Portable computer addiction appears as the social reality in the headline, with the 45th President included as the first of his kind.
Lindsey Graham is like the anti-god Janus, who had half of her face pointing north, the other half pointing south. What Graham said during the Clinton impeachment is not the law now, when Trump is facing impeachment.
Tell Mr. Graham he's not empowered to change the laws and the facts at the same time and expect anybody to believe him. But we all know he is an ambitious man who wants to please Trump in all things.
From the beginning, heroes like the Whistleblower, Fiona Hill, Amb. Yovanovich, Col. Vindman and others defended our democracy against Russian oligarchs who sought to destroy it. They deserve a special place in history.
They remind me of Thomas Paine, the Trumpet of the Revolution, who said, "Give me liberty or give me death."
These modern day heroes put their lives, their jobs and their reputations on the line. They exemplify true patriots as described by Thomas Paine.
1
Come on. Of course the senators are getting up and walking around instead of following the rules, remaining in their chairs and listening. They are largely a collection of old white guys who are mentally and physically in their 80's. And it is very, very hard to stay seated for a long time when you don't have a spine.
4
Taking naps & fiddling with small toys during once in a life time hearings speaks volumes about the level of Senatorial education & intellect now doesn't it.....
6
Though I'll bet the Senators' boredom suddenly dissipates during their marathon lobbying sessions, filibusters, or endless campaigns and town halls while seeking reelection. Hypocrites all.
2
This cracks me up thinking about a bunch of always on political animals deprived of their cell phones and forced to sit in silence, especially for me as an special ed teacher with a lot of amped up autistic students trying to keep them in their seats, focused and on task of something constructive all day other than You Tube. I’ll take here right now any day over having to be there in the Senate right now.
What a repulsive embarrassment. The men who investigated Watergate were serious and smart and, I believe, inherently understood the importance of good optics. Now blowhards and yes-men brag about their bias and know, thanks to gerrymandering, voter suppression and foreign interference, will never face the consequences of their actions. I listen to a lot of comedy podcasts, many from Europe. America is a punchline. It is sad and sickening.
3
So sad for these narcissistic senators to date do as they are ordered.
1
We have a POTUS who is lawless being protected by a room full of US Senators, most of whom are lawyers.
Trump's press sec gets paid $180K and literally works a couple of days every couple of months. What we do hear is lies.
This should be the end of this corrupt administration and also this GOP Senate- this is unacceptable - we have to flush this bizarre lot next Nov.
4
Just released! 34 of our troops suffered traumatic brain injuries from Iran's missile strike in Iraq a couple of weeks ago. Bur remember Trump stated he doesn't care because they aren't "missing any limbs from road side bombs!" Yea, keep trying to convince intelligent Americans Trump is good for our country! Worst. President. Ever!!
3
Such a waste of time and brain power. Fix healthcare, fix immigration, fix our expanding debt!
2
I have worked 12 -16 hours a day since I was 18. A few vacations here and there and maybe a day on the weekend. Gee, too bad that the senators are finally asked to do their job, work for 12 hours in the most important thing they have ever done, and they can't even pretend to do it. Despicable. Watching the dereliction of duty by the republican senators is more than a little upsetting. Handing out "twirly-gigs" in a display of mockery by one senator is a travesty. Reading conspiracy theory books on the floor and debasing a hero to the country in Lt. Col. Vindeman, is another debasement of our country. The republican senators are cowards. They are saying that it's okay for a republican president to commit extortion and bribery and then obstruct any oversight. They are saying it's okay for putin to continue his assault and land grabs. The republican senators and congress people are traitors to this country.
4
I guess the Republicans feel they can afford to drift since the facts are irrelevant to them -- like their oaths, right and wrong, the rule of law and the constitution. They are Trumpers, now and forever, where lies are even better than facts. Nap, do puzzles, play with your spinners. History will judge you, and it won't be kind.
2
How can a Senator be an impartial juror when they are not in the chamber or reading a book. They made an oath. What am I missing?
4
Republican Senators are battling the rule of law, the Constitution, human decency and a very few may even be battling their own consciences.
3
I find it baffling. If the republican senators are finding this process too demanding for them to take they should talk to THEIR party leader Midnight Mitch who made up the rules to begin with. It is just another variation of the republican strategy of being totally responsible for a situation and then complaining about it, ie, You don't have any first hand witnesses because we won't allow the witnesses to testify, so you don't have a case because you don't have any first hand witnesses because ..... repeat....
2
I first heard about this behavior on the news this AM before reading this column and it leaves me absolutely furious. I have probably sat on at least a half dozen juries both civil and criminal. Sure some are more interesting than others but we don't get to choose the subject. I remember one civil trial that involved a suit for property damages that went on for over 3 wks. All jurors were attentive and on time and in our seats every day. During a different trial, one of the jurors decided to go to the mall and returned about 10 min. late. She said she was shopping and lost track of time. Judge asked what she bought and what it cost. When told, he replied, 'that dress just cost you more' and fined her double the cost of the dress. All judges presiding over trials that I have observed would never have allowed the behavior exhibited by these senators. Justice Roberts? Doesn't seem to be so concerned. Disgusting behavior all around.
4
McConnell’s rule has tested cell phone dependency.
1
From the Senate Trial, a
new soap opera emerges: "The Old and the Stagnant."
We the People deserve better!
Grow up - we all know how this is going to break. The Democratic-run House should have called key witnesses, but didn't think it was relevant, and didn't want to spend a few weeks in the courts.
The Republican-run senate has no patience for Nadler and Schiff 's 2-3 hours speech - which look and sound more like Mussolini preening in front of audiences that were not aloud to leave.
The Democrats have a chance to unify the country in 2020 - they are not doing that. And if they deny the nomination to Sanders through super delegates and a brokered convention - it will destroy the country.
2
It does make more sense reading this how Trump so easily put this bunch of GOP Senators on leashes. They GAVE him their power.
Let’s elect some actual adults who are not playing around. Blackburn reading a novel and tweeting out trash about the veteran who reported Trump’s bizarre Ukraine conversation to his superior ought to get her an opponent for a primary in Tennessee- that is beyond low.
1
Our senators a behaving like bratty high school kids on a field trip to a dusty museum, that museum being the US Constitution. They want snacks, fidget spinners, they make paper airplanes, fall asleep, as if Impeachment of a US President was a mandatory study hall and not a trial. What a horrible example they are setting for the rest of us. These geriatrics and apparatchiks are our best and brightest? No witnesses at a trial? No new evidence? No curiosity? No responsibility? Why are they even there? Millions of dollars are spent on Senate campaigns for an office some of them won’t take seriously. Why? Who are they serving? What does it even mean to be a senator anymore? There’s a cure for all this. It’s called Term Limits.
8
Adam Schiff has been talking virtually nonstop for three days and he looks at fresh and alert as when he started
#Abolish the Senate
5
Something in the photo of Lindsey Graham and his colleagues caught my attention.Who is the statuesque woman standing over and behind Lindsey Graham? What is her connection to the proceedings?
We expect Americans who are in court rooms across the country to sit quietly and respect the process. Senators have made a mockery of this trial and the rule of law and Justice Roberts is participating in this sham as well.
It's clear the President is above the law as is Attorney General Barr and others. Shame on these Americans who take taxpayer money for years and pretend to defend the US Constitution. We deserve better, much better.
4
I am a liberal democrat. Yet I had my doubts about whether this was an impeachable offense, and whether it rises to the level that should lead to the removal of the president from office. After listening for hours to the arguments made by the house managers, I have concluded that yes it does. The arguments were very coherent and any unbiased person will at least vote to hear from additional witnesses. The republican senators have literally sold their souls. They have no morals left. Senator Graham running away from his seat when his hypocrisy was being exposed was a classic example. Shame on them.
7
fidget-spinners; if we all spin them together it's going to drive the speakers crazy.
Did anyone really expect anything else? You have a Republican controlled Senate which denied Merrick Garland the decency of a hearing under the pretext of an election coming up . You have Republican Senators going on camera parroting the far right lunatic voices of Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin saying there should never have been an Impeachment ...let the voters decide the Presidency in November . Really? You have Republicans pretending that Trump is a fine man....all because he’s giving them what they want.....an unqualified Judiciary loaded with ideologues. I once thought the GOP couldn’t sink any lower than having Nixon and Agnew as President and Pitbull. Then came Reagan Bush Jr and now Trump. Time to wake up folks. We’re circling the drain.
4
How disrespectful to the electorate.
If these senators took an oath for the duration of the trial, then it is their obligation to sit on their fannies in their chairs and listen. It’s pathetic that grown adults can’t seem to manage what schoolchildren can do and instead make excuses, act petulantly and inattentively, using any excuse to leave the room with hall passes.
You’d think these senators would at least appear as if they’re earning their inflated government salaries with its many perks and just do their constitutional duty. I mean, Mitch McConnell has basically ensured they’ve done nothing for the better part of the last decade except run for re-election.
4
So if the prosecution goes on too long and is too boring or repetitive for Senators, they'll vote to acquit Trump?!
2
One presumes that when we elect senators, we elect "leaders". The craven fear of trump tweets and revenge the republicans are exhibiting as they do not address the substance of trump's misdeeds is appalling. If these senators claim to be "leaders" then they need to go back to their constituents and LEAD. They could lead town hall discussions of the constitution, separation of powers and crucial role of Congress, a real civics lessons for the many who clearly do not care or understand how our democratic system operates.
4
No one’s offering Republican Senators money to do their job in the impeachment so they won’t do it. Their salaries and lifetime socialist benefits aren’t enough for them. If they’re not being offered millions by corporations to act on their behalf they’re really not interested in earning their wages and benefits.
2
The Republican senators don't care what is said or presented during these proceedings. The gravity of the matter means nothing to them. They are just biding their time. Senator Ron Johnson said he was "bored". If he or any other of the Republican senators have given any careful thought to even a handful of the words spoken it would be front page news. The United States Senate was once the world's greatest deliberative body. Today it is a chamber of dishonor.
2
That photo speaks well for the media circus atmosphere. It is particularly tragic for what it says about today's news media atmosphere. Meanwhile, the "he said, she said" style of reporting carries on,unabashedly.
If the impeachment proceedings are any value at all, they give Americans some insight into the sorry excuses for human beings that occupy “ the greatest deliberative body in the world.” It should also reflect on us voters as to why we can’t send more intelligent, qualified people to this body that has so much influence on our daily lives.
2
"Multiple senators, in an apparent attempt to rouse themselves, could be seen vigorously chomping on gum. During the lunch break on Thursday, Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina, passed out fidget spinners for his 52 Republican colleagues, the better to pass the time."
This is how children behave. If Senate Republicans think this is funny or cute, they're sadly mistaken, as they often are about so many other things with regard to Trump's impeachment and fitness for office. This kind of behavior puts in question their own fitness for office.
1
I am not shedding any tears for the Senators who complain that they are hearing the same thing multiple times and that the trial is taking too long or is too boring. I could really care less if they find the entire matter boring or repetitive.
They are US Senators and need to act like they have some sense of responsibility to the people who elected them (and to the US at large) and not to their own restlessness over being required to sit and listen.
The GOP Senators want the trial to end quickly before they are obliged to hear something, perhaps from a witness, that really paints the picture that Trump is and was guilty of the two Impeachment Charges. If they can get out of this before they are forced to hear from anyone other than Democrat Impeachment Managers then they can claim, right or wrong, that the Impeachment case was not made sufficiently to merit their guilty votes. But this gets more difficult for them the more people (other than Impeachment Managers) who testify to Trump's guilt.
I fully expect that if the GOP Senators vote to acquit Trump and then some particularly compelling evidence is made public after the trial is over, those same GOP Senators will then conveniently blame the Democrats for not having made a compelling case against Trump during the trial instead of accepting that they were complicit in the coverup by voting not to hear what they could have heard during the trial.
10
So much about this story makes me angry. These people, all of them, are supposed to represent us, speak for us. Yet, some of them check their Apple watches (against the rules) while other play with their fidget spinners.
If those of us who work in the real world did that, we’d be rightfully fired. Not these people, though. They’re better than the rest of us; they’re important; they’re entitled.
As for the “rest of us”, maybe it’s time to start from scratch and form a new government.
11
I think that what's good for the goose is good for the gander, and out of respect, at the very least, for the separation of powers, the Senators should remain seated given the Chief Justice is required to be. They set the rules and if they get fidgety, they have only themselves to blame.
6
Well, I've found it mesmerizing. And, moving. To hear the very different voices of the managers--African American, Western, New York, male and female--all put the case forward eloquently, and in great detail, not about why we should cast out this President (who will be history) but about why evidence should be heard and why we must uphold the Constitution, and not allow this administration to pervert our allegiance to truth.
16
Average age of the Senate is 61.8 years.
Even young people would have trouble sitting and paying attention for 10 to 12 hours with only a few breaks. Older people are more likely to experience physical discomfort even if they are capable of focusing for that long.
The schedule makes no sense, unless you want to minimize the impact of the presentations.
I wonder if we're going to see some modification of the schedule when the Republican defense gets underway.
5
@RickP My thought on why Mitch McConnell set this schedule was that he wanted to demean the process.
1
I believe it is incorrect for all the pundits and legal experts to characterize the impeachment and the Senate trial as a political process rather than a legal process, and also that the Chief justice serves merely as a figurehead. The very existence of the House and Senate and their authority to impeach and try the President all derive from the Constitution, which is our most basic legal document. This same Constitution tasks the Senate with conducting a trial, which, according to my dictionary, is "an examination of evidence and applicable law by a competent tribunal to resolve an issue between parties". This doesn't sound to me like a strictly political process. Also, our Constitution directs that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will preside over the trial. Again, my dictionary defines preside as "to hold the position of authority, to possess or exercise authority or control". What part of PRESIDE don't people understand?
6
I tune out because I can as a private citizen,
As a government employee and being paid by our taxes I expect all the senators to pay attention and stay with an open mind. Alas this is not happening.
I can tune out because I know what the outcome with be.
I listened very closely to the impeachment hearings of Clinton, now I do not because it is just heart wrenching to hear the 2 parties fight with each other and neither listens to the other and each blames the other. I vote for a 3rd party to step in and restore some civility .
3
So, Dad Roberts is driving the station wagon, right? And the kids are whining, ‘Are we there yet?’ ‘I’m hungry.’ ‘I’m tired.’ ‘I hate all this traveling.’
Imo, Dad says, ‘Don’t make me stop this car. If you ever hope I pull in for lunch at Howard Johnsons, keep your seatbelts on and pay attention to what you’re seeing.’
‘I’m going to ask you what state we’re in when we stop for gas. You better know.’
10
I'm so sick of the narrative that the proceedings are too boring for the senators. These are the most pampered and spoiled legislators in the world, and they snivel about having to pay attention. Spare me the tears, senators.
36
@Jim L. I agree. Regular working folks out there would lose their jobs if they came to work and acted like these childish Senators.
1
I think this entire dreary impeachment exercise is absurd. Important legislative work is going undone while the fools act out their petty political drama.
If any president deserved to be impeached it was George W. Bush, along with his vice president. How many lives have been ruined and deaths caused by the lies and distortions of those men? Trump is being impeached mainly because he is personally detestable and because he pulled an election out from under the feet of their Chosen One.
I doubt that even 1 in 10 Americans is paying significant attention to what is going on in the Senate or what is being "reported" in the media by its tiresome "columnists" and opinionators.
2
@2REP your own thoughts notwithstanding, plenty of Americans are paying attention. On TV alone, 11 million households the first day and 9 million the next. Many, like me, are streaming over the internet. Many more still are reading about it and following via podcasts and other aggregations and summaries.
Your point about legislative work going undone is a good one though, and I'd encourage you to take that up with Mr. McConnell. As of November he was sitting on more than 250 house-passed bills, which he's refused to even allow to come to debate.
I'm sure you'll get right on sharing your discomfort with him, right? Be sure to include the bit about fools and petty political drama, please.
8
@2REP
What work is going "undone"?
McConnell is proud of the fact that his desk is where "over 200 pieces of legislation go to die.....", meaning he's not bringing approved bills from the house to a floor vote.
McConnell is MAKING SURE nothing gets done.
1
@2REP
"Trump is being impeached mainly because he is personally detestable and because he pulled an election out from under the feet of their Chosen One."
In a sense, yes. In a sense no.
You're not wrong about George W who claimed falsely that Iraq possessed chemical weapons. George was likable, popular and looked good in a flight suit.
Trump is unlikeable, unpopular and no one wants to see him in a flight suit. That said, he coerced a foreign government to fabricate dirt on a political opponent, which is pretty much the definition of corruption.
3
It strikes me that it's sort of like serving out detention in study hall, especially for the Republicans.
Is Chief Justice Roberts in control of hall passes, or is that the responsibility of the sergeant-at-arms?
Are there hall monitors outside the Senate Chamber, roaming the corridors to make sure nobody is ducking out of one of the bathroom windows?
Am I being unfair and judgmental if I confess that it also strikes me that most if not all national political careerists discover their vocation in the role of hall monitor around grade 10 or so ?(Senator McConnell spring to mind).
Of course none of this is funny and I fear Congressman Schiff was right in his closing statement. I guess I'm just trying to deal...
5
We expect more from a misdemeanor DUI jury than the Senate. A real jury is not allowed to discuss the case until AFTER their final verdict. They are not allowed to get up and leave at their own discretion. They can't nap, fidget spin or speak with the attorneys, parties or judges. This is hardly a jury in any real sense of the word.
22
These senators need to do their jobs-seek the truth, act on the truth-vote for documents and witnesses, stop whining about having to do their jobs, stop acting like 2 year olds needing entertainment every minute of the day. Uphold the Constitution and your oath.
16
Even kindergarten students are expected to behave better than this.
13
As someone who served as the foreman of a capital murder trial for well over a week, the clear flaunting of rules with zero enforcement is disturbing. Rules are in place not just for decorum but to ensure all testimony, riveting or not, is heard and understood.
Senators leaving the chamber during testimony seem to do this as their own 'plausible deniability' tactic, or, as many suspect, their minds are made up and they have other things to attend to, like gaslighting their constituents at every opportunity.
16
I wonder what the Senators will do when it's the Republican's turn. Will they still wander around, sleep, figit, and generally act like spoiled children? Or will the Republicans demand full attention?
7
@lynchburglady
The Republican case will be "Yeah, he did it, so what? Let's vote....".
if any common jury member were to do any of these things while on a trial jury, the judge would hold them in contempt of court and fine, jail, or dismiss them.
Why isn't Chief Justice Roberts holding all the Senators of both parties accountable?
12
@JulieABQ I did not see mentioned what the ground rules were that Roberts would enforce. In a jury trial, you typically sit for no more than 2 hours at a time before a short official break where you leave the courtroom. During yr 2 hours, you are allowed to drink or stand to stretch, but no wandering. So it depends on what was agreed to by the prosecution and the defense teams.
1
So many folks here keep comparing this trial to a regular criminal,or civil trial, and the senators to jurors. An impeachment trial operates under the rules set by the Senate with disputes settled by majority rule, and the Senators are not jurors—as was made clear in the Clinton impeachment trial and recently reiterated by retired Democrat Senator Tom Harkin. Apples and oranges.
2
Individuals elected by the American people in good faith to serve the country and the electorate they represent find themselves “restless” and bored with the job entrusted to them. Sure they are. An impeachment hearing means they now have to get down to work that’s not business as usual. Accommodate themselves to an urgent agenda other than what has been their customary concern over too many long years. Operating as a legislative body in service to the corporate/finance power sectors. America democracy is in crisis. The message to Congress is to concentrate with focus directed on the responsibility given to them as elected officials. Now it’s nothing less than saving the country. The future of America depends on it.
12
It isn't just about boredom although that's understandable given the repetitiveness. The more the Democrats make their case based on facts and evidence, the more it highlights that the Republicans will base theirs on everything but facts and evidence.
9
Now we understand why they don't allow cameras. At least no one has brought their horse to work, yet.
4
So glad you opened this to comments finally.
I have sat on juries, and have sat for hours, sometimes days, in jury pool. I've also sat on patrol as a medical responder for hours. I got paid for none of the above. I paid attention all of the time, when I took a break, then I did something else.
These people are The People's employees, and this work they are currently doing is The People's work. They are all handsomely paid and benefitted, and have some of the nicest work chairs available to sit in.
They have a job to do, they are supposed to be paying attention to do it. They should honor their oaths, their positions, and the people who sent them there. It isn't too much to ask.
I understand if someone is not feeling well. I don't understand the cowardice of a sitting senator and reserve JAG officer being scared to be in the room when someone is going to show footage that speaks to his current perfidy.
22
Restless Senators, and these people are supposed to be the more deliberate body of Congress. If the behavior display of Senators like Graham and Blackburn are indicative of what the nation can expect from the U.S. Senate in the future, it might be time to revisit the organizational structure of the federal government. If Senators are going to behavior in the same undisciplined manner as displayed by many in the House of Representatives,perhaps they need to run for election every two years. Six years is much to long to be stuck with many of these people.
11
I don't begrudge any senator the ability to stretch her legs, but I have little sympathy for the complainers. They should quit whining and do their jobs. This is a solemn and serious responsibility.
I have consumed as much of the proceedings as they have -- more if you consider those who have skipped out. If I can do it they can too.
And I have found what repetition that has occurred to be useful. Nobody, not even the magnificent Ted Cruz, can absorb this all in one pass. Unlike the president's defense, this is a fact-dense prosecution. Reminder and reinforcement is helpful.
I say this as someone who followed the entire public hearings in the House. So, unlike a lot of senators, I'd already seen the material. Still, seeing it now as part of several detailed coherent arguments has been a good thing.
Surely, too, some of the repetition is for the benefit of the viewing public. Viewers come and go over time. Repetition means more of them will be exposed to information they need to know.
Speaking of viewers, I checked the last two nights to discover that whereas all responsible cable news outlets were airing the trial live, Fox was not. When I clicked over to Fox, Sean Hannity was ranting about "Quid pro quo Joe." Very sad.
Citizens ought to be engaged with a matter of such immense and historical importance, and they ought to hold their senators accountable for taking it seriously. Those who don't shouldn't be re-elected.
45
I suspect that they figit because they have already decided on how they will vote, and just want to get on with it. A jury selection process would eliminate everyone, as nobody is listening with an open mind. But then, this isn't really a trial, though it should be.
21
@The North They should put away the fidget spinners and protect America from the spread of the coronavirus outbreak instead of wasting time talking to FOX News about lies. Oh, that's right, they don't care about National Security or the American people.
Bernie Sanders napping and startlingly awakening is now seared into my memory.
3
Sadly this trial, and I use the word trial loosely, is a giant waste of time. Both parties have already made up their minds. You have a jury of totally bias, totally partial jurors who really couldn't care less about what is being said on the Senate floor. Add to that the absence of any new evidence or witness testimony (thanks McConnell) there's little wonder no one is interested.
This whole thing is laughable when it should be the most serious and important political event in decades.
6
@Scott McElroy
The performance is for the history books.
3
Taxpayers are paying these senators to stay seated and focused. I’d like an hourly accounting of who’s doing their job and who’s taking naps. Too bad we can’t install nannycams.
20
@Jolton - Nannycams? How about chairs wired up so they get a good zap if they nod off?
10
Perhaps the restlessness is really anxiety.
7
@Robert Kafes
"Perhaps the restlessness is really anxiety."
Anxiety? More likely laziness along with disdain and contempt for the people who put them in office and pay for their salaries and excellent benefits. (Looking at you Leningrad Lindsey.)
I earn a third of what US Senators earn, after working more than 40 years. Sometimes I work night and weekends. I can remember taking sick kids to work with me until my spouse could get off work to pick them up. I've worked while keeping vigil at the sickbeds of relatives. I've worked while (ostensibly) on vacation.
And these highly paid, overprivileged Republicans don't have the attention span, intelligence, and maturity to do their jobs for this nation?
Despicable.
45
@PAB I might add that distributing fidget spinners (by the Republican Senator Burr) shows a complete lack of respect and a contempt for these proceedings.
Shame on them.
1
The senators' employers—the American people—are watching and the senators couldn't care less. (They're mostly focused on doing what they can for Trump, who they believe is their boss.) I think we all know what would happen if WE weren't doing what we were supposed to be doing while on our employers' dime. We'd get reprimanded and eventually lose our jobs.
Time for term limits in the Senate and for getting those whose terms are ending off the government dole.
17
Every elected official at every public meeting at every level of government should have to forgo electronic devices of all kinds and pass through a metal detector prior to taking their seat. If you have something to say or to hear or to read during a public proceeding and you are a public, elected official, do it in public. For what should be obvious reasons, there's no excuse for allowing digital devices in the hands of public officials during public meetings, either in the halls of congress or at the local sewer board.
12
I have learned a lot watching big chunks of this trial.
I also think many many of these mostly men in our Senate should be replaced- if you cannot show up for this, then you need to go home- for good.
I get the impression the Fox News Senators have NOT heard this information. Lindsay Graham reminded of his Kavanaugh with his press performance- only people are onto him now.
All of the House Managers, and especially Colorado's Jason Crowe and NY's Hakeem Jeffries continue to impress.
19
This is unacceptable.
These 100 individuals hold positions of the gravest possible consequence.
If they cannot focus on the current important matters, perhaps they should find another line of work.
20
More false equivalence. This is entirely a Republican action. It is hard to listen to the truth and doubly hard to defend a corrupt president once you know the full truth. That's also why almost none of them read the Mueller report, and boasted of not having done so. And even more distasteful to them is to show a modicum of respect for the other side and for the institution they serve or the American people. Especially when Sen. Blackburn goes out to preach on Fox News and tweets statements disparaging Col. Vindman's loyalty to this country.
I teach undergraduate students, many still in their teens, and I would never tolerate such classroom behavior from them--but I also almost never see it.
I am amazed that Justice Roberts admonished the Democrats (I now read it was in response to a request from Collins and other so-called "moderate Republicans") yet will not admonish senators to respect the rules of decorum, which he could do without sounding partisan. In light of his expressed concern for the institutions of government, it does not speak well of him.
20
It's hard to remain seated when you have already made up your mind to acquit the POTUS and all the information coming from the House Managers obliterates your uninformed position. Consequently you want to get away from the tide of presentations pointing out not only the POTUS's guilt, but the prospect you will be voting against everything you have ever believed as a younger person. Hence the body that knows better is rebelling against the mind, which rational-lies the acquittal.
Citizens every day are sitting on juries across the nation. They aren't allowed to walk out of the courtroom when they feel like it. The inability of Senators to remain seated is sophomoric and must stop. Take breaks more frequently if needed. There is NO excuse for a Senator not to be present for the entire trial. This is a TRIAL! Justice Roberts, control your courtroom.
17
These are Senators, our elected representatives to Congress. They can’t be bothered to sit and listen to evidence in this most serious moment? And where is Justice Roberts? Fidget spinners? The Republican Senators are almost as embarrassing to our nation and world as Donald J. Trump.
21
It's hard to remain seated when you have already made up your mind to acquit the POTUS and all the information coming from the House Managers obliterates your uninformed position. Consequently you want to get away from the tide of presentations pointing out not only the POTUS's guilt, but the prospect you will be voting against everything you have ever believed as a younger person. Hence the body that knows better is rebelling against the mind, which rational-lies the acquittal.
Citizens every day are sitting on juries across the nation. They aren't allowed to walk out of the courtroom when they feel like it. The inability of Senators to remain seated is sophomoric and must stop. Take breaks more frequently if needed. There is NO excuse for a Senator not to be present for the entire trial. This is a TRIAL! Justice Roberts, control your courtroom.
2
"Occasionally, the atmosphere has resembled that of an elementary school classroom, in ways large and small."
If only members of Congress showed the basic decency of children.
10
More proof that they all committed a crime when they took the oath they have no intention of abiding by.
14
In an unexpected act of conciliation, the Republicans can hand over their fidget spinners to the Democrats when the Republicans begin their presentation.
6
To get the Senators to focus perhaps one of the impeachment managers could read a passage from Green Eggs and Ham.
6
@RNS Good one! Needed a good laugh about now! Such a shameful display of our elected senators! Remember the ballot box! POTUS has already made us the laughing stock of the world....must our senators reinforce it????
How sad! The poor senators forced to sit quietly at their desks and do their job like us common working folks.
17
The Senators are restless because they have basically tried the case already in their heads and won't ever allow witnesses or documents to change their positions. The next phase of the case will be testimony from lawyers who will defend Trump by telling us that we should not believe Trump's own words as he brought in outside countries to help him win elections. Senators will believe what they want to believe as do most people.
Perhaps I would believe Trump if he had released his tax returns and was not stone walling Congress. Trump demands that others be investigated, but hides his own personal culpability Focusing on others actions while hiding ones own is the action of a dictator.
21
@just Robert
They've "tried" nothing. They've adopted a conclusion they were told to adopt. If McConnell/trump were to change his mind tomorrow they would all adopt that position as if it were the only one they ever held too.
"We are at war with east Asia and we have always been at war with east Asia...."
3
It doesn't matter at all which party the recalcitrants belong to. The rules are clear, breaking them is not an option. The disrespect demonstrated by Feinstein is egregious. Blackburn's taking leave to tweet ad hominem attacks against Vindman are beyond the pale. The punishment cited before each session for breaking the rules in imprisonment. The wholesale disrespect for the process of impeachment speaks volumes for the cavalier attitudes toward their second most important responsibility as senators, the first being declaration of war. Lock them up.
17
@Rick Spanier
I understand that Feinstein was ill and that's why she left early.
1
@lynchburglady I read she "was feeling under the weather" not seriously ill or incapacitated. Sans a doctor's note, she broke the rules and is subject to discipline including imprisonment. If rules are rules.
They have my sympathy. Watching these ridiculously repetitive proceedings is like spending one’s sick day on the couch, watching CNN, where their breathlessly repeat the same, non-breaking speculation (very seldom real news) every 30 minutes. It makes you want to scream at your tv. The poor senators have to remain silent. Pity.
4
@ChiGuy Poor? they wanted this job. If you think sitting and listening is not part of the job, then maybe look into why it is important. Listening to repetitive ramblings is and should be part of their duty. THEY ARE SENATORS. It's in the name.
8
@ChiGuy Absolutely ! It is like a kind of enhanced exotic torture for prisoners of war !
@dude
My tongue was firmly in cheek.
Is it any surprise that a good number of 'seniors' would be caught nodding off after what is probably their bedtime hour?
Why does anyone think McConnell decided to hold the trial with such unusual timing, if not for the audience to lose interest. Especially when the final outcome has already been decided.
Let's allow those witnesses the Dems have repeatedly asked for to testify under oath - the fireworks will keep the good Senators awake.
19
"Occasionally, the atmosphere has resembled that of an elementary school classroom, in ways large and small."
GOP Senators are so bold and edgy...
5
Just goes to show you that the real power in America lies with Apple, Samsung, AT&T and Verizon.
7
There really needs to be TV coverage that pans the Senate chamber.
Also, senators who absent themselves for more than a reasonable amount of time to use the restroom should not be allowed to vote. After all, we are paying them to do their job.
33
@Bobcb Mr. McConnel took care of any such pesky notion that a video camera should pan the chamber. If the impeachment rules state they should be in the chamber under pain of imprisonment, it's time to enforce the rules.
5
The Republican Senators should be disqualified. Such a lame-brained bunch. It seems that there is a massive corruption machine behind the Republican Party. This does not bode well
for our once good nation.
16
This is an important part of your job, so do it right, and stop the whining!
18
@Patrick alexander God knows that they're paid enough.
6
"My suspicion is some of these Republicans have not seen these clips before.” — Sen. Murphy
...
Hm.
9
The myth of the United States Senate as world's greatest deliberative body died a natural death when Lyndon Baines Johnson left the Senate and ascended to the Vice President's office and then to the White House.
While John Sidney McCain, III and Edward Moore Kennedy had similar aspirations they never managed to work as effectively and powerfully as Johnson.
The next Senator to leave for the White House Barack Hussein Obama was the antithesis of Johnson in the Senate and the White House.
When a half million people in Wyoming have as many Senators as 39.5 million Californians in a digital age while the Senate has ceded most of it's powers and privileges to the Article II executive office of the President of the United States then the Senate resembles an American House of.Lords.
9
@Blackmamba --Spot on as usual. Well said Blackmamba!
It must be nice to have a job where you get to keep your salary and perks despite sleeping at work.
34
@MH
Don't forget to include all those GOP politicians not having a clue what their jobs and responsibilities are supposed to consist of, or the full meaning of the oath that each and every one of them took upon being elected. And protecting Trump's back and kissing his ring daily ain't it.
8
Justice Robert’s called the Senate the “world’s greatest deliberative body”. Hardly! No sympathies for these pathetic blowhards just because they have to sit through a constitutionally required trial for which the Senate leader and his craven cronies have already declared their totally partisan verdict. Where the trial could have been a shining example of the constitutional fairness of American democracy, instead it will be seen by the whole world as farcical theater thanks to the antics of the Republicans.
22
@Sri Agreed. The House may be the US’s greatest deliberative body, but the Senate doesn’t actually seem to deliberate or pass new laws. Mitch won’t even let them make it to the floor. The world’s greatest deliberative body is probably in New Zealand where they passed sweeping gun control laws just weeks after a religious massacre. Meanwhile, our guys are staring at fidget spinners.
1
Somewhere today, an average American is taking time off work, possibly even being sequestered from their family, to serve on a jury. That they should be expected to meet their civic duty but US Senators should not is absolutely appalling.
We pay each of these "leaders" at least $174,000 a year, plus full health care and generous retirement benefits, and somehow they can't find a way to just sit down and do their jobs?? Pathetic.
35
The most important issue facing the country, and they can’t summon the fortitude to pay attention? This, folks, is American exceptionalism in the year 2020. It’s downright pathetic.
24
The most important issue facing the country, and they can’t summon the fortitude to pay attention? This, folks, is American exceptionalism in the year 2020. It’s downright pathetic.
7
Further proof of the disdain certain men of white privilege have for those they view as lessers. How rich given that Trump is the poster boy for white privilege run amuck. Allowed to continue, it will be the human species' undoing.
15
A very sad commentary on the probity of the senate, and the maturity of many who sit on the gop side of the aisle. Their lack of self-discipline, cavalier attitude toward the impeachment trial, and unwillingness to do their duty is on full display of the American public. Voters, take notice.
19
Thousands of people across our nation are serving on juries and required to spend a lot of time paying attention. That these senators feel bored or put out is outrageous. Shame on them.
14
I don’t expect the senators would get much sympathy from jurors in a regular court room, but then the blame for this circus can be laid squarely at the feet of McConnell who knew exactly what was going to happen when he called for marathon sessions. One can only hope that Republicans with a conscience will pay attention to the evidence and demand testimony from the likes of Bolton and if they don’t get it, charge McConnell with obstruction of justice and/or bringing the senate into disrepute. The man should live forever in infamy for the way he has conducted himself and be a textbook example of why people lose faith in politicians.
21
Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, was also seen reading a book she was holding on her lap while the trial was in progres, and highlighting passages of it. When called on it by the media, she claimed that she can multitask.
I thought the rules were that you can not bring material other than those related to the trial. She should be reprimanded by Roberts.
27
@Mike C @SenMarshaBlackburn had the gall to insult Adam Schiff & Col. Vindeman for telling the truth about Trump's quid pro quo that will help Russia & Putin, his BFF. She ignores willingly the close ties trump has with Putin, his meetings where no translation of the transcript was allowed and where the GOP Senate blocked the House supbpoenas to obtain the transcripts. Blackburn & the entire GOP protect trump while he destroys our Democracy, our lives with the 130 Protections he discarded that protect our air, food, water, job safety, health care, 1st Amendment rights, voting rights;trump is making it harder for the disabled to get disability, a program initiated with Sessions, and now he is going after birth right citizens; who will be next? Unless you are white & in the 1% like him, you need to be worried. Trump must be removed or the end of Democracy is on the horizon. Stop supporting a liar or you will wake up one day under the "United Corporate States of America" with an incompetent dictator who rules himself ruler for life as Xi did and as Putin just arranged but using different terms. There is no excuse for willful stupidity.
9
@Mike C All available fMRI evidence makes it clear that there is no such thing as multitasking (not that evidence seems to matter much to Senator Blackburn or her GOP colleagues). What she-- and sophomores in my hs classroom-- call multitasking is really just rapid switching between tasks, with inattention and inefficiency leading to poorer performance all around. The difference beween my adolescent students and the sophomoric senator, I'd bet, is that when my students looked at the data, reviewed the analysis, and reflected on their experience, they changed their behavior to reflect what they'd learned.
2
This impeachment trial will acquit. They all know this and so this is a colossal waste of time and therefore a bore.
The Senate has better things to do with its time.
2
@RP
No, it does not.
6
@RP - “Better things to do with their time”? I’m sorry, but that is simply an arrogant thing to say about an event that is as somber, sober and of such historical importance to the very future of your country. The obvious implication is that no matter what facts are laid before the Senate of the United States, Republicans won’t even bother to pay them any attention, that this impeachment trial has a foregone conclusion - not guilty regardless of anything Trump has done or said.
This is what Trump meant when he said, famously, that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and he wouldn’t lose any supporters. Actually, I’m done being astonished at how Trump supporters really do not care how wrong and outrageous and even criminal Trump is. I’m sure he could shoot a supporter’s mother and that supporter would still vote for him. Trump has truly cast an evil spell over 40 percent of America and they will zombie walk to their doom, taking the rest of America - and maybe even the rest of the planet with them.
5
@Laceyl
So, they will do little when this ends?
1
Any senator not paying attention except for brief bathroom breaks can not claim a fair trial, and this should be used in ads against them in the Fall. Talking to reporters and doing crosswords while the trial is in session is NOT contributing to a fair trial. Would a jury in a regular court be permitted to do this?? It’s shameful.
9
Are you talking about four year olds in daycare or elected ADULT officials in the Senate? Any senator unable to sit still and pay attention to an impeachment trial should be drummed from office.
11
That's the disincentive.
Witnesses, if contested, would extend all this till April...
Fidget spinners? You got to be kidding me! What is this middle school? We don’t even allow those in the classroom!
12
This article fails to mention that Graham and several other GOP senators have left the chamber when they're not supposed to, and others are reading books and otherwise defying the protocols set by the Senate.
They should all be censured, not just for that, but for violating their oath to be impartial jurors.
They're all just shills for the most criminal president we've ever seen.
11
I'm sure the Republicans are having a hard time sitting when you consider where their heads are.
25
@MartyXray Rolling on the floor belly-laughing out loud and giggling hysterically - thank you for your comment, made my day!
3
This GOP lack of respect for the serious responsibilities they are given is shameful. As many have remarked, none of us taxpayers and voters would be allowed to behave like this on jury duty.
10
Maybe the Democrats should have presented their case in Tweets. That's about all these Senators' brains can handle.
3
For 2020: 1 Presidency + net 3 Senate seats
Anything and everything to distract.
Unruly children.
Some kind of lawmakers.
2
are you law makers are also law breakers of their own laws? what a farce? Mr. Graham should have been in his seat to watch himself in the video display. Or, he should have given a copy to take it home and show to his constituent including his wife and family just to prove ridiculous he sounds and is seen
3
If Susan Collins can get Justice Roberts to admonish “both sides” for their “incivility,” then surely Roberts can admonish those Senators who read books, nap, or leave the proceedings.
Imagine being a juror on even the most petty civil case, and pulling out a court during the proceedings, or getting up and leaving whenever you felt like it. The judge would throw you in jail.
8
Republican Senators are Overpaid Babies. They won't vote for more information which would eliminate repetition and illuminate the truth. They'd rather whine while collecting huge amounts of money. I'm sorry Poor Republicans, were you required to sit and actually listen like the Students you should want to be of the truth and protection of the Country you took an Oath for?
Unbelievable
7
Sitting at home watching in its entirety I didn’t find it boring at all. True I’m not require to sit through it and I can take breaks at my leisure, but I’ve learned a lot and the Democrats have made a good case. Their complete timeline of events and the Presidents own words and those of his own appointees are quite damming to his case. Witnesses and document would make things more interesting and compelling and of course should be allowed. But in the end we all know it won’t make any difference. The President has already admitted to these crimes but in the same breath claims he’s perfect. How he maintains the support from the so called Senate jurors is the only real mystery. Well, that and how the White House will keep it interesting for hours claiming yeah he’s sort of guilty but he’s President and we don’t really care what he did or does.
41
The US Constitution does not explicitly bar fidget spinners during impeachment trials. That is why we have Chief Justice Roberts presiding. To decide fundamental questions like the one about fidget spinners.
Representing the US Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts decided that fidget spinners are all right, phones are not.
Although, with today's technology, the fidget spinners may transmit, like a bugged phone, to Beijing, where they are made. Getting energy from the mindless spin.
1
It appears that they can't even abide by their own rules and that hits at the core of the problem in modern American politics and culture. This behavior belies a sense of entitlement.
Despite protests by Republicans about the unfair rules of the House impeachment proceedings --rules that are supposed to ensure a civil, fair, and impartial hearing of both sides of the argument-- it appears many senators believe those rules are for someone else.
What would a Judge say to a jury that behaved in such a manner in any other courtroom in America? Perhaps there is an important role for Chief Justice Roberts to perform in this hearing after all.
2
@David M. Mccartney
In a real trial, a lawyer would object “asked and answered, move to strike” and the judge would sustain the objection because they keep making the same twenty or so points, over and over.
@ChiGuy Agreed. But, they made these rules for themselves and they apply equally to both sides. It doesn't lend integrity to the process when the people who make the rules under the auspices of providing a fair and impartial process don't abide by them.
To Republican Senators: This would have been over long ago if you hadn't enabled Trump to block the release of documents and witnesses that obviously would make very clear how much and how directly Trump orchestrated the undermining of the presidential election.
When citizens are called to jury duty, we have to sit silently and listen carefully to the evidence for long periods. One would think that Senators would set a good example for citizens, not the other way around.
4
It is hard to believe that we are governed by people who are unable or unwilling to sit in their seats and focus on the evidence in a trial of the president of the united states. Fidget spinners? Gum chewing? Surely these would be banned in a first grade classroom.
9
There is a simple explanation for why the senators are unable to stay in their seats and obey the rules: They have already made up their minds about how they are going to vote, and they are only there because they were told they had to be.
6
I heard that some senators like Graham have gotten up, walked around, & left the chambers. I hope it during a break or he should be found in contempt of the orders by the Chief Justice. It is quite obvious that the republican senators are doing all they can to ignore the proceedings. They have already made up their minds so why listen to the truth. They don't care that they took an oath. They have spent so many years ignoring what the words mean, they can say them without flinching or without conscience.
3
I wonder when it is the defenses turn to present will the scene be the same? and if so will all of the people on here now complaining about the poor behavior, ( and don't get me wrong I agree, they are paid a lot of money to be lifelong politicians), will call out the other side in this whole process.
This procedure is anything but boring. If you have already made up your mind it's boring. If evidence can not sway you, it's boring. If you're already "in the tank", it's boring. But, if you are open to viewing these procedures as an historical precedent or a legal matter with severe consequences or a righting of America's political system through constitutional methods, it is riveting. I was on a jury once and if we so much as smiled too broadly the judge admonished us to take the matters before us seriously. Little did I know that courtrooms, juries and justice, like taxes, are only for the "little people".
11
@Rick Gage Ditto: Shiff’s presentation, in particular” has been absolutely riveting! As a retired teacher, however, I know all too well that juvenile attention spans can take only so much concentration, unless of course the subject is on the cellphone. Now that our government’s been taken over by the Trump International Hotel Frat Boys, we can rest assured that the most important decisions on national security are made over drinks and calls to Vlad, Barr, Firtash, Deripaska etc. at Trump International Hotel. Where Kevin McCarthy leads the pack. I pray that the 2020 elections ban the frat boys for life. Otherwise, we’re doomed.
9
The Senators are the creators of their own discomfort. Ask any educator, the last 4 or 5 hours of an 8 hour lecture are wasted. They should have voted to have four-hour days for six days for both the prosecution and defense.
4
@Alan White - Trump wants it all done and dusted before his State of theUnion address week after next. This is all a ridiculous waste of time for the good GOP senators. Impartial jurors according to their oath. Some jurors. Some oath.
2
The Impeachment trial of a President is a solemn act. The Senators should be listening to the presentations and making up their own mind. Unfortunately, most of these Senators are going to acquit regardless of the overwhelming evidence of corruption and obstruction of justice. It is appalling. Any Senator who leaves for more than a few minutes for a bathroom break should be barred from voting.
9
It's a farce, both sides of the isle know it and they have a hard time focusing. They have managed to distract the attention of the public from the dire situation of healthcare, education, infrastructure and focus it on their kabuki show. The taxpayer is paying for the show while the affairs of the country remain unattended.
2
Oh give it a rest. If the first two years of Trumps term, with the House and Senate under Republican control, didn’t bring up anything other than walls and travel bans, what makes you think it would be anything different now? Trump never had any actual plan for infrastructure or healthcare, only to destroy what had been built before him.
9
And so we clearly see (or should I say, not see) why Mitch McConnell refused CSPAN's request to have their own cameras in there, cameras that could pan and swivel--and show everyone in America how our so-called representatives are dozing, doodling and passing notes like stroppy high schoolers during this incredibly consequential inquiry.
9
I am extremely proud of the House Managers and their masterful presentation and their professional, controlled tone. There is a mountain of evidence against Trump as well as the juvenile conduct of certain GOP senators. But the Managers have remained focused on the evidence, and not gotten personal or attacked the inattentiveness. And as far as the repetitiveness goes, I can’t hear “Trump’s corruption...” too many times. And the entire world is hearing it too.
7
Boring and relentless, and that is just the interesting 24 hours. to be followed by 24 hours of factless banter, unverified by witnesses or contrary evidence. Then what? A straight party-line vote or dismissal would put every Republican senator running in November on trial for dereliction of duty during their campaigns.
A strong voter reaction could damage the Republican party far more than the Nixon resignation did. Ford was only beaten by 2% and got 240 electoral votes in 1976. Many Republicans survived because, in the end, they stopped supporting Nixon, even Goldwater!
Likewise, this time the GOP could rid itself of Trump and his baggage at one swoop if only 4 of 53 senators break with Mitch and take that risk. Would it end their careers? Hardly. Look at what happened to the senators and congressmen who broke with Nixon.
Trump is not a Republican and never has been. He is a Trump, loyal only to himself (and perhaps Putin...). The GOP would be far better off without him, as would any GOP senator from a purple state.
7
Poor Senators. They can't be bothered to pay attention to proceedings of national historical significance, while the rest of us would be riveted if we could afford to take time off from our jobs. If they hadn't already made their minds up, they'd have some incentive to pay attention.
2
Third paragraph from the end of your article says, "Some have also used the breaks to confer with the legal teams on both sides. Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, could be seen conversing on Thursday afternoon with Pat A. Cipollone, the White House counsel."
How is that okay? I was under the impression that in a regular trial setting, the jury (in this case the Senators) or an individual member of the jury (in this case, Roy Blunt) are prohibited from speaking to the prosecution or defense teams. Otherwise, isn't that a kind of jury tampering?
And, why are the Senators not completely off-limits to the press and cameras, even when they go out into the hallway outside the Senate chamber, for food breaks. The 'jury' shouldn't be talking to the press during an ongoing trial. We have such strict rules in all other court settings, but apparently not in an impeachment trial. This is "crazy" (to quote from Ambassador Taylor).
4
CBS reported a poll that almost 70% of those polled wants to hear from witnesses. If McConnell and his cronies block witnesses they may rue the day that they did. Here's hoping that Republicans who are up for reelection this year get thrown out of office.
8
I'm sure the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was tedious at times, especially during the hot summer months in Philadelphia. But they did their job, and did it well. The current crybaby senators should be reminded of their duty and responsibilities.
4
Much of the blame goes to Mitch McConnell.
McConnell insisted on having a speedy two-day marathon Senate trial, then acquiesced to 3-day-12-hour sessions with potty breaks and a 30 minute dinner break. The whole scenario is unrealistic. Yet, it exposes the fallacy of the Senate being the more "sober & deliberative" body in Congress.
Short attention spans, sneaking in Apple Watches like a bunch of Junior High students...and hiding in the Senate Cloakroom to send tweets and run out to do Fox News interviews...This- is what many American voters are sending to Congress; and we all pay the price.
8
Why is there no limit on the years served in the senate?most of them should have been removed and new ideas allowed in.
2
It is rich that Republican senators complain about repetition, given Trump's branding exercises on multiple media outlets and past performances of house Republicans . Not that this is anything new--political branding goes back to at least the early 17th century Vatican.
Whatever might be said, the Democrats will hopefully be successful at their own branding. They are playing as much or more to cable news outlets, as opposed to Republican senate colleagues. And they should, given McConnell's hold on so much of the senate activities.
17
For every minute a senator is not engrossed in listening, we should dock their salaries. Shameful. The fate of our nation, indeed our planet, lies in the hands of these people who have blinders on and refuse to face facts. I hope details of attendance and attentiveness is reported back to their constituents and each one vote they may cast should be reduced by fractions based on undivided attention.
90
Undisciplined rule-breakers and cheaters. It's how they run their lives; it's how they "do their jobs." Throw the bums out. Make them get real jobs, where their employer is actually watching them, and holding them to account.
115
@ChesBay, you're kidding, right? Within 24 hours of ending a job as a U.S. senator, each and every one would have a job at a prestigious think tank or elite school, perhaps the Hoover Institution, perhaps the Council on Foreign Relations, and be paid "contributors" on four or five TV channels.
They'd only end up doing real work again if they were to be recalled, properly disgraced, and possibly jailed. Even then, their memoir would be on the NYTimes bestseller's list.
Maybe instead of whining about having to be in attendance they should have a look at all those miltary guards standing at attention for hours every single day all throughout Washington.
135
What a bunch of entitled complainers. Thousands of Americans do precisely this each day serving in jury duty, yet some of these elected officials -- elected precisely to serve their constituents and pay attention in one of the rarest Senate proceedings to take place -- cannot muster the self-discipline and stamina to actually sit still, pay attention, and reach an impartial determination. My 10 and 12 year old sons have better discipline, self-control, and manners than these clowns.
170
@William I have served on a jury and we were allowed to have our cellphones and we had free Hulu during testimony. It was fun. I just wish that Hulu had Seinfeld at the time. That's my only regret!
I see no reason why the Senators can't have Hulu or some similar service during the proceedings.
1
SENATORS: DO YOUR JOBS! Wake up or get a new job. You are now jurors in a sordid bribery case involving the most openly corrupt POTUS ever.
The American people are watching. The world and our allies are watching. History is watching. This is not a game.
187
@Brett B Too bad the American people cannot watch. The cameras should pan the Senate Chamber in a split-screen while presenters are at the podium.
20
@Bobcb Republican's wouldn't want Americans to see them leaving their chairs, using fidget spinners, playing crosswords, sending notes between them and laughing. Even Americans in court are required to sit quietly and abide by the rules the Judges put forth, but of course, Justice Roberts isn't conducting a "real" trial.
2
Pathetic. Remember when you thought Senators were professional serious people who knew what their job was knew how to do their job and actually did serious work for the American public? It was fun to be a kid.
54
Bored? We keep hearing the same thing?
You republicans are the ones who blocked evidence and witnesses. They only have what you allowed them because you already made up your kind to protect the illegal law breaking acts of this president.
94
@Mathias Corruption in view, the Republican Party,
for all to see.
2
What I am hearing or witnessing from the sketches is that rules are only for the little people.
My behavior as a juror would never permit me to act in the same manner (i.e. walking away, reading a book, or staying when I only felt like it, spinning spinners) without severe legal repercussions.
If I ignored a subpoena, I would be imprisoned.
So Senators, stop acting like children and focus on the impeachment of this president.
141
“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone," Pascal observed. The senators technically aren't "alone," except in the sense that those who choose to ignore the overwhelming evidence of Trump's misdeeds will have to live with themselves when they truly are alone.
32
It's not restlessness. It's a short attention span. Most senators, unless they're listening to their own voices, have the attention span of two-year-olds.
52
@Christy But GOP senators are really quite attentive and do sit-up, stay, roll-over and beg when the oil & gas lobbyists visit.
10
@Christy
Well when you responsible for making decisions that affect the country, if you are nothing but a rude, malicious, cheat then you shouldn't have the life ong job of doing nothing.
Marsha in her eagerness to show a white con man DJT what a loyal soldier she is, lied about a war hero, and feels that she has some entitlement to do it. She degraded herself and the people of her state that they wud send a person like her to represent them. All the soldiers who have died to protect her freedom from her state, Such a traitor to democracy, she should be stripped of her seat. Graham walking around and Ron Paul drawing pictures.
Well people dont forget and I hope the people they represent and all across the country realize that these people are not worth the time of day. They have sold America to the draft dodger. Where was Justice Roberts, why didn't he say something, he is a poor representative of the Supreme court and nothing but a sham justice doing the bidding of the crooked Trump administration.
American People who care keep writing those letters to these do nothing GOP we are fighting for freedom ,democracy and he GOP have shown they are paid off.
3
Wait a minute, burr of NC passed out fidget toys only to republicans? Who pays for those? Are my NC tax dollars paying for those? And who’s going to give the first sound bite when some senator admits they didn’t hear something because they were playing with their GOP provided fidget spinner? Why isn’t Supreme Court Justice Roberts cracking down on these violations of this Impeachment Trial.
I fully expect total commitment from all senators to follow the rules of this Impeachment Trial of donald j trump, (even the 53 who think this is a big joke); if they are that bored with their sworn oath of office, retire.
No socks burr and timid tillis need to go.
96
@KLKemp : This North Carolinian agrees with you! Any others out there? Our "senators" think their jobs are secure; perhaps NC will surprise them.
7
@May Archer I sure hope so. If these senators are going to act like this Impeachment Trial is a big joke, let’s all make the joke on them come November.
5
@KLKemp, Justice Roberts isn't cracking down because he's passing notes with Republican senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mike Lee. When he isn't asking the woman who sits in front and below him, "Did I do that right?"
As Dana Milbank so brilliantly wrote over at the Washington Post yesterday, John Roberts is sitting through a catastrophe of his own making. He's the author of, among other opinions, Citizens United.
I am an attorney. It would be an absolute ethical violation for me to converse with members of a jury about the trial during breaks. Every day there are jury trials in this country where jurors are expected uphold their oaths and decide cases based upon the facts and law without bias or favoritism. Too bad our Senators cannot behave as well as ordinary citizens do every day when called to serve as jurors.
158
@George Santini
This isn't a trial, and it never was. It's a clown show, a circus, bad political theater, a national disgrace, take your pick, with both sides to blame. What a complete waste of time and brain cells.
I'd be a lot more interested if they would have charged him with a flat-out felony, say, violating federal campaign law by paying hush money to Stormy Daniels. That's a crime that's described in minute detail in statute, so you could actually have some semblance of a real trial. That it wasn't charged simply makes more a mockery of this than it already is.
1
@George Santini : Without witnesses there is no "trial." People can call it what they want, but it is not a trial. Having the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court preside over this "hearing" - for lack of a better word - is also absurd -as there is no intervention on his part - so it is a total waste of time all the way around.
3
You don't think they're playing up their own restlessness to show their disregard for the process and constitutional government in general?
71
@APS Their restlessness is due to not wanting to hear the truth. Plausible deniability is their defense when they face their constituents. They can say they never heard that said in the trial.
4
@APS
Of course they are, everything is a game to them, its all about the money.
The closing speech by Adam said it last night. right doesn't matter anymore in this town and the GOP are rich, handmaidens to the cult king and the Russians
8
Something in this article and the lead story this morning that shouldn’t have dumbfounded me, but did: Are Republican Senators really so puerile that they’re playing with fidget spinners during the impeachment trial?
The Constitution is being shown open contempt by our lawmakers. And Republicans are toying with children’s playthings. Perhaps to be expected from a party that peddles in childlike fantasies about climate and fallacies about gun control...
Nero played his fiddle while Rome burned; Republicans play their fidget spinners...
111
There is not a single juror in any other trial taking place in American courts who would be permitted to wander off, take unauthorized breaks, take phone calls, work crossword puzzles, etc., without admonishment or punishment. Why are U.S. senators incapable of behaving in the same manner as every U.S. citizen sitting in a jury box?
83
Fidget spinners? Teachers take those away from children in school so they pay attention.
Senators: This is one of the most important and historical events you will be a part of in your entire tenure as a Senator. Also, this is your job. Do it.
82
This piece seems to focus most on the inattention of the defense side of the trial. Senator Cotton derided the prosecution for being johnny one notes. But imagine how much print would not be needed, how many trees would be saved if Trump's repetitions were only printed once. The thinking by the Democrats is that their counterparts seem to learn only by rote. As scholars and quick studies they come up short. They ride on the little buses coming and going.It was very kind of Senator Burr to give his friends something to play with. They are mostly boys but this might keep them from spending too much time in the bathroom .
8
Thank you, NYT, for the comment section and the opportunity to vent: As anyone who has ever been paid to teach adolescents knows, an immature audience can be downright rude, and that’s certainly the case with some Senate members. What do they think they were elected to do? Is the answer in this century—media stand-ups, texting and passing notes? I’m disgusted by this “august” and “powerful” group of decision-makers; and embarrassed by such behavior. Yes, I’m partisan, but I feel the same about any so-called grown-up who can’t show their constituents they went to Washington to represent the folks back home with honor and dignity.
44
It is hard to sit and listen to people speak on and on and on just ask anyone what has ever testified before a senator. A small payback in action.
On the serious hand; this is serious stuff and the electorate is paying these people to show up and work. So show up, pay attention and do your job honestly
26
@blaine wheeler We are also paying for their toys to distract them so they don't hear the truth.
1
John Roberts should be enforcing the rules. He should ban senators from wandering away at will. And he should ban the fidget spinners and such that show a bald disrespect for the proceedings.
94
@Matthew Dowling I thought he told them the rules of the trial when they started. But again this is how they are supporting their president, by ignoring the rules & voting against everything that is good for the country.
6
@Matthew Dowling
John Roberts need not be called a title anymore because he sees what is going on and has decided that he is not going to do anything. Barr has told him that he better not say anything and he wont.
We have lost all respect for Roberts and when the great members of the Supreme Court die there is no reason to believe in anything that they say and it is all about titles and making money
Shame on John Roberts he has brought more shame on this country and now the Supreme court.
8
@Tony Showing how republican he is. Don't go against this wannabe dictator if you want to stay on the court.
No wonder the Senate gets nothing done except what's good for some of them! When what's best for the country is involved they sleep, write notes or leave the room. Can you imagine a judge letting a jury do this??? - especially when a life is involved?
This trial involves the welfare of millions of Americans but that's not relevant enough for some Senators. I simply don't understand why "playing by the rules" and exercising personal discipline is impossible for "mature" adults. Or perhaps "mature" is the issue.
30
I am a middle school teacher. Some of these Senators sound like 12-year-olds complaining about having to complete an assignment.
"I'm bored!" Seriously? You're an adult and my students know better than to cry that out in my class.
Know what would make your experience less boring, Senator? Voting to have new witnesses and documents!
67
Roberts is like a substitute teacher who can't control his class.
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@Dennis Mart
Have pity on substitutes; at least Roberts is theoretically dealing with adults.
Republican senators are there to do their job and should be role models. Could you imagine a trial in any courtroom in america where the jurors go to the cloak room to hang out, get up and walk around and read a book while case is on session? Each of those obstructive republican senators should be held in contempt.
20
It’s certainly good to see what a great role model trump has been for his sycophants. No “rules” for him, therefore, no “rules for them. I think us taxpayers should all decide to ignore the rule about paying income taxes this year. ‘Good for the goose - good for the gander”. Hail to the thief.
18
The performative disinterest by Republicans in the impeachment trial, and their foregrounding unified defense of Trump, is reminiscent of the indifference to evidence of the all-white juries of the South that would convict and exonerate according to racist code in defiance of truth.
20
Robert’s only real role is to enforce the rule, which he doesn’t, thereby putting his thumb on the impeachment scale in favor of Republicans. He also bears responsibility for the shitshow that passes as politics in this country, to wit Citizens United and restricting voting rights on his watch.
46
@Paul Nichols
Roberts, Barr, Pence, Perry, Moscow Mitch, Rudi and the captain Trump are on the same boat destroying democracy in America. The GOP and their supporters are on the smaller boat ensuring the collapse of freedom and justice.
The real people are just being used as stooges in the great American tragedy
2
The Senate during the last 3 years has not built our infrastructure, protected our elections from Russian GRU officers, and have failed to protect our children from being murdered by assault rifles and the N.R.A.
Why is there any shock that Moscow Mitch's senate, who came to power with the help of Russian GRU officers, fails to listen the a co-equal branch of Government, Congress's evidence for Impeachment of a president elected with the help of Russian GRU officers, in front of Senator McConnell who has accepted Russian laundered money through GRU agents and the NRA?
30
C/J Roberts should issue Contempt citations to Senators (R & D) who leave the Chamber & give interviews.
25
They are bored because everyone already knows the outcome: republicans will vote to acquit.
4
Nice to know that the United States Senators, who are paid quite handsomely for their services, act like a bunch of bored school children when forced to actually do one of the most serious functions of their job.
Yeah, we get it guys, your minds are made up. If you’re a Democrat you’re voting to convict. If you’re a Republican you’re voting to acquit No need to listen to the evidence.
Maybe they should have allowed cameras in the room. Imagine all those politicians forced to sit in silence while the all seeing eye catches every yawn none of them allowed to speak.
Oh the torture.
25
Why are the senators seated by party? How can we even expect them to work together or in this case consider the evidence impartially when they can't sit next to members of the opposing party?
9
I would prefer C-SPAN be in charge of the cameras rather than McConnell so "watching" is less interesting to me than listening. I agree with the Democratic managers' tactic of showing videos. Senators seem to absorb information from a video rather than a speech; they are trained to watch TV and get information in short bursts which rarely capture complex ideas. Repeating information over and over also seems to be a useful tactic for an audience of senators who rarely listen more than they speak.
The difficulty senators are having adapting to Impeachment rules which forces them to be passive listeners brings up a question about the empty chambers when their speeches are given on bills. If the speeches don't influence how senators vote and large street protests, e-mails, letters or phone calls have little effect, what do constituents do to get the attention of their senator? All of us can't be large donors and "pay for access".
It is especially frustrating to try to contact Republican representatives or senators since they vote as they are told on major items and most bills which capture media interests. It is rare to speak to a person when calling a Republican and the form letters written by some intern or PR firm are meaningless and non-responsive. At least my Democratic House Rep. (Charlie Crist) employs actual people to answer his telephone.
We voters need to worry when local, county, state and federal elected officials hear only Big Money and party leaders.
40
There are rules of attendance with the consequences described when not complied with. Why doesn't the most elevated body of elected representatives follow them? Why arent these rules enforced?
142
@Bob Shearer: Possibly for a comparable reason why Trump has a disregard for his duties and obligations of his job;they believe they're above it all, and so, rules don't apply to them.
29
@Ponsobny Britt
Couldn't agree more. Educated citizens can pull the lever at next national and change the landscape. I hope they do, just as the House did.