December 19, 2019: Senate to Allow Zero Witnesses in Impeachment Trial

 

12/19/19: Senate Majority Leader McConnell announces that Democrats are afraid to send articles of impeachment over to the Senate, because their evidence is so thin. 

He’s so sure it’s thin, he has said he’s going to move to acquit the president no matter what evidence there is. McConnell has hinted that he will move to call zero witnesses. This is “much better” than calling witnesses, as did the House of Representatives, he says. Because the Democrats were unfair and mean and terrible and had witnesses testify behind closed doors! Under oath! Then they released the transcripts – and called back more than a dozen to testify in public. They made them submit to cross-examination by members of the Trumplican Party, including Rep. Jim Jordan, who sometimes appeared to have rabies. 

Clearly, then, having no witnesses at all in the Senate “trial” proves that the case for acquittal is rock solid. 

Would McConnell perhaps enjoy having a few supporting documents? No. Mitch is cool reading the president’s tweets. 

Perhaps he could have the #1 witness in the matter testify: that is, President Donald J. Trump? 

Mitch can’t see a need.

Who else thinks Trump is innocent? Vladimir Putin.

 

At this point, you have to be a drooling idiot to believe that the Trumplicans have truth on their side. The Mueller Report, to cite an example, outlined ten cases of possible obstruction of justice. Trump blocked White House counsel Donald McGahn from testifying in the Russia probe. This despite the fact investigators found that Trump asked Mr. McGahn to obstruct justice. 

And, of course, Trump refused to testify under oath. 

Now, we have his “perfect” July 25 phone call with Ukraine. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton heard that call. He was involved in critical meetings, including one on July 10, when, according to the testimony of several witnesses, he characterized whatever Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and other Trump aides were cooking up as a “drug deal.” 

So, if you weren’t afraid of witnesses, you could bring in Bolton and have him testify. The Trumplicans have insisted that Democrats have no case because they have no “firsthand testimony.” 

That isn’t true. 

But no one would have more “firsthand” knowledge than Bolton. Except Trump. Bring in both. Let them testify under oath. 

And clear Trump’s name!!!!

 

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BUT WAIT!!! According to one expert on U.S. constitutional law, Trump’s name has already been cleared! 

According to Vladimir Putin the Trumplicans, who have a majority in the U.S. Senate, will never vote to impeach. It was “unlikely,” he informed reporters, that they would vote “to remove a representative of their own party from office on what seems to me an absolutely far-fetched reason [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted].” 

The Russian autocrat even parroted a favorite Trumplican talking point. “The party that lost the election” in 2016, he said, “is trying to achieve results by other means.” (See: 12/20/19.) 

Better luck in 2020, Democrats! Maybe your candidate could ask China for help in defeating Trump. 

Foreign help is no longer taboo.

 

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ON THE OTHER HAND, Christianity Today, a magazine founded by Billy Graham, also weighs in on impeachment. 

Yes, editors admit, Trump has fought a good fight against abortion and defended freedom of religion. 

(Mostly for Christians, this blogger might note.)

 

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“The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration.” 

Christianity Today

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Christians can no longer afford to ignore the danger his behavior represents. In the matter of impeachment, 

[The] facts…are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.

 

The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone – with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders – is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.

 

We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.

 

If Christians don’t reverse course, editors warn, for decades to come no one will take them seriously when they talk about “justice and righteousness.” Abortion may be “a great evil.” Can they then “say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?” 

It does matter. And you don’t have to be a Christian to understand that. 

Politics may be a poker game; and Christians may have won several hands, but the editors warn, 

we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence. And just when we think it’s time to push all our chips to the center of the table, that’s when the whole game will come crashing down. It will crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the world’s understanding of the gospel. And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern.

 

Amen.