The news broke out before the taping of the late-night programs. Donald Trump fired James Comey, director of the FBI and leader of the investigation against Trump's administration over Russian collusion and collaboration during the 2016 election. As the week went on, more and more information came out, revealing that the removal of Comey from office was not because of how he treated the Hillary Clinton investigation, but that he was getting very close to proving that the Trump campaign is all a set-up by Russia to take over. This is nothing less than what dictators, like Vladimir Putin, do when somebody is onto their illegal activities. We question why, and we've seen a similar situation play out on an HBO television series about dragons. We're in George R.R. Martin's territory now, and well, that usually doesn't end up well.

Okay so for those who have not seen Game of Thrones and don't mind spoilers for the early seasons, the situation can be simplified. King Robert Baratheon dies following a hunting accident, and his oldest child, Joffrey, is crowned King of Westros. However, Joffrey is not actually the next in line, and is put on the throne by Queen Cersei Lannister, his mother, in order to keep herself in power. Meanwhile, King Robert's recently appointed Hand of the King (essentially the second-in-command), Ned Stark, discovers that Joffrey is the child of an incestuous relationship between Cersei and her brother Jamie. Ned confronts the throne room about this revelation, and Joffrey orders his imprisonment for treason. In a very public ceremony, Joffrey orders the execution of Ned, as he believes this will end the rumors from continuing – but the public has already heard the truth. Joffrey's Hand, his “dwarf” uncle Tyrion, knows the truth as well, but puts on an act to stay in favor of the crown. When Joffrey falls out of favor with Tyrion, who ordered him to fight during the Battle of Blackwater Bay, he appoints his grandfather, Tywin as Hand of the King. Tywin is older, wiser, and much more military inclined. It is during a Small Council meeting where Tywin informs Joffrey that “any man who must say 'I am the King' is no true king.” All opposition to the stolen throne is violently fought, with much of Robb Stark's army, including Stark and his mother, being killed during the infamous Red Wedding. Does any of that sound familiar yet?

Of course, that's just an HBO series that features dragons, Peter Dinklage, and zombies. But in reality, the Trump administration, specifically the firing of James Comey, seems very much like a storyline in the series. But according to the metaphor, Trump would be Joffrey, a ruler with an iron fist and the temperament of a child, the Hand of the King Ned Stark being Comey (Tywin is yet to be determined, though of course he could just be the American people as a whole). Attorney General Jeff Sessions was instructed to find a reason to fire Comey as early as a week prior to the firing, Comey asked the Department of Justice for more resources to aide in the Russia investigation, and the letters dated May 9, the date Comey was fired. Trump used this as a show of his power, taking out yet another person who was onto the possibility of Russian collusion – he even was under the impression that this wouldn't be a big scandal. Yet reports indicated he spent the night yelling at his TV every time they mentioned the Russia investigation. He met with Russian officials the very next day – and American news agencies were removed from the White House and only a Russian news reporter was allowed in. The subpoenas that were handed down by the grand jury for documents relating to Michael Flynn dropped hours before Comey's removal. How can some not see the suspicion? Trump has brainwashed people into believing his every word, and any dissidence is wrong and fake and not real information – even though his tweets prior to Sally Yates testifying before the Senate Investigation Committee can be inferred to confirm the accuracy of the infamous Steele Dossier, which states that Russia has compromising information on top Republicans, and if they want it to stay secret, they'll put Trump in charge by any means necessary.

The question becomes why. Well, the official statement is that it is because of how Comey handled the discussion of the Clinton investigation last year – namely, saying the investigation was in fact going on. Which would be a reason to fire him if this was January 20^th. But it isn't really because of that, and we all know it. It's a cover-up, simple as that. The FBI's Russia investigation was getting dangerously close to the highest-ranking officials of the administration, likely being Pence and Trump himself. The FBI found that Michael Flynn was involved in gathering money and even communicating with Russian officials over the election. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are supposedly recorded discussing a large sum of Russian money being brought in to fund the election and the Trump team. We have confirmation that many “news” stories, and I do use that term very loosely, were fabricated by Russian hackers to influence voters, specifically electoral voters, from casting their ballots for Hillary Clinton – and that's not even including the RNC hack that occurred at the same time as the DNC one. Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is reportedly very upset with being cited as the one who came up with the reasoning, to the point of threatening to quit, that Sessions and Trump used his name and unrelated letter to justify firing Comey, even though the letter he wrote about the handling of the Clinton email investigation was not supposed to be used against the FBI Director. Instead, he was being used to create a reason to fire Comey, and when he didn't come to that conclusion, Sessions recommended it so that the Russia investigation could be either ended or controlled – according to Trump himself in an NBC News interview. He's called select members of the Investigation Committee to a private meeting, which is only adding more and more to the quest to find the real reasoning as to why.

And if you're into conspiracies, here's a possibility for you. A few days prior to Comey being fired, Emmanuel Macron won the French election, against a candidate who was also funded and supported by Vladimir Putin and his officials, as confirmed by the FBI. Is there some connection with the Russian diplomats, Trump, and France? Doubtful, but hey, anything is possible, especially now. Macron has also spoken against Trump, his policies, and Russia. All of which will end up affecting the ego of Trump, who relies on being the best and nobody can say otherwise (or else he fires Comey), and thus making the Russia story get even deeper and deeper. On the less speculative side, of all people to step up and call for a special prosecutor and even hinting at an independent body leading the investigation, was none other than Senator Richard Burr (yes, related to that Burr). Burr was selected to be on Trump's transition team, and appointed to the House Investigation Committee. Many had concerns over conflict of interest, but after this bombshell, Burr has turned against Dear Leader and wants the truth. Many senators and representatives are turning on Trump, and are willing to help the FBI, even if McConnell refuses to allow for a special prosecutor. Adding more to the conspiracy is the fact that Trump demanded Comey swear loyalty to him, not to the Constitution or the people - to which Comey said no, starting Trump's anger towards him and Comey's own suspicions of the president. News is constantly being reported, and who knows where it will lead.

We can easily see what is happening, yet the cult of Trump refuses to see it. They are complicit in electing a fascist dictator. Many will say that the firing of Comey was a good move, that this will save America and make those liberals leave. But that is not America. America was founded by a group of liberals, who believed that everybody was equal and no one political background made anybody any better. Washington was a major opponent of the two-party system, and looking back, he would be against someone like Trump and Vladimir Putin using that system to steal a country founded on freedom from persecution. Comey was unjustly fired, simply for doing his job. I have faith that we won't end up like Westros. It may be a scary time to live in America, but you know what? We have the First Amendment right to speak freely and protest. Anyone who tries to stop us from doing that is not for America, but for authoritarian dictatorships. Which is exactly the kind of government model Trump and other Republicans are praising. The FBI isn't taking this sitting down, performing raids on Republican offices (specifically those of Paul Manafort) in Annapolis, agents and high-ranking officials saying that firing Comey was a grave mistake. Something is going down in Washington, and the catalyst will be when Trump tried to silence the man who would take him down.