The Senate will blindly support Trump.....or not.
From FOX News;In response to:
Jessica Tarlov: In Trump impeachment trial, top Senate Republicans will ignore facts and blindly support him
By Jessica Tarlov | Fox News
Imagine you are accused of a crime and ordered to stand trial – and you happily learn that your defense attorney is the jury foreman, and a majority of the jurors are your close friends and undying supporters.
Ridiculous?
Well, that’s exactly the situation President Trump will face when he goes on trial in the Senate following his impeachment Wednesday by the House of Representatives.
Impeaching a president is a solemn event. This is why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., came to work Wednesday in a black dress – the traditional outfit for a funeral – and gave House members who momentarily cheered when the first article of impeachment was adopted the look of a very, very disappointed mother.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has publicly announced he’s ready to make a mockery of a Senate impeachment trial.
“I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There’s not anything judicial about it,” McConnell told reporters last week.
McConnell’s blatant bias is not exactly a surprise. But it’s stunning that he doesn’t even pretend he’s interested in hearing new witness testimony or has an open mind on the evidence. He’s openly admitting that he will violate the oath all senators must take before sitting as jurors in an impeachment trial.
The oath, specified under Senate rules, states: “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that in all things appertaining to the trial of _______ , now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has made it clear he will ignore that oath as well.
"I have clearly made up my mind,” Graham said. “I'm not trying to hide the fact that I have disdain for the accusations in the process. So I don't need any witnesses. ... I am ready to vote on the underlying articles. I don't really need to hear a lot of witnesses."
What happens now? Will McConnell and Graham try to change the oath? Perhaps they’d like it to say: “I will do whatever Donald Trump tells me to do at all times, never questioning his orders. I will never convict him of anything, because he can do whatever he wants.”
This is certainly not what the framers of the Constitution had in mind.
The Constitution created a system of checks and balances designed to prevent the president from becoming a king or a dictator. Our founders had just fought the Revolutionary War to create a democracy – not to simply replace a British king with an American monarch.
But while the framers anticipated a rogue president who would put himself above the law, they never imagined the possibility that rogue senators would disregard their duty and pledge blind loyalty to support the president, no matter what he did. This effectively puts the president above the law and above the Constitution.
As a result of their failure to image the blind partisanship of Republicans in Congress today, the founders failed to spell out strict guidelines for how an impeachment trial in the Senate must be conducted.
Pelosi, quite reasonably, wants to know how the Senate is going to conduct a trial before she sends the two articles of impeachment adopted by the House to the Senate so a trial can begin.
Anyone who believes in good government and our Constitution should support coming together as a country to set some modern-day standards for not only what is an impeachable offense, but for how a trial in the Senate to consider removing the president from office should proceed.
We need to do everything in our power to combat the corrosive impact of what can only be described as the moral lobotomies we’ve seen from key Republicans like McConnell and Graham.
Jessica Tarlov: In Trump impeachment trial, top Senate Republicans will ignore facts and blindly support him
By Jessica Tarlov | Fox News
Imagine you are accused of a crime and ordered to stand trial – and you happily learn that your defense attorney is the jury foreman, and a majority of the jurors are your close friends and undying supporters.
Ridiculous?
Well, that’s exactly the situation President Trump will face when he goes on trial in the Senate following his impeachment Wednesday by the House of Representatives.
Impeaching a president is a solemn event. This is why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., came to work Wednesday in a black dress – the traditional outfit for a funeral – and gave House members who momentarily cheered when the first article of impeachment was adopted the look of a very, very disappointed mother.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has publicly announced he’s ready to make a mockery of a Senate impeachment trial.
“I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There’s not anything judicial about it,” McConnell told reporters last week.
McConnell’s blatant bias is not exactly a surprise. But it’s stunning that he doesn’t even pretend he’s interested in hearing new witness testimony or has an open mind on the evidence. He’s openly admitting that he will violate the oath all senators must take before sitting as jurors in an impeachment trial.
The oath, specified under Senate rules, states: “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that in all things appertaining to the trial of _______ , now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has made it clear he will ignore that oath as well.
"I have clearly made up my mind,” Graham said. “I'm not trying to hide the fact that I have disdain for the accusations in the process. So I don't need any witnesses. ... I am ready to vote on the underlying articles. I don't really need to hear a lot of witnesses."
What happens now? Will McConnell and Graham try to change the oath? Perhaps they’d like it to say: “I will do whatever Donald Trump tells me to do at all times, never questioning his orders. I will never convict him of anything, because he can do whatever he wants.”
This is certainly not what the framers of the Constitution had in mind.
The Constitution created a system of checks and balances designed to prevent the president from becoming a king or a dictator. Our founders had just fought the Revolutionary War to create a democracy – not to simply replace a British king with an American monarch.
But while the framers anticipated a rogue president who would put himself above the law, they never imagined the possibility that rogue senators would disregard their duty and pledge blind loyalty to support the president, no matter what he did. This effectively puts the president above the law and above the Constitution.
As a result of their failure to image the blind partisanship of Republicans in Congress today, the founders failed to spell out strict guidelines for how an impeachment trial in the Senate must be conducted.
Pelosi, quite reasonably, wants to know how the Senate is going to conduct a trial before she sends the two articles of impeachment adopted by the House to the Senate so a trial can begin.
Anyone who believes in good government and our Constitution should support coming together as a country to set some modern-day standards for not only what is an impeachable offense, but for how a trial in the Senate to consider removing the president from office should proceed.
We need to do everything in our power to combat the corrosive impact of what can only be described as the moral lobotomies we’ve seen from key Republicans like McConnell and Graham.
(continued in my first comment below)
Comments (4)
"President.Trump wants a trial. He wants to defend himself. He deserves that
chance. Allow our President to testify. Call on Pompeo, Mulvaney, Pence,
Bolton, and Giuliani to exonerate our President. Don't let this chance evade
him. He needs and deserves his day in court.
Support Our President !!!
The Democrats were so unfair. They denied him the opportunity to defend
himself. Now is his chance. Republicans must stand strong and call these
witnesses. Exonerate our President."
Instead, the letter should end, "we want the truth revealed and justice to prevail".
If you have a Republican Senator, let him/her know.