Notes on the Impeachment Trial: 20/30 at Best

(I need the reading glasses for the close-up stuff, like fine print, or in bad lighting.) 

The Dershowitz Slant
Prof. Alan Dershowitz' dismissal of the legitimacy of the trial itself on constitutional grounds was good prime-time fun confusing the "poorly educated" in the base, while also providing, as Jeffrey Toobin said, a "fig leaf" for those who need a constitutional-based justification, not just for voting to acquit, but to prevent any witnesses from being heard. In that sense, it was well-designed:  the actual content of the two articles finally selected, though they were chosen for being incontestably provable, suffers from being less than optimal as a constitutional basis for conviction..

Dershowitz particularly went after Abuse of Power as being a weak standard for impeachment, though we all know it was exactly the kind of thing* that ultimate sanction for the President was meant to address.  Dersh cited the example of Ronald Reagan, who could have been impeached for it (for Iran-Contra).  On the contrary, it shows the difference;  while Reagan's Administration allowed illegal actions, the proof of Ronnie's direct involvement never emerged, with the high-water mark of implication for the Ollie North escapade reaching no higher than the NSC and Defense Secretary Weinberger.  In this case, Trump's authorship of the directives to withhold aid and a White House meeting were evident to those a full Degree of Separation away who examined the handwriting, and the closer Trumpsters were to the idiotic rants that accompany his improper directives, the more certain they were of it.   Abuse of Power is what the Founding Fathers knew about Mad King George of Britain and they wanted to protect our republic from its variegated form.+

Hear ye, Johnny"Thunder" Bolton!
He is almost the ideal witness for the impeachment case, which is why it is so critical for the Republican Senate leadership, working hand-in-hand with the White House, to prevent him from ever taking an oath before the Senate.  He is a lawyer who takes organized notes, and beyond that has excellent recollection for facts, especially for the "errors" of others.  He will have detailed information on where and when our POS Conman-der-in-Chief made it clear what he wanted. And how awful it was, from every standpoint.

I was afraid that Bolton was going to take the middle road and insist that that despised aid conditionality was simply a policy difference, or a ruse of some kind, and within the purview of legitimate Presidential prerogative, at least temporarily.  Not a reason for Bolton himself to leave the Administration.  Instead, none of this seems to be the case, if we can judge from the published leaks from Bolton's unpublished manuscript.

Turns out he has some ethics, too. Such an improbable hero!  It may not play out to his benefit, and the Trumpists will circle the wagons on him, at least until such time as their Fearless Twitter falls.
I like Sen. Doug Jones' suggestion to simplify and subpoena the manuscript, seeing as how it seems to have been circulated widely within the White House:  why shouldn't the Senate get its look (in closed quarters, if necessary, as it has not had all sensitive material redacted)?

There is a simpler solution:  revive the tabled resolution to subpoena Bolton and approve it by voice vote.  No recorded vote needed; it would be an appropriate rebuke to the would-be Caesar that would not change the ultimate outcome, which is destiny itself. ** Mitch's whip count is binary:  either the votes are there, or not; and if not, unanimous consent motions give him more power, in the form of control over proceedings, which is what he craves.
 
Additional: 
If I have one suggestion for the House staff, it is to prepare cases for some second impeachment  round: articles on Bribery, the Impoundment Control Act, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (in his capacity as ex official chairman of the Trump Organization).  Or maybe also Obstruction of Justice, with regard to--yes!--the Mueller case.  If not to bring them forward--and just unveiling them in a timely way might compromise some of the Republicans' arguments, requiring of them the nuisance of inventing new ones--then to keep the House staff in working condition to prepare for the worst.

  
* "Da Kine"
+ Like the Devil (to cite the Church Lady).  SNL started a theme they can use in the future, of visitations in Hades by those assisting the Drumpfster. Dersh got his turn last weekend, played incompetently by Jon Lovitz.  It was intentional, I'm sure:  Acting!  Divine Comedy!  In that series, I'd like to see Alec Baldwin as a Witch from Hell. 
**Beware the Ides of March, Drumpf!