Dump Trump and the GOP

Schrödinger’s Senator, the physics paradox known in this dimension as Rand Paul, a man from the multiverse where anything is possible including being elected in the 2016 Goat Rodeo and being elected to the Senate or both or neither can happen at the same time or never, decided to try a little stunt and forced a vote on whether ITMFA’ing an ex-prznint is constitutional. Even if the ex-president incited insurrection and the violent overthrow of the gubmint.

CNN:

Washington (CNN)The Senate tabled an effort by Sen. Rand Paul Tuesday to force a vote on the constitutionality of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, but the vote offered an indicator for how Republican senators — who overwhelmingly voted for Paul’s measure — feel about the trial.

Paul’s motion was killed on a 55-45 vote, with five Republicans joining all Democrats, meaning 45 Republicans voted for Paul’s effort. Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania crossed party lines to vote with Democrats.

In order to convict Trump at his trial, at least 17 Republicans will need to vote with all Democrats when the trial begins next month. Significantly, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sided with Paul in the vote — a potential indicator that he agrees the constitutionality of impeaching a former President is in question.

The NYTimes:

“Republicans rallied en masse on Tuesday against trying former President Donald Trump for ‘incitement of insurrection,’ with only five members of his party joining Democrats in voting to go forward with the impeachment trial for his role stirring up a mob that attacked the Capitol.

“In a 55 to 45 vote that strongly suggested that the Senate does not have the votes to convict the former president, senators narrowly killed a Republican effort to dismiss the impeachment charge as unconstitutional. The opposition of all but a handful of Republicans underscored Mr. Trump’s continued strength in the party even after his brazen campaign to overturn his election defeat, fueled by false claims of voting fraud, and he left office with his party relegated to the minority in both houses of Congress.”

So this gives the Coup Klux Klan the fig leaf that they are looking for, to say that the process is unconstitutional. But what it says is that you cannot impeach a sitting president and you cannot impeach an ex, so you know, unless the president is a Dim-o-crat and is getting a hot knobber, anything goes, including insurrection.

I will not shed any tears when Lord Damp Nut gets one of the Republicans killed on his next attempt at insurrection.