I’m a bit groggy after staying up half the night watching the world historical butt-whupping the Democratic House Managers put on Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump throughout the first full day of the impeachment trial. But, in the end, it was a fixed fight, and the Republicans won on every scorecard. From the looks of things, this is the theme that will be repeated every day for as long as this impeachment lasts.
In a way, it’s something the Democrats are getting used to. From the hanging chads in Florida in 2000 to the Electoral College loss in 2016, the Republicans make a living winning despite losing. They’ve become dependent on cheating and rigging the rules of the game, and they’re experts at it at this point.
It’s been so long since they’ve gotten the better of an argument, and so long since it has mattered, that the GOP is perfectly content to live in a post-fact universe. Still, it is occasionally embarrassing for them to be trounced in intellectual combat.
If there is to be a quick acquittal in the end, the battle will be over the consequences, and in that respect there is good reason for the Democrats to hope that they will get the last laugh. They were certainly laughing quite a bit on Tuesday as it became apparent that the president’s defenders came completely unprepared.
Evidently, they did not know they’d be watching the Democrats make their case for eleven straight hours as they debated pre-trial amendments on the rules. Meanwhile, the House Managers came armed with concise arguments backed by lots of video tape. If this were a normal trial, the jury would not have been present for any of it, but the 100 senators were glued to their chairs and barred by law from speaking.
Around midnight, Mitch McConnell called for a brief recess and was seen roaming the halls of the Senate in a bedraggled and exhausted state. If he had cornermen, they would have thrown in the towel. All his plans had backfired in spectacular fashion and I’m sure his phone was filled with panicked messages from the White House.
Yet, McConnell had the jury in his pocket and so it was foreordained that he could lose every round and still be awarded the victory. Trump is counting on the same thing.
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Here is how I am feeling right now. Why does it seem like I have been waiting all of my adult life, since I was 21 years old and watching the conservative coronation of St. Ronnie in 1980, for Republicans to pay a significant, long-term price for their lying, hypocrisy, criminality, constant defiance of the rule of law, disrespect for our institutions, norms, and constitution, war-mongering, and purposeful destruction of the framework which supported a robust middle class in order to enrich the most elite among us? Here I now sit, 60 years old, watching the last gasps of small “d” democracy on my television, with the GOP gleefully pulling out the fingernails of the corpse, all in the service of the greatest charlatan and criminal to hold the office of President in our history. Conicidentally, this happens in the same week that we have tens of thousands of middle aged white guys laying siege to the capital of nearby Virginia, threatening to rain down terror on the citizenry with their weapons if anyone deigns to do one single thing to try and stem the tide of death and destruction from the sacred American weaponry which has swamped our country.
Is it just me, or does it feel like we are simply fucked? The judiciary is now so deeply stacked with far right wing nut jobs, that their role for the next 30-40 years is going to be to insure that the current state only gets worse. I expect that even if, by some cosmic quirk, the Democrats some day hold the Presidency and both Houses of Congress, that anything they attempt to do that does not align with our current orthodoxy will end up in front of one of these right wing courts, who will find a way to tie things up, or simply negate, anything the Congress tries to do. What we are watching right now is the removal and complete destruction of the pillars that have sustained this country. They are gone, and I am not sure exactly how they ever get restored.
I keep waiting for the magical pony to show up, and for it to trample all over the heads of these piece of shit Republicans and their Party. But it just never seems to be anything more than a foolish and delusional aspiration on my part. Maybe I am suffering from some version of battered-wife syndrome, but I just don’t know how much longer I, and probably a lot of others like me, can continue to bear witness to this perpetual travesty that we have become.
Pardon me for my cynicism. I am just beyond weary, and so tired of hearing that some day soon all of this will be made right.
I try not to talk too much about how fucked we are. But it informs every single thing I write.
I know. And thanks for keeping focused on the nuts and bolts of all this. I appreciate that. It helps.
Mike, sorry you are in such a state. There’s no doubt that your diagnosis is correct, but one’s attitude towards the continuing crisis is within one’s power. Perhaps time to distract yourself with things you enjoy? You can read all about the blow-by-blows of the impeachment after the fact.
Have you ever read Hesse’s wonderful novel “Steppenwolf”? I urge it upon you.
Well, my state is just at a very low point right now. I have been fairly certain for a long time that there would be little to nothing come of all this. The fact that it is finally coming to that very obvious and public point is jarring, even though I have been resigned to it for quite a while. And that weight is just something with which one has to deal. I do take my mental health breaks. I try to disengage when I can, and just immerse myself in something enjoyable. I am really not listening to a whole of of the impeachment live, as I am at work all day. I usually just get a summation from online sources , and watch a few snippets on TV. That’s pretty much all I need to stay informed enough for my tastes. But the reality of what is happening is inescapable, even if you aren’t glued to it all the time. I have my own occassional quiet, internal panic at the prospect of our future. And that is when things can overwhelm me. It doesn’t help that I am surrounded by enthusiastic Trumpers everywhere.
I am heavily involved in our local Party, and we have a lot things on our plate as far as candidates to support and issues to deal with. In many ways, that work can be a two edged sword, as far as my mental health, but it does help to have those kind of people around you, just to let you know that yes, not everyone is a fucking right wing nut case. This does allow me some sort of way to express my feelings and allows me to work through a lot of them by just talking with others who are experiencing the same kinds of frustrations. I have found that doing productive grassroots work is a very good way for me feel like I can have at least some control of things which matter. I am hoping that as we swing into full campaign mode very soon, that this will help me out. But I desperately need a win somewhere, just to feel like its not complete futility. I am tired of losing, and watching the whole country continue to lose, not to mention watching so many people seem to be absolutely gleeful about it. I want to feel like there is at least a chance that we can right the ship before it completely sinks.
Thanks for the reading recommendation. I believe I might have read that in high school in a World Literature class, but I am not certain. That was way too long ago. But I will try to make it a point and look it up again.
I am where your are, except as a retired person I have been able to watch the Democratic presentations, which have been fabulous. I cannot take more than 5 minutes of the Republicans and turn off the TV.
I, and most of my fiends and family, wake in the night in a panic over what might happen in the next year. Like you, I am involved in local politics and get positive feedback from that.. I am on the steering committee of our local Indivisible group and peripherally involved in the Democratic Party and 350.org. Our Indivisible steering committee has backed off to a great extend because last fall we were burning out. We need to save ourselves for the election. In the meantime, we keep up our email communications and Facebook posts urging people to call and write, especially Senator Gardner’s office.
Today someone on the local 350.org Facebook page announced that he knew thousands of Bernie supporters who wouldn’t vote if he weren’t nominated. Even if there’s more than a bit of braggadocio going on here, it is very alarming. I responded quite strongly saying that anyone who would do anything that might put Trump in the WH for a second term had no principles and wasn’t thinking of the future, climate change or anything else. Cutting off their nose to spite their face, as the old saying goes. This kind of talk is really frightening to me.
Colorado went for Hillary but was and is a Sanders stronghold. I supported Bernie over Hillary but sure as heck voted for her. Our primary is coming up the beginning of March, and I am still undecided. But one thing I do know is that I will do everything I am able to do to defeat both Trump and Gardner. And this will be the focus of our Indivisible group as well.
When we do have the reins – we need to take a good hard look at the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Throwing the whole thing out might be a good start. Maybe we could save some of it, say some of the “and”s and “but”s and “the”s.
Rework the judiciary, separate the Attorney General from the executive branch, get rid of the Supreme Court as it exists now, depoliticize judge and USDA selection. It would be quite a party.
At a bare minimum, a Dem Congress needs to add (by statute) precisely the same number of judges to every appellate court that Trumper and Gravedigger McConnell have done. This means that the Supreme Court needs to be expanded to 11. Same with every circuit court of appeals that now has a “conservative” majority after the work of Trumper and his Gravedigger.
If the right objects that the Supreme Court’s size is sacrosanct, then both of the democratically-illegitimate justices (Gorsuch and Boofer) can be told to retire.
The federal judiciary is now to a large degree democratically illegitimate, and that condition was forced upon the country by the “conservative” movement and its win-at-any-cost mentality. As a result, the judiciary must be reformed, or the game is over.
Josh Marshall at TPM really has the appropriate way to look at these hearings, a way that helps my blood pressure considerably. The House Manager’s job is to put the Senate on trial, and republican senators in a box that will really hurt them come November. At this point, even if Dems fail to take full advantage of that opportunity, the republican never trumper cabal will not be hesitant at all.
The best outcome for the country would probably be for McConnell to have so many late nights like this he has a heart attack and dies.
I switched to Fox for 10-15 minutes to see what they were saying. They weren’t even broadcasting the trial! They had the video in one corner, without sound, while Hannity was on the main part of the screen saying how great it was going for the Republicans. Which was a little difficult, because his guest (Geraldo) was all exercised about how Trump’s lawyers had misplayed the first day…instead of coming on strong “like Clarence Darrow” as he thought they should (!)
It really is a different world over there. My impression from what I watched was that the managers completely creamed Trump’s team. They had the facts lined up in a row with a well-organized presentation and tight logic. But that’s not going to make much of a difference in R world where Fox doesn’t even broadcast the manager’s case.
Being retired, we watched all of the Democratic manager presentations. They were fantastic and now have to be used over and over in the campaign.
It also dawned on us why the necessity for the delay in transmitting the Articles of Impeachment. These were polished presentations including slides and video clips. Each manage had prepared a topic that aligned with their own expertise. The timing and handoffs among were well executed. This quality of presentation wasn’t pulled together in a few days. They used the month to prepare for a Senate “trial” that would lock them out. And they sure done good!
The Dems came loaded for bear for a change. The R’s were high on their own supply, and did not have any rebuttals.
It got so bad for the R’s that “Justice” Roberts had to publicly admonish the House impeachment managers. For any serious reporter, that statement he made would really chafe since he is being so nakedly partisan.
Seriously. Roberts’ admonishment to “both sides” really chaffed. Nadler got a bit snippy after hours of false accusations and naked lies by the republicans defense team that, apparently, Roberts had no problem with. And then the next day a few Dem senators also admonished Nadler. If they felt a need to say anything, they certainly should have framed it as “I understand why Mr. Nadler was upset, after hours of lies and false accusations by republicans, but we are better than them.”
This says it all:
“After the first day of impeachment arguments in the Senate, Trump told a press conference at the World Economic Forum that he’s pretty sure he’ll end up being acquitted. “Honestly, we have all the material. They don’t have the material,” Trump said of his impeachment defense team and of the House Democrats prosecuting him, making it clear there’s some information he’s holding back.”
https://theweek.com/speedreads/890934/trump-outright-brags-hes-withholding-all-material-beat-impeachment
So here you have Trump openly bragging about how he has successfully obstructed Congress, publicly and on air, as if its nothing! He demonstrates here he still doesn’t “get” the impact of the things he does. McConnell and the others get it, but as have been stated in this post, have come to the point where nothing, not even undermining the Constitution, is out of bounds when it comes to maintaining power. The takeaway is GOP corruption, lying and outright illegality has been normalized and accepted. This is an example of just how comfortable the GOP has gotten with this kind of stuff — Trump has put it on steroids; and how oblivious, or worse, and God forbid, apathetic the public has become to it. (its one thing if the public is oblivious, but if they’ve reached a point where they just no longer give a damn, that is really bad…)
This won’t end with one election. The democrats could win in November and take all three houses, but it will still be a problem to be dealt with. A start would be to hold every republican who broke the law to serious account, if for no other reason than to demonstrate to the public this stuff is not only not normal, but illegal, where it exists. A permanent, sustainable majority is what’s needed, but that won’t come what with the current state of the democratic party.
What’s needed is a movement on the level of the civil rights movement (not like that per se, but in terms of scope and intensity), to put in the public consciousness the danger and gravity of what the republicans have done and the impact on society. Unfortunately that calls for the kind of selfless leadership and integrity that is lacking in both parties right now. We simply do not have any leaders like that today. This is going to have to be a grass roots movement and the leaders for it, if they exist at all, will need to come up from that.
This will not be something that happens in many of our lifetimes, unfortunately, if it happens at all. “America” may have seen its day, and we just don’t know it yet. Maybe we were never that “exceptional” as a great experiment as we thought, and what we’re seeing today, on the way to some form of fascist authoritarian society is the inevitable end game that was always eventually going to be.
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