It\u2019s still too soon to tell what the US Senate will do regarding the Trial of Donald Trump.\u00a0\u00a0The critical vote will probably come today, when they will determine whether to seek evidence and witnesses.\u00a0\u00a0That vote is, as reporters put it, \u201ca jump ball\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0From here, it feels a lot like the Kavanaugh nomination, a \u201cjump ball\u201d where the refs will tip it to a pre-determined team.\u00a0\u00a0And just like Kavanaugh, don\u2019t depend on Susan Collins to be a tower of moral strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But even if the outcome is predestined, the Senate Republicans should \u201cjump through the hoop\u201d of listening to John Bolton\u2019s testimony. Regardless of their final decision of exoneration, the voters of the United States deserve the right to hear what the former National Security Advisor has to say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not likely to happen.\u00a0\u00a0Senate Republicans don\u2019t want to hear that the President, their President, did exactly what the House of Representatives said he did.\u00a0\u00a0They absolutely refuse to know that Donald Trump used the taxpayer supplied and Congressionally mandated funds of the United States to try to extort Ukraine for political dirt on Joe Biden.\u00a0\u00a0And they certainly don\u2019t want to hear about it first hand from John Bolton.\u00a0\u00a0They\u2019d rather read it in his book next month, when they can wring their hands and use the ultimate insult to their old friend:\u00a0\u00a0disgruntled employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For them, it\u2019s all well and good that \u201cthe fix\u201d is in.\u00a0\u00a0They know it\u2019s fixed; they don’t want their Senatorial noses rubbed in it by Bolton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I keep waiting for the \u201cprofile in courage\u201d, that Republican Senator who casts political considerations aside and makes a morally right decision. But alas, it\u2019s not an era of courage. It seems that Senate Republican courage was buried at Annapolis alongside John McCain. Mitt Romney, by the way, isn\u2019t that profile either. He has as safe a seat as exists there in Utah, in fact, he has a Republican constituency that is as morally appalled by Donald Trump as most Democrats. Still, it\u2019s good to have him there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest disappointment is that I truly believe most Republican Senators (and many \u201cnormal\u201d Republicans) are disgusted by the President\u2019s actions. They are choosing to ignore their \u201cbetter angels\u201d. Senators fear the President, the impact his single tweet could have on their career. They fear the Republican Party mechanisms that the Trump Campaign wholly controls, taking the financial support of their own Party. And they dread being \u201cprimaried\u201d by other Republicans more loyal to Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They rationalize:\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\u2026if I stand up for this, I will be left alone, out of office, and the next Senator might well be worse for the country\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That next Senator might be a Trumper, but it might just as well be a Democrat.\u00a0\u00a0Ask the people of South Carolina House District 1, who \u201cprimaried\u201d conservative Republican Mark Sanford out of office after a Trump tweet, and then lost the general election to a Democrat.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Professor Dershowitz, for all the nonsense he spouted in the past couple of days, managed to make one clear, correct point in his dissertation.\u00a0\u00a0Most politicians truly believe what\u2019s in their best is also in the nations\u2019 best interest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker Pelosi didn\u2019t want to move on impeachment. In her thinking, if the President\u2019s actions outlined in the Mueller Report didn\u2019t create national outrage, then Democrats were better sticking to their positive agenda of health care, reducing income stratification, and improving voting rights. That was how they won the House in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what drove her to allow the process to begin was Trump\u2019s obvious determination to \u201cfix\u201d the 2020 election. The Muller Investigation didn\u2019t stop him; in fact, it emboldened him to extort Ukrainian President Zelenskiy. That was the plan: Trump couldn\u2019t allow the election of 2020 to be on a level playing field. He had to find a way to make Joe Biden as negative and ugly as he was. He had to cheat to win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff entered impeachment with their eyes wide open. Even though the evidence of the President\u2019s actions and obstructions was overwhelming, so was his control of the Republican Party and the mind numbing power of Fox News<\/em>. But impeachment and the Senate trial was the only way to place the evidence in front of the American voters. They had to \u201ctake the shot\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The President\u2019s attorney Pat Cipillone calls for Senators to \u201c\u2026leave it to the people of the United States\u201d. Whether he believes it or not, Democrats recognized that was the probable outcome of the trial as well. What the Trial does, is lay out the case to the voters. It has also laid bare the stranglehold the President has taken over his own political party. No witnesses, no evidence, no subpoenas: the American people know what a real trial is, and \u201cthis ain\u2019t it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Democrats have taken their best shot. The Republicans in the Senate have \u201crigged\u201d the game so that the President cannot be touched. Now it is up to the American voters in 2020. Unlike the Republican Senators so afraid of the truth, they are willing to vote for the kind of America they want, even if the election process is still slanted in Trump\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the trial ends, the people have the ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To the People <\/h3>\n\n\n\n