The End of IMPOTUS?

I watched the opening day of the Senate Impeachment trial, right up until almost 2am, when they adjourned.

How demoralizing it was, to have the House managers attempt time and again to open up the process to allow for the subpoena of documents and the calling of witnesses, and to be repeatedly rebuffed in the effort. It remains unclear as to whether there will be any witnesses at all, and with Trump’s defense team repeatedly dismissing the entire case as unfair, unconstitutional, irredeemably flawed or merely political, it’s difficult to believe that the actual issues will ever be confronted by the Senate majority Republicans.

I’m disheartened. In just the way one can be when trying to get a friend or relative to take an issue seriously that they are simply unable or unwilling to see. It’s like that recent internet meme about the word that people heard in two entirely different ways. It is so blatantly obvious to me that Trump is a dishonest, immature and completely self-interested person with little regard for law or morality. But it’s also clear that others view him as a hero, willing to buck the system and defy meaningless proprieties in support of causes they value. That’s what they see. It’s pointless to call them fools or to simply be angry. But how to make them SEE!

One of the most infuriating things is to hear the charges totally dismissed, as though they simply don’t exist. How many times yesterday did the House Managers deliver a powerful statement, pointing out the undisputed things done at Trump’s direction, the obvious pressure exerted to compel Ukraine to announce an investigation, purely for the purpose of hurting a potential political rival, only to have one of the President’s lawyers stand and say, “See. He didn’t do anything wrong.”; “They have no case”; “There is clearly no grounds for this impeachment.”

Trump’s defenders all seem to have taken up his tactic of simply repeating blatant untruths endlessly, while ignoring all evidence to the contrary. And for at least 40% of Americans, IT CONTINUES TO WORK!

I watched more today – the opening arguments from the House prosecution team. I thought that Adam Schiff, House Impeachment Manager and a representative from California, did a brilliant job outlining the case. He opened with a quote from Alexander Hamilton, in a 1792 letter to George Washington, warning against the dangers of Trump-Like despots:

"When a man unprincipled in private life, desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits—despotic in his ordinary demeanor—known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty—when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity—to join in the cry of danger to liberty—to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government and bringing it under suspicion—to flatter and fall in with all the nonsense of the zealots of the day—It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may 'ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.'"

How perfect a reference to Trump, to IMPOTUS (IMpeached President Of The United States – as he was labeled by George Conway – husband of Donald’s Kellyanne. It’s the perfect tag for one so fond of tagging others with insults!). But will any of the devout 40% take any of this in? There have been a couple of times in the last two years when I thought the Trump presidency was on the verge of collapsing; clearly, I over-estimated the wisdom of my fellow Americans. I have much more modest expectations now: that at least enough will be swayed to get his approval rate permanently below 40%. I can only hope.