Crime and (lack of) punishment

 I have been watching the second impeachment of Donald J. Trump. I have several thoughts on the matter:

I am hearing from the MAGA crowd that this trial is a "waste of money and time"  , well, sort of.  The problem is that, as I have said before, Trump could shoot their mother  in front of him and he would get a "pass" from them.  they are so desperate to cling to the perceived power of the MAGA base that they will do anything to stay in power themselves.

The "jurors" in this case came into the trial with a preconceived notion to acquit no matter what evidence was presented.  I want to call out Mr. Paul and Mr. Hawley in particular.  I've BEEN on jury duty before, and if I were in the jury box, doodling or sleeping or whatever the hell those two were doing instead of their DUTY, I would have been in cuffs for "Contempt of Court" so fast it would not be seen by the naked eye.  and yet, there they are, acting like the star quarterback at a high school, who knows the history teacher won't say "boo" to him or it would ruin their chances at going to State.  I am sure there is a sector of their constituency who is cheering this bad behavior, and I hope there is an even greater number who are appalled and will work to vote them out of office in the next election.

I see that a number of Republican senators are not taking their job seriously and not even showing UP for the trial.  I wonder if there is a mechanism, whereby if you weren't in the room, you are not allowed to vote.  how can you consider evidence you didn't hear? AND meeting with the defense?   HOW IS THAT EVEN LEGAL????  I know when I served on juries you were cautioned about ANY incidental encounter with either attorney and while the rules for Congress MIGHT be relaxed, THIS is absurd.  They are giving them advice as to how to proceed?  Boy  Trump hired some real winners, didn't he?

The thing is, the impeachment only impacts his ability to run again.  It won't put his fat ass in jail or anything.  ( Ok that was inelegant but I am sick of him)   Are they so impressed with his destruction of the country and his own party that they want him to be able to finish the job?