Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

As we all know, impeachment occurs in two stages: a presentation of charges or indictment in the U.S. House, followed by a trial in the U.S. Senate, which either does or does not convict on the charges presented by the House. The charge sent to the Senate by the House was that President Donald Trump had, according to Reuters , “incited insurrection in a speech to supporters before the deadly attack on the Capitol, setting in motion his second impeachment trial.” Partisan Democrat senators, i.e. prosecutors, failed on February 13 to convict. What lessons should we draw from this exercise in fatuity? Perhaps the person least surprised by the failure to convict was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who, one must suppose, can count up to ten without the use of her fingers. Democrats did not have the numbers to impeach in the Senate, and she knew it. Impeachment conviction is wholly a political matter. The process is dressed up in juridical robes, but this is mostly for show. It is not i...