I've sat in the Senate gallery; I understand and respect the decorum expected... for Josh Hawley to be up in the gallery during the Senate trial with his feet up over the gallery railing shows his lack of respect for the U.S. Senate, a body in which he has the privilege of serving.

but for Trump, the mob would not have gathered on January 6th...

The Republican Senators are on trial too.

Deep gratitude to all the officers who protected and defended the Capitol, our transfer of power, and everyone on the premises on January 6th. They are true patriots. It is awful to imagine how much worse the day and events would have unfolded were it not for the heroism and love of country the officers exhibited. We are forever indebted to them for their faithful and selfless service.

It's an open and shut case.    
If Trump's actions aren't impeachable, what is?

Senators taking the Juror's Oath and signing the Trial Book is a disingenuous act.    
It is sad to see a sacred oath used as political theater, it denigrates the notion that Senators are people of honor.    
If the Oath means nothing to the Senators perhaps taking the oath should be eliminated - or - Senators, who in good conscience cannot fulfill the Oath, ought to disqualify themselves as jurors.

Senators taking the Juror's Oath and signing the Trial Book is a disingenuous act.    
It is sad to see a sacred oath used as political theater, it denigrates the notion that Senators are people of honor.    
If the Oath means nothing to the Senators perhaps taking the oath should be eliminated - or - Senators, who in good conscience cannot fulfill the Oath, ought to disqualify themselves as jurors.

Trump's attorney van der Veen said this is his most miserable experience in DC.    
House manager Raskin apologized, said the attorney should have been in the Capitol on January 6th.

Trump's attorney van der Veen opened Pandora's box...   
What happens next?  
The impeachment trial will be lengthened if witnesses are called.

Trump escaped conviction in the Senate -
acquitted but not vindicated.  
The bulk of Republicans belong to Trump.

McConnell covets power.

The House Managers inspire hope for the future,
as well as the Democrats and Republicans who voted to defend and protect the Constitution.

It's Presidents' Day.    
Valentine's Day is behind us.  
New Covid cases are down, vaccinations are up.
The honeymoon continues.    
It's cold outside.  
Time to get to work.    
We must be ever vigilant to defend and protect the Constitution.

"Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, passed in the wake of the Civil War, bars from public office those officials who engage in 'insurrection or rebellion' against the United States. Congress did not limit Section 3 to disqualifying only members of the former Confederacy, but deliberately drafted language to encompass any future acts of insurrection or rebellion --- such as those of Jan. 6.

"Irrefutable evidence shows that Trump engaged in a long-term campaign to undermine confidence in the election and overturn the results based on unfounded claims of fraud. He pressured and threatened state election officials and the vice president to violate their oaths and the Constitution in order to prevent a peaceful transition of power. When those efforts failed, he incited a violent mob of his supporters to storm the Capitol. And as members of Congress hid, fearing for their lives, Trump enthusiastically watched the insurrection on TV and refused to act to stop the violence despite having the authority and power to do so.

"Congress should immediately take action to ensure that Trump is held accountable under Section 3 --- an action endorsed by legal scholars.

"Many Senate Republicans, both before and during the impeachment trial, have acknowledged Trump's grave misconduct. The Constitution provides U.S. Senators with a tailor-made tool for precisely the conduct for which they have condemned Trump."

with attribution to Tom Coleman and John C Danforth, WaPo, February 16, 2021

"I'm safe on Mars. Perseverance will get you anywhere."

Hope all our classmates in Texas are feeling safer than they were yesterday and in the preceding days...    
we have seen life-threatening catastrophe in Texas...      
(and Ted Cruz hustling back from his jaunt to Cancun...  
It's a time of reckoning for a state that prides itself on deminimis government, and now finds itself frozen in it.
Gov Abbott blamed the loss of power on frozen windmills...   
(there are windmills in the Arctic), 
and neglected to mention frozen pipelines and coal power problems.    
Texas is the only U.S. state that regulates its own power industry and isolated itself from interdependence and support of contiguous states that follow the more stringent federal regulations that prevent an entire state from being without power.  
Thank goodness for FEMA and federal relief when we're suffering a natural disaster.

Cruzs' dog Snowflake was left home alone to endure the freezing cold.

People are laughing through their tears...
Have you seen the Cruz poster?  "Let them eat snow."

Use the word in a sentence:    
Trump committed "pandemicide" against our country.

Help! Someone needs to primary Ron Johnson for U.S. Senate.    
He's obviously out of his depth. He was chair of Homeland Security on January 6th (and still doesn't believe the violent insurrection happened).    
Who will Dems run in 2022 for Wisconsin's Senate seat?    
We all need to be concerned about who is elected to the U.S. Senate.

There is no end to the search for greatness...    
There are some people 
  - who love them or hate them -
we can't take our eyes off of them.    
Life is fragile, even for our heroes,     
who, like the rest of us, are mere mortals...

There are two approaches to political action --- power or principle.
Republicans understand how to gain and use power though they often sacrifice principle to do so, and they cohesively fall into line with negative partisanship and conspiracy theories.

And Democrats?      
Democrats squander a majority, albeit slim, to stake their independence.

Bravo to Liz Cheney for being a Republican with conviction.