"I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be,) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of , now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God."
On February 9, 2021 100 members of the United States Senate and the Vice President will swear to God that they will enter into the trail as impartial jurors of the trail of President Donald Trump for the charge of Incitement to Insurrection.
Nearly all of these Senators are Attorneys at Law and sworn to at least three different oaths. First their oath as attorneys, second their oath of office as Senators, and third the oath to be an impartial juror.
Three oaths. Two of them to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.
There is only one problem. All of the Senators have already decided how they are going to vote. All of the arguments presented at this trial will do little to alter their pre-trial positions. All Democrats already know they are going to vote to convict, and most Republicans already know they are going to vote to acquit.
All of them are in violation of their oaths if you ask me. So it was in the first impeachment so it will be now.
Why?
The answer is simple. Party loyalty, corruption, power, and no consequences.
Just as this trial will produce no consequences for a President who has no clue what the constitution is other than it is something to pay lawyers to jerk around, so will there be no consequences for the entire Senate to be in violation of their oath to be an impartial jury.
Mitch McConnell in all of his Palpatine-Like political maneuvering delayed the trial because he said there wasn't enough time to get all of the Senators back so that when they got back then they could claim that you can't impeach an ex-President after his term is over. The fix is on. Corruption at its best.
Who is laughing his butt off? Donald Trump of course. He loves getting his butt kissed by all of the Republican Senators, save an honorable few, who will do anything to save him from conviction despite the fact that he has no respect for any of them.
The Republicans are proving that they are more than willing to do Trump's bidding and in fact could shoot someone on Times Square and get away with it.
Except it wasn't Times Square, it was the United State Capital building while both houses of congress were in session to count the Electoral Votes of the 2020 Elections...oh yes...and 3 Police officers have died, 1 from the attack itself and 2 from suicide after the fact. That doesn't include several other deaths which occurred that day as well. Clearly, many more could have been killed in this riot as it seems that the mob was out to kill Vice-President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and any other congressperson they could get their hands on. It could have gotten much worse than it was, and that was already deplorable, to coin a common and accurate phrase to describe these yahoos.
So what are the Republicans arguing? Not any of the facts of the case. No, because they are cut and dry. It is a slam dunk and they know it.
No, they are trying to acquit because the trial is being held after the end of Trump's term in office in spite of the fact that the failed coup attempt occurred while he was in office.
First of all, the rank and file Republicans all watch Fox News and believe the misinformation that has been coming out of the right's "news" sources and they have been led down the road of lies for so many years they have no idea which way is up. It isn't QAnon or the Bad Boys that voted for Trump in big numbers, but the rank and file Republican who vote Republican because they always vote Republican.
No matter how many ridiculous and awful things he says or does they will still vote for him, because he is a Republican...which by the way, he isn't.
Trump doesn't care about church, religion, abortion rights, or anything really unless it is to his benefit to say he does. He lies at every turn, and the Republican Party has sold its collective soul to Donald Trump. In fact, it is no longer the Republican Party, it is the Trump Party now.
What does it benefit any of these Republican Senators to acquit Donald Trump? Nothing except FEAR of the perceived power that Trump's brainwashed following has on getting them re-elected, or if they don't do the Dump's bidding, threatened. Trump has destroyed what was left of the Republican Party and some of them are scrambling to save it, while many of them, the majority are happy to be the party of Trump.
If they had convicted him last year, none of this would have happened, Pence would have done a good job at the Coronavirus, he would have been elected and the Republicans would possibly have all of the power, the house, the senate, the executive, and the judicial. As it is they are being held hostage by him.
They could rid themselves of Trump if they would end his political career now. But, they won't and that spells really bad times for the future of the United States.
The Next Morning - February 11, 2021
On Wednesday, February 10, 2021 a stunning day of organized presentation of the events surrounding the campaign of 2020 for "You know who" showed a consistent strategy of disinformation designed to lay the foundation for a way to keep him in office from throwing out votes in swing states, to filing bogus lawsuits in those states, to threatening vote counters, all the way through to storming the capitol and taking over the government by force.
While it is difficult to imagine that our government could so easily be overthrown by a mob the fact is that we just saw how it could be done. If you can eliminate the Vice-President, the Speaker of the House, and have enough congress people to go along with it, it is possible for a rogue President to take over the government. Now, I am not sure how the Judiciary and the Military would play in such a hostile take over, but it stands to reason, that if the principle governing body is controlled by one person, then it wouldn't take much more to get everything else to follow.
I'm not entirely sure what would have happened had the attack resulted in not confirming the vote and an official declaration by the congress of the election results was hindered. It is uncharted territory.
However, that didn't happen. Thank God!
So now what do we have?
I think the question is, what happens if the Senate should vote to convict?
- President Trump isn't in office anyway, so you can't remove him from it. You can only take away the status that ex-Presidents enjoy along with the Pension income and all of the other services that ex-Presidents receive.
- He wouldn't be able to hold office in the future. But is that really a punishment? After all, he is in his mid 70s.
- Consider what offices could he hold outside of President?
- He could run for Representative, Senator, or Governor. but he wouldn't want to do that, I don't think.
- Consider what offices could he hold outside of President?
- He wouldn't be able to hold office in the future. But is that really a punishment? After all, he is in his mid 70s.
- What about the Republicans who support him in congress? What have they got to lose from convicting him?
- Nothing. It rids them of him, an outcome that has to be desirable.
- How would it effect the country?
- Ex-Presidents don't really have much effect on the country.
So, in essence, there is nothing to lose by convicting him, and everything to lose by not convicting him.
The idiots of the Senate who would be so corrupt as to want to save this President from conviction doesn't really make any sense. The only reason that they continue to stand by him is because they are IN FEAR of their constituency and that they wouldn't be re-elected if they voted to convict. S
They are in Washington D.C. doing the math. I'm sure that most of them are lucid enough to want Trump gone. But, they want someone else to do the convicting. There are 50 Republican Senators. We already know that there are 6 who will vote to convict, meaning it would take about 11 or 12 more senators of the 50 to convict. This would mean 33 against conviction, and 17 who could vote for it. In my opinion those should be doable numbers.
If I was the Republicans here is what I would do. I would get together and figure out which Senators could vote to convict without losing their seats. Then the other Senators whose states are more apt to vote them out if they move to convict could vote against it. This way, you get the best of both worlds, Trump gone, and your Senators in place.
One prime example of a vote to convict is Mitch McConnell. He is the Minority Leader of the Senate. He is also nearing 80 and his seat is safe for another 6 years because he was just re-elected. He could easily vote to convict, gain some political favor with the Democrats and be on the right side of history. Rand Paul on the other hand, could vote to acquit, and remain in favor with the Trump Party, and possibly secure his next election because there are enough idiots in Kentucky to vote him back into office.
If I am Mitch, this is what I would be working for. A planned strategy to convict Trump, while holding on to the power they already have, go for the wins in the upcoming elections, and he would again be the Majority Leader of the Senate.
If Republicans are interested in winning the war, then they should be willing to lose this battle, and there is nothing to lose by voting to convict.
A Litany of Lies: The Trump Disaster
It is bad enough that Trump's "Big Lie" has done so much damage. But, it isn't the only lie he has perpetrated that has wrought disaster in the country.
I am of course referring to his "The Coronavirus Lie."
He knowingly lied about the Coronavirus from the beginning and continued to lie throughout the year. The result is creating a firestorm of resistance to the scientific facts that could have reduced the tragic effects of the virus in 2020 in the United States. Over 450,000 people dead in the USA from this virus alone.
Nobody is saying that he could have prevented all deaths, or that the virus was his fault. But in his mind, it was something that was "negative" during his term that might be used to defeat him in the upcoming election, so he had to turn it into a political issue that the Democrats were creating a "Hoax" so it would damage his chances for re-election.
The fact is, it is his hoax that got him elected out of office. Had he acted properly during the crisis, I am quite sure he would have been re-elected, but he doesn't see things as they are, he sees them day to day. Then he has to double down on his lying to maintain the lies.
Where does all of this leave the Senate?
The numbers in the Senate are definite. There will be a vote. That vote will go down in history. Every Senator will be judged in history by that vote.
The defense of the Constitution is at stake with this vote. The odds are very high here.
If the Senate does not vote to convict Trump, it is basically saying it is okay for a President to create a coup to take over complete control of the government without consequence if they should fail. That opens the door for any President in the future to become a Dictator in the United States, and that can be a Dictator for both the left or right agendas.
If this is allowed to go without conviction, then any President could take over the government, change the laws, remove term limits as well as change things in the Justice Department, and be in control of the Treasury as well as the Military. The United States would become a Dictatorship with the most powerful military on earth. A scary proposition.
This article is about the Senate. Right now, the Senate holds the future of the United States in their hands, and most of them have already decided how they are going to vote and use any justification to get them out of voting to convict.
What I can't really understand is why? Just because they are afraid of the Trump constituency or Trump himself. Really?
What do these Senators have to gain by not convicting Trump? If I was a Republican I would want to be rid of Trump ASAP.
Sadly, I don't think enough Republicans will vote to convict. I am encouraged that at least some have found enough backbone to stand up to this bully, but that it won't make any difference.
Like everything else he has destroyed in his life, Trump will once again get away with it and not spend a day in prison, or be fined adequately for it. He will be able to lead his arrogant life as before.
Even though the move to end the trial because you can only impeach and convict a sitting President was voted down, they can still vote for that reason to acquit and for the vote to convict requires a 2/3rds majority, then it is likely that he will be acquitted because you aren't going to find 17 Republican Senators who are brave enough to convict even though the evidence is overwhelming.
In essence this puts them in violation of their Oath of Office to uphold the constitution.
It is a sad time in America. A very tragic and sad time.
What is really going on?
I have to say that it is difficult to believe that all of these Senators would stick their neck out to save Trump for no other reason than perceived political advantage. I can't see how it is worth it to them. After all, Trump wouldn't be penalized for it in terms of going to prison or being fined. He would lose his rights and privilege of being an Ex-President such as his pension, and certain services. He would still get a secret service detail I would think.
What is really going on?
I don't have a clue. I doubt the Democrats have a clue. But something has to be up for these Senators to want to acquit in a trial where the evidence is clear. It will be interesting to see what the Defense comes up with today. I am quite sure it will be most disturbing.
But, at the end of the day, the fact is that because just about everyone expects him to be acquitted that there is no political liability for voting so. 16 Republican senators can still vote to convict and he would still be convicted. The 2/3rds majority rule is a very high bar considering that the Senate is 50/50 to begin with.
The balance of these first weeks of 2021 will be that there will be a verdict, most likely to acquit, that Trump will get by with having almost destroyed the government and murdered countless congresspersons, and for now the Trump nightmare can begin to wane into the future. Of course, Trump will lose no sleep in any of this, neither will his family, nor will those who gave him a get out of jail free pass.
The real victims of this crime are those who lost their lives, and those who will be serving prison time for their deeds on January 6, 2021. Trump will leave them to rot in jail, their lives ruined, and their meaningless existence would return.
The Danger in the Future
The biggest problem for the future is what can happen between now and 2024 and the next election. I can't help but recall the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany from the time that the violent coup was attempted until Hitler learned that the way to real power isn't through force, but through political power. Although the United States political system doesn't have 18 different parties vying for power, there is still the fractioned Republican Party that has been greatly weakened by the Trump Party, and that in 2024 another leader, provided it isn't Trump, can step into the leadership role who is both smarter and more politically adept to take over the White House.
This isn't over and I'm unsure that it can be prevented. There is going to be a strong push of the ultra right to continue to try and gain power over the Republican Party and to win back the House and the Senate, as well as the White House and then there is that window of opportunity for the United States to become a Dictatorship. There are definitely those in the Republican Party who would be more than willing to take that seat, and many more who will do anything they can to be on the right side of it to gain more power and influence. Corruption at its best. Destruction is sure to follow such a constellation, and it will make the United States a difficult thing to keep together.
If this succeeds, which I believe it can, then all bets are off for the future of the world because the economy, the military, and the political strongmen would control everything, leaving the common citizen to either get on board or get shot. The riches will go to the rich and powerful, and the common man will be enslaved. Freedom will only be held for those in power or in favor, and the truth is, they too will be forced to give up their freedom in support of a cause that will get out of hand.
Make no mistake. The danger is real. It is present. It is powerful. The only way to stop it is to educate and inspire the country not to go in that direction any further.