As I said in my post last week, this was political theater at a time when we're sick of it, but it was more compelling than I expected. Nevertheless, it's good that they got it over with in a week.
Fifty-six percent of the country wanted him convicted, and 57% of the senators voted to convict. That's better than I expected. These days that's a landslide. And Mitch McConnell in his excoriating rebuke of Trump, no matter what his motivations, made it clear that he was guilty but got off on a technicality. That speech even played on Fox News. I think it's fair to say that at least 60% of the senate and the country see him as guilty. This is a crushing loss for Trump. Calling for witnesses would have been a mistake.
The senate a broken institution and to expect anything more from it is ridiculous. The courts are not broken, and it's time for congress to step aside and let the courts do their far more credible job. They will provide a more effective and credible way to hold Trump accountable. At least I hope so.
And so the question now is what will happen in the real courts, and whether Trumpism will take some serious hits that will de-legitimate it with all but the craziest members of the Trump base. Will Trumpism become a liability for Trumpists who run in the midterms in '22.
Trumpism will continue to play a strong role in state legislatures--and that's worrisome, but If we're lucky Trump becomes a George Wallace figure in the GOP, dividing them in a way that makes them increasingly irrelevant on the national stage. So there's reason to hope, but we remain on the razor's edge.