Little Sister Resister: Tying to "overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." --Abraham Lincoln (Happy Birthday, President Lincoln.)

Impeachment Dos: The trial begins.

Congress conducted three days of the Impeachment Trial so far.

Day One: This was really a pre-trial day. After noise from Rand Paul and the vote about the Constitutionality of the trial, the Senate took a vote after arguments about the Constitutionality question. The House Managers did a great job presenting a powerful set of initial evidence, including this video about the events of January 6.

The defense completely flailed in their presentation. I was only able to listen to snippets, but it was obvious the defense was under water. They practically folded on the first statement, that the managers did such a good job that the defense changed their planned presentation. They rambled and contradicted themselves, and at times seemed to make arguments for the prosecution.

In the end, the Senate voted 56 to 44 that the trial is constitutional. Six GOP Senators, most surprisingly Sen. Bill Cassidy from deep red Louisiana, along with five moderate Republicans (Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb, and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn) joined the 50 Democrats to affirm proceeding under the Constitution.

Days Two and Three were the House Managers' days to present their case, and they were organized, elegant, concise, factual, and impactful. They clearly showed how ***** began to cultivate his base months ago, first by telegraphing that the only way he could lose is through a "rigged election." He started that shit months before the election, as the managers showed. The second way he cultivated the crowd to do violence was to endorse violence himself, all throughout his term. And he assembled the crowd, sending a "Save the Date" 18 days before the event.

The managers used audio/visuals very powerfully, sharing new footage from Capitol security cameras and animated maps showing the movements of the mob as well as the Members of Congress and other players. We at home – and some of the Senators – learned more about the events that day. I say "some" because some of those Despicables thumbed through other paperwork, read, put their feet up on their desks, or otherwise didn't pay attention. What would happen to a jury who did this in another courtroom?

We learned that Officer Goodwin had ushered Senator Mitt Romney away from the mob after Romney had unwittingly ran toward them. Sen. Romney had not known that the officer who helped him was Officer Goodwin, who of course we had all learned heroically used himself as a decoy to lead the mob away from the Senate chambers as Senators were still being evacuated.

Here is what the managers showed. It's powerful. If you missed it, please take the time to watch. It is important to bear witness to the events that day.

The House Managers were effective in their use of charging documents and TV interviews from some of the insurrectionists who made it plain that they came expressly at the explicit request of "their president" and were specifically doing his bidding. Videos showing them reading his live tweets during the insurrection really drove the point home. The defendant summoned them, assembled them, directed them, and did not ever condemn them.

The managers illustrated that *****'s behaviors before, during, and after clearly were meant to incite violence and disrupt the U.S. government. There's just no question about it.

Today, the defense presents its case. The attorneys for the defendant have 16 hours to present. There really is no defense, but the thought is that they will continue to go after the constitutionality, the process, their go-to false equivalency, and the argument of free speech.

To this last, Lead Manager Raskin (D-MD) made a smoldering analogy as a pre-buttal to their lame defense. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once famously said, “you can’t shout fire in a crowded theater." Raskin applied this analogy to January 6, saying, “This case is much worse than someone who shouted fire in a crowded theater. It’s more like a case where the town fire chief, who is paid to put out fires, sends a mob, not to yell fire in a crowded theater, but to actually set the theater on fire. And who then, when the fire alarms go off and the calls start flooding into the fire department, does nothing but sit back, encourage the mob to continue its rampage and watch the fire spread on TV.”

It's been widely speculated that there aren't enough Repug Senators to convict. Yet, Pollyanna LSR refuses to speculate until the trial is over.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled to his folks that the vote should be one of "conscience," and that he hasn't made up his mind yet. This is pretty big. The number two Republican in the Senate, Sen. John Thune (SD) has also indicated that he is keeping an open mind. Thune said that the House Managers are "effective," "compelling," and they are "connecting the dots." If these two flip, it could lead to a cascade of followers.

But, most analysts are not Pollyannas but are realists. And political expediency is more powerful than conscience within the GOP brain.

It boggles the mind, though. Is it political expediency anyway? The GOP is divided right now, and at death's door. They've allowed extremists into the fold. Why not come down on the side of the sane Republicans? Why not try to rise from these ashes and rebuild their party into something admirable again?

And why do they think if they are loyal to ***** that he will ever be loyal to them? What about him sending the mob toward his Vice President to assassinate him speaks to them and makes them think he won't do the same to them?

The evidence presented these past two days is a powerful piece in our nation's public record. Those Senators who vote to acquit will be remembered for their cowardice and complicity.

Random other thoughts:

It's not an impartial jury. Besides the sycophant worms such as Senators Cruz and Hawley, we saw other jury members putting their feet up and reading, and generally shrugging at the proceedings. It's shameful. Can't they even pretend for a moment to be thoughtful?

Not only that, but three jurors met with the defendant's lawyers last night to strategize!

The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote a scathing piece. I include it here; sorry for the paywall. But here is an analysis of it. It's pretty big for the conservative publication to come down so hard. But you know, I wonder if the QAnon shaman and his ilk read the WSJ?

In fact, it appears many of them don't even vote. The insurrectionists committed federal crimes in their effort to Stop the Steal of the presidential election. But lookie here: CNN analyzed voting records of those arrested, found that many of them didn't even freaking vote. As I watched their wretched acts that day, I wondered if they would even know their own Representative if they came face to face. I seriously doubt it.

The defense suggested that there is another remedy to convicting at impeachment: arrest and prosecute under the regular justice system. Good idea, counselors! What's stopping us?

Mitch McConnell: Dude, you aren't up for reelection for six more years. A presidency and a half. You'll be 84 years old then. Let your legacy include this vote. Come on, grow a pair and vote to convict this cancer!