"Once set the example of impeaching a President for what, when the excitement of the hour shall have subsided, will be regarded as insufficient causes, as several of those now alleged against the President were decided to be by the House of Representatives only a few months since, and no future President will be safe who happens to differ with a majority of the House and two thirds of the Senate on any measure deemed by them important, particularly if of a political character. Blinded by partisan zeal, with such an example before them, they will not scruple to remove out of the way any obstacle to the accomplishment of their purposes, and what then becomes of the checks and balances of the Constitution, so carefully devised and so vital to its perpetuity? They are all gone."_____________________________that's lyman trumbull of illinois explaining why he wasn't going to subvert the carefully crafted work of the framers by voting to oust old andy johnson of tennesee...
didn't do andy any good though...he lost the election that year and his place in the white house...the bubba from arkansas was a lame duck when he was impeached and acquitted so there was not possibility of another term there...after the senate voted along party lines to block efforts to subpoena documents and call witnesses yesterday the possibility of a second term looms simply because the august body of imperial senators has telegraphed its intention to stick to its divided nature and acquit under the severe and turtle-like tutelage of mitch mcconnell...john roberts better mind his p's and q's...he is a ceremonial presence designed to give some semblance of due process to the circus...salmon p. chase tried to make some rulings in the johnson affair and was roundly rebuffed by the senate...john may be reminding lawyers to remember "where they are"...the senate may tell him to shut the fuck up if he actually begins to think he is in charge...the 1868 zoo parade was, refreshingly ( or, perhaps, it was an era more honest about its ethical mores ) public...open to the press and spectators lucky enough to hold an admission ticket...buba's trial was closed-door affair and this one will be too...we don't want the public to actually see the wheels of government turning...there is disillusionment enough all ready and there is always the next election to worry about...all mitch has to do is hold thirty-five loyal votes and there is acquittal and a second term...you express doubts? the democrats are fucked...
the list of potential dud candidates they have puked up is going nowhere really...even "the paper of record" is undecided as it endorses two of the candidates leaving readers to distressingly make up their own minds...way out of the ordinary editorial standard of "we know what's good for you, think this way" aped by editorial boards across the country ( even if their endorsements are somewhat less confused )..it would take a monumental wave of voters both disaffected and united in purpose ( which seem unlikely since the disaffection would seem to be mostly confined to party ranks as the nabobs skewer each other like brutus knifed caesar ) to unseat der fur hair...and, as a final observation, the people that have crawled out of their holes and from under their rocks have been there all along...they are just more emboldened...you can get rid of trump...losing what he has helped unloose is going to be much more difficult to work out of the dialectic...you can cut off the head but the body will not die..."interesting times" are going to be around a while...buckle up.____________________addenda: 30 january 2020...i stand corrected...it seems the trial proceedings are far more public than i would have imagined...it does not seem to be of much concern to the cadre of whores in the senate however..."sod the proles"...the inner party is in charge.
