-John Moraga
Most are familiar with the Hans Christian Andersen short tale of an emperor who believed he was parading the finest clothes, when in reality he was prancing around naked. His delusions were enabled by his subjects, who only reinforced complimentary feedback, never objective criticism. Until one day, a child yells something to the effect, "the emperor has no clothes on at all" (originally written in Danish). Truth was spoken from a child who was unaware of any unwritten rules of not offending the emperor.
A familiar critique, it is offered of the current presidential administration. President Trump is accused of having "yes men" who feed his delusions and offer him conspiracy theories, in order to dress him up in invisible clothes of wisdom and integrity. Liberal and conservative critics alike have all observed the obvious and embarrassing claims president Trump has made and periodically still makes (remember Ted Cruz's father, Rafael, was part of the Kennedy assassination?).
ENTER DEVIN NUNES...
Recently the liberal media has been pounding away countering president Trump's claims he was surveilled as a presidential candidate in 2016. Ironically, much of what Trump is referencing can be found in previous media reports, which are conveniently now forgotten (refer to Mark Levin for more). It feeds into the narrative that president Trump is paranoid and delusional, which means he must be unfit to be president. It seemed like the media were having their claims confirmed, as FBI director James Comey testified before Congress and claimed that he was unaware of president Trump being surveilled. Enter Devin Nunes.
Devin Nunes (R-CA) is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He may have just thrown president Trump at least a Speedo to wear ("Emperor" reference), because Nunes claims the president's personal communications may have indeed been surveilled and collected. Whether his claims turn out to be true, he is providing at least some legitimacy to president Trump's claims. The media has to take a reprieve from scoffing at the president, because Nunes has given some credibility to president Trump's claims.
Let's stipulate; president Trump loves a positive story about himself and tries to get the greatest traction out of it. However, whatever political cover Nunes may have been able to offer the president, it will have to be reinforced by other elected officials or by solid evidence of misconduct, which should ultimately be prosecuted. Because, while wearing a Speedo allows the president to point to some article of clothing he is wearing, nobody cares to see the rest of the president's "seasoning" body.