It's all too apparent that the 197 Republican members of the House of Representatives are absolutely incapable of fulfilling their oaths of office - convincingly demonstrating that they are mostly incoherent jackals. They have betrayed their oaths in favor of fealty to the vile sociopath and traitor currently despoiling the office of the U.S. Presidency as well as undermining the democratic foundation of the Republic.
In the Senate, majority leader Mitch McConnell has turned the screws on his membership of skittish sheep and hypocritical sycophants. He made the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump a mockery as his feckless caucus doodled like school children and played with their fidgets and watches. Anyone hoping for a more mature, reasoned and rational approach from Senate Republicans must be sorely disappointed, but not surprised. The entire charade captures the essence of what has become Republicanism.
Along the way, a funny thing happened at the forum. During the defense argument mounted by Trump's motley crew of gaslighting legal quacks, someone dropped a dime on the Republican's carefully crafted Kabuki Theater by leaking a portion of John Bolton's upcoming (or not?) book "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir".
Bolton's book apparently corroborates what was already public information - thanks to EU Ambassador Sondlund and Chief of Staff Mulvaney - that Trump attempted to extort Ukraine President Zelensky by illegally holding back congressionally approved military aid.
Because Bolton has been a die-hard Republican neocon for decades, and has served in multiple Republican administrations, blocking his testimony would create some very bad optics. But, of course, there was really no reason to hope that allowing the American public to see all the evidence would take precedence over Republican's cynical and craven pursuit of power at any cost.
As a result of the vote on whether or not to allow witnesses, the public has discovered how many of the 53 Republican members of the U.S. Senate are capable of cultivating vestigial spines. There emerged two possible candidates first, and most unlikely, Maine Senator Susan Collins and second, Utah Senator Mitt Romney.
What's going on in either Senator's mind is anybody's guess. Collin's vote to allow witnesses could be chalked-up to survival instinct. She's up for reelection in 2020 and is vulnerable. Romney's vote is less clear. He doesn't face reelection until 2024, but his approval ratings have dropped at home to a level approaching those of Trump.
Romney's motivation might be linked to being summarily rebuffed after humiliatingly groveling to the low-life Trump in an attempt to secure the job of Secretary of State. Among his signature personality traits, Trump is vindictive to the extreme, and Romney's accusation during the 2016 presidential campaign that Trump is, among other things, "a phony, a fraud" certainly rankled "The Donald". Pure spite, although Romney, like most politicians, would be loath to admit he's capable of, might be a significant factor in his vote. After all, we're dealing with giant egos here, and an outsized sense of privilege and entitlement.
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