If We're Going to Use Fire as a Metaphor in Politics, Let's Get It Right
In his recent interview with Rolling Stone, in which he renounced his membership in the Republican Party, Steven Schmidt concluded that the task before us resembles a fire. "A forest fire is part of a natural cycle of the forest. The forest burns, and through its burning and destruction, it is regenerated and made healthy again." Before political restoration, "there must be a season of burning."
The comment echoes one made on April 15 by James Comey, who likened the Trump presidency to a forest fire. "Terrible things happen in forest fires. But I'm an optimistic person. And so I choose to see the opportunity in a forest fire 'cause what forest fires do is allow things to grow that never could've grown.”
The allusion to fire as destructive is an old trope. What is most interesting is that both men – neither of whom has any personal experience with wild land fires – add a coda. Fires destroy, but fires also renew. Conjuring up a fire, even one massive enough to purge the Trump administration, is not sufficient.
https://egbertowillies.com/2018/07/15/fire-metaphor-politics/
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