© AP/Alex BrandonRep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md) the lead Democratic House impeachment manager in the Rotunda
If the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump were a play it would close after one performance.
The plot is known, the outcome is certain and the drama is contrived. If it were a film, it might be called
Fifty Angry Senate Democrats (apologies to
12 Angry Men), or the 2003 film with a title that seems to fit this current dud,
Runaway Jury.What's the point? The point is to allow Democratic senators to make speeches that seem high-minded,
but in reality are low political posturing.Constitutional attorney John Whitehead is correct when he writes:
"Impeaching Trump will accomplish very little, and it will not in any way improve the plight of the average American. It will only reinforce the spectacle and farce that have come to be synonymous with politics today."
Mr. Trump's lawyers used the phrase "unconstitutional political theater" in their filing requests that the Senate dismiss the one charge that the former president incited rioters who invaded the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6. Democrats fired back that Mr. Trump committed "the most grievous constitutional crime" ever committed by a U.S. president.
Somewhere Richard Nixon is smiling.
This is a show trial, designed to satisfy the left's ravenous base that is out for blood and to teach anyone who thinks he (or she) can reform Washington to think again. The message?
The Establishment will destroy you if anyone tries again to drain the swamp. Swamp creatures love the swamp. It is their life.
Comment: Strategy is everything in this government 'game of thrones':
A group of GOP senators met with former President Trump's legal team on Thursday to discuss strategy as they prepare to present their opening arguments in the impeachment trial. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) were spotted entering the meeting, which took place in a room near the Senate chamber that Trump's team is using as a workspace. Cruz said:
"We were discussing their legal strategy and sharing our thoughts in terms of where the argument was and where to go. I think their job is to make clear how the house managers have not carried their burden of proof. They have not demonstrated that the president's conduct satisfies the legal standard of high crimes and misdemeanors."
Cruz also defended the meeting on Twitter, arguing that senators aren't jurors and that "Schumer repeatedly confers w/ House managers, as always & fully appropriate."
The meeting comes after Trump's team was panned by GOP senators Tuesday as the defense argued that the trial was unconstitutional because Trump is no longer president. David Schoen, a member of Trump's legal team, defended the decision:
"That's the practice here with impeachment. There's nothing about this thing that has any semblance of due process whatsoever. The senators were 'friendly guys,' and just talking about procedure, making sure we're familiar with the procedure. It was a very nice thing to make us feel welcome here."
Schoen also said the senators did not give any indication of what questions they would ask during a question-and-answer session that could start as soon as Friday, once opening arguments wrap up. He has said he thought the trial could wrap Saturday, days ahead of what was initially expected. He had spoken with Trump and described him as "very upbeat."
The dangling
14th Amendment...which way will it swing?
Several Senate Democrats have not ruled out trying to prevent former President Donald Trump from holding future office by using a constitutional amendment originally created to keep Confederates from serving in the post-Civil War government.
With an unlikely 67 votes needed to convict Trump in the ongoing Senate impeachment trial, some Democrats have discussed invoking the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to keep Trump from office.
Such legislation would require a simple-majority vote. If Democrats and Republicans vote along party lines in the current 50-50 Senate makeup, Vice President Kamala Harris could cast a tie-breaking vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday did not rule out the possibility, per Fox News: "We're first going to finish the impeachment trial and then Democrats will get together and discuss where we go next."
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said:
"What Sen. Kaine is talking about is a censure resolution that would also specifically include the elements of the 14th Amendment that lead to disqualification from future office. That's intriguing to me and something I'm willing to look at. The bottom line here is we have to deliver accountability for the events of Jan. 6."
It is beyond imagination that the countries leader, urging the citizens to be peaceful as they exercise their rights is a high crime and misdemeanor. If you really believe the narrative being thrust on us you are completely beyond any form of hope or help to your own future.