Impeachment 2, Day 1

 In case you missed the opening arguments today:

I caught the complete arguments of Trump's lawyers, Bruce Castor and David Schoen,  when I returned from work while catching the House managers on rerun.  The first lawyer tried to make the argument that what Trump didn't wasn't impeachable because his speech was protected speech.  The other lawyer tried to say that because Trump is no longer president, the trial is unconstitutional.  He also made the point that the trial isn't legit because the Chief Justice wasn't presiding.   These are pretty threadbare arguments, since incitement to overthrow the government isn't protected speech, and Trump was impeached while he was still president.  When the trial takes place doesn't matter or whether Chief Justice Roberts presided.  Even more to the point, there was NO real defense of Trump's conduct whatsoever in the events leading to the Capitol Hill riots.  The lawyers may have had a half-assed defense because they figure the outcome of acquittal is assured.

A few commenters on social media noted Schoen touching his head while he drank water, but it had been pointed out he is Orthodox Jewish, and apparently has to wear a covering on his head when eating or drinking.  Since he didn't have one, he used his free hand.

Explanation is here:

Whenever observant Jews drink or eat, they typically recite a blessing that includes the name of God before and after doing so. Jewish law, known as halacha, stipulates that in order to say God’s name, you should have your head covered. Based on this fact, it’s likely that Schoen covered his head with his hand while he recited a blessing before drinking from his water bottle. 

Meanwhile, the House managers gave a good summary of the reason Trump should be held accountable for   his actions.  They went point-by-point of the defense's arguments.  The best part, however, was at the beginning, when House manager Jamie Raskin showed a video timeline of what went on that day of the riots, from the Trump speech to the attack on the Capitol Building to Trump's speech afterwards.  It was scary as hell and damning.