Your Guide to Yesterday’s Impeachment Hearing For When You Hate Them All

The impeachment trial began in earnest with both sides making opening statements. Senator Schumer made a series of losing motions trying to subpoena information. All the motions died. Even Dianne Feinstein told reporters they should stop and get on with the trial.

Uneducated pundits on television announced Mitch McConnell had lost by failing to get GOP buy-in on having opening arguments over just two days. They’ll be over three days instead. McConnell didn’t lose. He plotted to have the most strident rules and then loosen them. Yes, he is that clever.

The Senate GOP will take back up witnesses after both opening arguments and senators’ questions.

On the format of it, contrary to the GOP partisan spin, Adam Schiff actually did a pretty admirable job making an articulable case for impeachment. The GOP side railed on process on the Democrats’ case for more witnesses. The Democrats used existing witness testimony to claim they had met the bar for removal already and just wanted to go deeper. Frankly, the GOP side was more of a clown show than I expected.

But it does not matter at all.

There are not enough votes to get the President convicted and, again, he should not be. The House failed to build a persuasive case and it is not the Senate’s job to help the House in this. There were twenty-one Republicans in the House, half of whom hate the President, who are leaving and no longer in need of Trump voter support. The House Democrats could not get those guys. They sure as hell won’t get two-thirds of the Senate.

Everyone on both sides of the impeachment decided they needed to speak. They’re politicians so of course they could not keep quiet. The media complained about lack of access, but they deserved to be behind the rope line and out of the way.

Ultimately, we learned nothing new, no minds were changed, Democrats like the Democrats, Republicans liked the Republicans, and poor John Roberts looked like he was being waterboarded by boredom.

Basically, including the members of the press, whatever your position on the Clinton impeachment was, the odds are you’re on the opposite side now. More tomorrow.

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