gravity didn’t apply to him. The media, he said, had invented them. Enough voters believed him to keep him up there.
Scandals slid off him like an omelet off a good pan. Indictments and felony convictions bounced off his shell, and like a soufflé, he rose again. The Egg called this “winning.”
Meanwhile, the GOP’s traditional horses stood about with their hooves in their pockets, afraid he’d dig his spurs into their flanks. The king’s men, armed with dubious legal briefs, fanned out across the kingdom to warn that dark forces were afoot.
But gravity is patient. Inflation and an ill-conceived war did what the critics couldn’t.
On Tuesday, a majority of voters said “enough;” and we may be told democracy has been saved. I admit I enjoy writing it.
Now for the harder part. What if the egg was never Trump? What if it’s the Constitution and the rule of law? And if the egg is the Constitution, here’s the irony of a No Kings election: the winners are about to become the king’s horses and the king’s men. Can we put the country back together again?
Here’s an idea. Tear down the partisan wall that separates us. Restore the balance of powers among the legislative, judicial and executive branches. Show the rarest of modern political commodities, restraint, and mean it as a principle rather than a strategy. Work with the Republicans who still believe in those checks, help them rebuild an honorable opposition, and see what happens.
Give it a shot, and may we move on from this debacle.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 450 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.
