The Impeachment Trial--All Five Days!

 

The Impeachment Trial, All Five Days

 The most memorable event of 2021 so far—for me—has been the Second Impeachment of Donald Trump.  I watched, by my calculations, 85% of the impeachment hearings of late 2019 and the trial in early 2020.   I believe I caught 90% of this trial (mornings on NPR, afternoons on CNN or MSNBC) plus, of course, I watched hours of discussion on TV.

 The radio hosts had the challenging task of occasionally interspersing or talking over the proceedings with descriptions and explanations, while television coverage was presented basically without commentary until the adjournment for the day.  Although both CNN and MSNBC have excellent hosts and guest panelists, I found that I appreciated MSNBC more.  The coverage featured interesting sidebars, such as facts about whoever was speaking.  I  quite like the immediate post-program with Nicolle Walker moderating panel discussions. 

 If you watched any of this trial, you noticed some differences with the first impeachment trial.  This is because the Senate, which serves as jury, also makes the rules of how the trial will proceed.  The first trial featured six House Managers (the prosecution), whereas this time there were nine (although I don’t think all spoke).  In last year’s trial, the senators could get up and make statements or ask questions.  This time, instead, there were two lawyers representing Trump’s defense.  (I was relieved about this, as I had such unpleasant memories of Sen. Jim Jordan, a vile man whom I wouldn’t mind seeing fall off a cliff.) 

 The Tuesday session was devoted to the question of whether it was legally appropriate for the Senate to try an ex-president for something he did while in office.  Each side had two hours. The House Managers started off with an amazing  video compilation of scenes from the riot and break-in at the Capitol Building on January 6^th.  Many of these video clips had not been shown before.  Some were from ABC and the New Yorker, others were taken by participants in the riot, who had posted them online.  They were thus even more shocking than what we’d seen before, and left Senators stunned.  The House Managers’ speeches were convincing.  The defense attorneys seemed unprepared—unsurprising, as they had been working for Trump only a short time, his other defense team having quit a week before the trial.  (Why?  Evidently, it was because they did not want to argue that the election was fraudulent, as Trump claimed.  In the end, the new pair of lawyers felt exactly the same, and did not assert that the election was fraudulent.)   The defense lawyers’ arguments were widely critiqued and spoofed in cartoons for being rambling and incoherent.

 The Senate consists of 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 2 Independents, but the Independents are generally included with the Democratic votes.  It was known that five Republications favored the impeachment.  The only surprise was that one more Republican senator voted that the impeachment trial was legal and constitutional, so the vote was 56 to 44.  For this action, only a simple majority was needed, so the trial could take place.

 On Wednesday and Thursday, the House Managers used most of their allotted sixteen hours; they showed more videos and spoke forcefully and movingly about what had happened and Trump’s role in it.   I’m not sure if any speakers equaled the eloquence of Adam Schiff in the first impeachment trial (some commentators agreed with me that his closing speech was one of the greats), but they were all impressive.  Especially so was Stacey Plaskett, who is actually a nonvoting delegate to Congress from the U.S. Virgin Islands (I did not know such a position existed, did you?).  Seeing the videos moved many Senators who had, after all, actually been there and been whisked out of the chambers.  The Managers urged a guilty vote because a person like Trump should not be allowed to run for public office again.

 On Friday, the defense team used less than three hours of their possibly sixteen, spending a good deal of that time declaring that Trump’s words did not incite the rioters, and that politicians and other people use words like “fight” all the time.

Saturday was for closing arguments and questions.  The House Managers reiterated that it was not merely Trump’s words on January 6^th that led to the rioters breaking into the Capitol.  For months before the November election, he had proclaimed that the only way he would lose would be if there was fraud.  (To this day, he has not conceded the election; he has not admitted that he was defeated.)  The question and answer session was not really very interesting, as Senators crafted leading questions that would allow the desired response (you know, along the lines of “Isn’t it true that….?”). 

 The only surprise was that one additional senator voted Guilty.  That made seven, but as you know, in such a trial two-thirds must vote guilty, so Trump was acquitted.  It is generally agreed that if the vote had been a secret ballot, at least two-thirds would have voted Trump guilty, but most senators are afraid of Trump’s loyal base.  They figure they’ll never get re-elected if they vote against him.  !!  And indeed, it has come to pass:  all of them have been censured by the Republican Party in their own states.  Of the seven, only one (Lisa Murkowski of Alaska) will be up for re-election in 2022.  The others have terms that expire later; they evidently hope that the voters will change their attitudes. 

 

 

 

February's jam-packed weekend

 One recent weekend was totally packed with events.  Or would have been, if we were not still suffering from CoVid lockdown.  Chinese, or Lunar, New Year started on Feb. 12^th this year. The South China Morning News (Hong Kong) wrote:

“This Chinese new year is the Year of the Ox, an animal that, with its sharp horns and muscular build, symbolises physical labour and determination, honesty, diligence, and trustworthiness….we should cultivate the qualities of the ox, to serve our community with a humble and willing heart….We should draw inspiration from the ox and meet the challenges of the pandemic like the sturdy, energetic farm animal.” 

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 Then there was Valentine’s Day, the 14^th .  Of course, the drugstores put out the Valentine’s candy immediately after removing the Christmas candy.  The V Candy is on sale in January and again after the date…if you can find it.  I finally found the shelf where my local Rite-Aid drugstore was stashing the leftover Valentine candy.  Very little remained, except Dove chocolate hearts.  These are in pretty pink and silver tin foil, and it turns out that each one has a message inside, printed on the silver foil:  “Hug someone today”; “Express what’s in your heart”; “Love without regrets”; “Chocolate is the best way to say ‘I Love you’”.  Who knew?  Next year, don’t just unwrap your Dove chocolate hearts and crumple up the foil without reading—think of it as a chocolate fortune cookie.

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          This was followed by Singles Awareness Day—always the day after Valentine’s Day.  An article on CNN says that “recent research shows that some people view singlehood as a happy destination rather than a stop on the journey to marriage.”  Well, duh.  The tradition of marriage had nothing to do with happiness and everything to do with providing the necessary nurture for human offspring (born more helpless that most animal babies). 

          But Singles Awareness Day (better not to use the acronym) was not the idea of some Hallmark ad guy, nor of a group of lonely wallflowers.  It was actually thought up by a high school boy in 2001.  ?!?  ,

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          This year Feb. 15^th was the designated Presidents’ Day.  Those of you who are old enough remember when we had two particular days in February honoring two particular presidents: Lincoln (born on the 12^th) and Washington (born on the 22^{nd .}   Washington’s birthday was commemorated from the time of his death in 1799, until it was made a federal holiday in 1885.  Lincoln’s birthday was often honored by individual states, but was never a federal holiday.   Then in 1968 Congress decided to establish the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, moving as many holidays as possible to Mondays, with the idea of lessening employee absenteeism and promoting retail sales.  Obviously, certain holidays could not be changed: Independence Day has to be on July 4^th, New Year’s Day has to be on the first of January, and Thanksgiving has to be the fourth Thursday of November.  But Memorial Day and Columbus Day were made into Monday holidays, and the third Monday in February was designated a federal holiday, replacing the former Feb. 22^nd.  At first it was still called Washington’s Birthday, but gradually the term Presidents’ Day took over.  But was it President’s or Presidents’, or Presidents?  Some people wanted to have all presidents included, while others (like me) assumed that the day was to include Lincoln as well as Washington (Congress had rejected that suggestion).   In fact, the various states actually use fourteen (14!) different names for February 22^nd.    !

Astrological note:  Lincoln was a bona fide Aquarian.  Aquarians are noted for their humanitarianism.  They are also said to be smart, stubborn, and brutally honest.  There have been five Aquarian presidents—and four of them died in office!

Washington was born under Pisces, a sign known for being sociable, generous, open, and intuitive, but also sometimes dreamy and impractical.  I’d certainly have to read more about George Washington to decide if this fits him.

 

A Brief Power Outage

 

    I feel so bad for all the people in the South and Midwest and East, who were walloped by that sudden, severe freeze recently, especially those in Texas, who understandably were not prepared for anything like it, and not only had to suffer record cold temps, but then no water.  Here in Sacramento, when power goes out in summer, it’s due to too great a use of air conditioners.  Winter blackouts are rarer, and usually due to a tree falling on a power line during a storm.   Those big blackouts suffered by many in California last fall had nothing to do with us, as we do not get our utilities from Pacific Gas and Electric but from “SMUD”, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.  And thank heavens, it never gets very cold here, so if the heat goes out, we won't quite freeze.

          On the night of January 26^th we were have a bit of a storm, when at 10:30, the lights went out.  I was immediately glad that I was not on the computer or doing laundry or watching something special on TV at that moment.  Amazingly, I knew where my flashlights were.  The big one had no batteries in it, but two small ones worked.  They were Halloween ones—for trick-or-treating—with orange handles; when turned on, they projected an outline of a bat.  I quickly found the matches and lit a pillar candle that lives atop the fridge.

          I turned off the TV and most light switches (a habit, so that fuses don’t blow when the electricity comes on again).   Oddly, when the lights went out there were no sounds from neighbors: no yelps or screams, no shouts of “Oh no!”, no thumps.  Was anyone even home in this building?  I went into the hallway with my orange flashlight.  Normally, when the electricity goes out, the hallway lights in their wall sconces stay on, but they were out as well.  At the staircase, I could see that the upstairs hall lights had remained on.  Outside all was dark, except for our front door porch light and a streetlamp at each end of the block.  It was completely silent outside, as it was inside.  Except for the wind thrashing the trees--rather eerie.

          I walked back to the courtyard door and saw that the lights out there were on.  At the front again, I stood holding the door open and watched the tree outside being fiercely buffeted by the wind, while I recited Robert Frost’s poem about the “window tree” (one of the very few poems I know by heart).  Then I went back inside.  I took the pillar candle in its ceramic jar into the bathroom, but only took flashlights into the bedroom—I am paranoid about setting off the smoke alarm!  At least my transistor radio had new batteries, so I could listen to the BBC World Service news and information programs as I usually do at night . 

          Because of restless sleep and periods of no sleep (typical for me), I got up quite late.  Electricity still out.  I remembered the fridge, and regretted having stocked up on ice cream, frozen shrimp, and Boca Burgers, not to mention milk and other perishable foods, and wondered if the electricity would be out so long that everything went bad. 

          In the afternoon I went over to Rite Aid (the drugstore a block away), but it was still closed.  So I set out for Ace Hardware, a nice half-mile stroll. (It’s a good way to get myself to walk a mile, but I just don’t have that many occasions to visit a hardware store.) The store was open—they have a sizeable generator, the clerk told me—and looked so bright and crowded and cheery, it was almost festive.  There were other people buying batteries, too.  I bought some of every size.  Then I spotted a display of cute patterned socks, which were supposed to be big enough to fit men.  I couldn’t resist, as I am rarely able to get cute socks.  (Of course, when I got home and tried them on, they turned out to be too tight--men’s socks tend to be narrow).  On the way home, I stopped in the gas station market and bought a can of peas (to add to the salad) and kitchen gloves and snacks.  I stopped to greet a tiny white dog who looked made out of marshmallow (as I told his owner).  At home, I took some juice and snack crackers out to the polite fellow who sometimes rests under the overhang in our parking area, his laden bike nearby.  But once I was inside and trying to do things by candle and flashlight while the day darkened, I began to feel rather sad.  Thank heavens it was not truly cold.  “Gloom” means “partial darkness,” and also “lowness of spirits.”  I was feeling gloomy in the gloom.

          Then, at 6:20, sitting in the living room, I heard a click.  “That’s the answering machine turning on!” I exclaimed aloud.  As I turned my head, the modem light came on, and the television lit up.  Hurrah!  Civilization once more!

Thank you, SMUD workers!  Thank you Comcast!  Thank you, Thomas Edison!