Yesterday afternoon, Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial kicked off on the Senate floor. Conventional wisdom suggests that the proceeding is a mere formality. Second impeachment trial; let that sink in.
So how can an historic second impeachment trial be categorized as a formality? Consider the prevailing context. Congress, both the House and Senate, like the country, is separated by a political and ideological divide. The chasm, as I’ve frequently noted, is deep and wide. The Senate is the jury. The jury is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. It would take 67 Senators to convict Trump. For anyone who may be arithmetically challenged, that means, if all the Democrats vote to convict, 17 Republicans would be required to join them in order to forge a conviction.
In a vote to determine whether the proceedings aligned with the provisions of the Constitution, the outcome was 56-44 in favor. Yes, that’s right, only 6 Republicans were even willing to say it was Constitutionally permissible to conduct the trial in the first place. And that’s after 5 weeks of airing and re-airing the events of January 6th, including what amounted to a pre-insurrection pep rally, led by the individual formerly known as President. Apologies to Prince Rogers Nelson.
For two months after the November Election, Donald Trump hyped the untruthful notion that the election was fraudulently stolen from him. In the days leading up to January 6, when Congress was scheduled to meet to certify the final results, and officially declare Joe Biden President, Trump “invited” his supporters to come to Washington; thousands did. In a rally, just prior to the scheduled vote at the Capitol, Trump exhorted his already fired up crowd to “fight like hell,” or they would no longer have a country. He urged them to walk down to the Capitol, and added that, he would be there with them.
Now, as his recently reformatted legal team attempts to defend him, they are arguing he played no role in the mob action that resulted in virtually the entire Congress fleeing to safe rooms, at least 5 deaths, including a Capitol police officer, and a lingering distrust among some members of Congress, who believe a number of their cohorts conspired to have them killed. The mob broke windows, doors, and furniture, yelled epithets, and threatened to kill Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, and others.
I admit, I fully expect Trump to skate, even as I know, had a Democrat, any Democrat, done the things Trump has done, Republicans in Congress, and Republicans/conservatives throughout America would be calling for prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. And yet, it is what it is. And what it is…”It’s Showtime!”
I’m done; holla back!
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