Something is rotten in the state of America

Commentary

It’s the GOP – and it’s really starting to stink!

In Day 3 of the Trump Impeachment Trial, House managers concluded their case. Their arguments were as powerful as the ones on Day 2. But, to quote the great legal scholar Yogi Berra, “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” So, if you were an independent juror with an open mind, you would wait until the defense attorneys made their case to make your decision. You’d only make that decision after you heard the defense rebuttal of the prosecution’s case.

That’s if you weren’t a juror who is also a Republican senator. Apparently, in the second impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, a fair number of the 100 jurors…at least 44…are not going to wait to make their decision – Guilty or Innocent. They’ve not only made their decision, they’re telling the world about it.

These independent-minded jurors include:

• Rick Scott (R-FL):

• Roger Marshall (R-KS)

Josh Hawley (R-MO):

“They are making this up as they go along. It is totally unconstitutional and selfish on the part of the Democrats. This is a total ‘kangaroo trial.'”

Lindsay Graham (R-SC)

And if that wasn’t enough for Graham (yes the same Graham who, during the 2016 primaries called Trump “a nut job”, “a loser as a person” and “ill-suited’ to be president.”), he went further, blaming not Trump for the attack on the Capitol, but the Capitol police for not shooting the insurrectionists.

“The people in charge of securing the Capitol let the country down” – but not the President of the United States? As usual, Graham’s logic defies logic. So much for the GOP’s vaunted “Blue Lives Matter!” To save Trump, they’ll throw anyone under the bus.

But wait, there’s more…and it’s even worse.

CNN reported tonight that “A trio of Republican senators allied with former President Donald Trump met with his defense team Thursday evening, in the middle of an impeachment trial in which they will vote on whether to convict Trump and potentially bar him from holding public office again. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah were spotted going into a room in the U.S. Capitol that Trump’s lawyers were using to prepare for their arguments.”

CNN went on, “Trump lawyer David Schoen said that the senators were ‘very friendly guys’ who just wanted to make sure they were ‘familiar with procedure’ on the eve of their rebuttal to the House impeachment managers’ presentation. When asked if it’s appropriate to meet with senators during the trial, Schoen said, ‘Oh yeah, I think that’s the practice of impeachment. There’s nothing about this thing that has any semblance of due process whatsoever'”

Wait, what? Senators, aka jurors, are meeting with defense attorneys to make sure they were “familiar with procedure.” I’ve heard of “jury tampering,” but I’ve never heard of “defense attorney tampering.”

Am I missing something?

Or is there really something really, really, really rotten in the state of America? To paraphrase “The Bard of Avon” one last time, “To convict or not to convict – that’s not even a question.”