The Impeachment Trial of 45

I remember the Clinton impeachment well. He never had sex with “that woman” – and Trump never bullied Ukraine.

I’m not a “never Trumper” – and have candidly voted for more Republican Presidents than Democrat, but I think it important to be intellectually honest, and objectively, it’s difficult to conceive that any person of conscience would find the President’s (alleged) conduct appropriate or tolerable. It may even be impeachable, but after 11 hours (?) of listening to Senate Managers and Attorneys yesterday, I am thus far convinced that….

1. What the President reportedly did was wrong (I wasn’t there but don’t doubt he tried to bully Ukraine – his modus operandi);

2. On its face, “other high crimes and misdemeanors” doesn’t seem to include non-criminal conduct, but impeachment itself is a political animal, not a criminal process, and the burden of proof is not “beyond a reasonable doubt,” which suggests a finding of criminal conduct is not necessary to impeach.

3. The manner in which House and Senate Managers and Attorneys are attacking each other is disgraceful, and our Chief Justice was right to admonish them.

4. A fair and impartial “trial” in which the goal is to arrive at a “verdict” that is fair and just should, in my humble opinion, include hearing from witnesses. Impeaching a sitting President should be based on more than days of political posturing.

5. The Democrats absolutely have an agenda – beyond impeachment itself. To believe they aren’t trying to influence the masses prior to the next election would be an exercise in naivety. That said, from what I’ve seen and heard, Republicans are blindly and unabashedly supporting the President.

This is the second impeachment in my lifetime. This is the second time I’ve thought to myself that the world is watching, and this is not the America I want them to see.