Members Of Jury

Have you ever served on a jury?  Many of us have not. You may think that the 100 Senators comprise the jury who will decide Trump’s fate.  That will not be a question of guilt or innocence, but rather if Trump’s abuse of power and obstruction of justice is egregious enough for at least 67 Senators to vote for removal from office.  I submit that the 100 Senators are merely the surrogate jury and the real jury is you, the voters – all the registered voters and the eligible voters who will register before the next election. Unless 67 Senators vote to remove Trump, he will remain in office.  Assuming all the Democrat Senators and Independents vote to remove, 20 Republican Senators or more must vote to remove or Trump will remain in office. Right now, the conventional wisdom is that less than 20 Republican Senators, if any at all, will vote to remove.

I submit that if polls that will be taken immediately after the House votes to impeach show in those states with Republican Senators strongly favor removal by a margin well above 51% , then the Republican Senators representing those states may be persuaded to vote to remove.  The public hearings are not aimed at those Senators, but rather they are aimed at the Real Jury – we, the American people.

The public hearings so far are painting a very clear picture that Trump abused his power, obstructed justice, and committed bribery.  The Republican defenders will argue that his transgressions do not warrant removal. But you are the Jury. You have to decide after all the evidence is heard if you believe those transgressions persuade you to vote to convict.  Most of us won’t actually be polled for our vote, but those of us who are will be sending the message to our Senators on how to vote. If the public sentiment swings strongly enough against Trump, you the Real Jury will control the outcome and the Senate will vote to remove him from office.  As a member of the Real Jury, you need to step up and weigh the evidence against Trump and communicate your verdict to your Senator.

If public sentiment does not persuade the Senate to remove Trump, then I hope the Real Jury, will render a verdict at the polls next November that we will not tolerate a President from either party that abuses the power of the presidency for his/her personal gain, or who will lie, cheat and steal to undermine his political opponents.  I believe when all the evidence has been heard that the majority of voters will favor Senate removal. If the Senate ignores the Real Jury verdict, then I believe the Real Jury will render a verdict in November, 2020 – a very sound defeat of Trump.