> Why can't we speak figuratively anymore?

Because it’s less than a month since people stormed the US capital, literally erecting a guillotine and literally calling for politicians they disliked to be hanged. How is this hard for you to understand?

If you want to speak figuratively, then maybe don’t do it using exactly the same speech that other people are demonstrably using and acting upon literally.

EDIT: “gallows”. I meant “gallows”, not “guillotine”. That’s an embarrassing mistake which will now live in my comment history forever!