The United States Senate voted to acquit the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, of charges that amounted to corruption for political benefit. There was no evidence taken and no witnesses called. They merely relied upon what they were told happened in an earlier proceeding before the House of Representatives.  Hearsay.  Plain and simple. No Senator looked at hard evidence nor gauged the credibility of any testifying witness. They simply voted blindly. It is wrong when the word “trial” is used to describe what happened in the impeachment proceedings. There was no trial. And what I think is even more shameful is that Senators, before they heard anything, told this country how they were going to vote. What “juror” is ever permitted to state how they are going to vote before all the evidence is in? I can assure you, if that was the case in a traditional trial, the court would declare a mistrial and probably hold that juror in contempt of court.  Not so with our Senate, which is partisan. They couldn’t wait to cast their vote in favor of acquittal to prove their loyalty to the party. The party, not the people.

It would have been so much easier to hold an actual trial where evidence was presented and witnesses testified who were examined and cross-examined. In the end, Senators could say that their vote was based upon their perception of credibility of both the evidence and the witnesses. That would be their prerogative.

But instead, they skipped the trial much like the Queen of Hearts said in Alice in Wonderland “sentence (verdict) first, trial later.”  Only there never was a trial. I suppose this should not surprise me having been exposed to politics all my life. It’s just sad when it could have been done right but politics steered it wrong.