Clouding the facts.

A wise old lawyer gave me some good advice when I started trying cases as a young lawyer. It went  something like this: "Good lawyers try easy cases and settle hard ones. Bad lawyers settle easy cases and try hard ones". 

I thought about that saying today while I was watching portions of the impeachment hearings  running non-stop on cable news. The republican lawyers seemed to be stuck with a hard case, and rather than trying to settle and acknowledge the difficulty of their case, they spent all day today trying their best to try the case in the court of public opinion and to the republican members of congress.

Obviously, from a legal stand point, it didn't go too well.

Clearly the facts weren't on their side, and no matter how much they tried to yell, distract, and throw out straw man arguments, it didn't change what Mr. trump did: Attempt to hold up military aid to the Ukrainian government until he got help taking down a political rival. 

As Keith Ellison eloquently stated: "They've got a really bad case". It's hard to defend the indefensible . I know, I have been there myself a time or two. Unlike republicans, though,  I did not try to slam the process and shoot the messengers. I went with the hand that I was dealt.

But this isn't a court of law, it's a political court of public opinion, and the republicans have been doing their best to play to their base, and the crime boss in the White House. They have tried their best to turn the entire process into a three ring circus.

Sadly, it might be working, because the case against Mr. trump isn't going to be decided by a jury or a Judge. It is a political process.  This case will be decided by the the lazy American press and divided (and distracted) American people. Both of these groups are calling the hearings confusing and boring. (As if the impeachment hearings should be like some daytime game show. )

So while trump may be impeached, he will not be removed from office. The republicans have enough senators who are part of the cult of trump to prevent such a thing from ever happening. As one fellow twitter user recently stated:"The republicans have mastered the art of dangling the keys in front of idiots to distract them."  There are a lot of idiots in America these days.