The problem is that this isn't spelled out clearly in the Constitution and the Senators on both sides of the issue had to use previous impeachments for guidance. As impeachment by the House, followed by a trial of the charges in the Senate, is not a criminal proceeding and has not been carried out to the conviction and sentencing phase enough times to set clear precedents, it's really up to the House trial managers and the defending council every time to try to convince the sitting Senators that any of them actually know what the f*** they are about. I'm hoping this will continue to be a rare enough event that the House and Senate are not obligated to spend any more of their overly-laborious protocol-laden deliberations working out a set of explicit instructions and trying to get it set in law with an amendment to the Constitution.

I'm so over #45 that I have canceled my subscription to the NYT, rarely read my daily online Guardian, no longer check in with my favorite late night hosts to get their views, and am tempted to skip these Letters - all until "news" about that excrescence in Florida is replaced with lots of front page items about the significant work of the Biden-Harris administration. I'm waiting patiently for the vaccine(s) to make their way to my county in enough quantity that I don't have to fight to get mine, and then looking forward to the day when my favorite too-grungy-to-attract-other-bluehairs coffeehouse reopens its seating area and I can ride my bike downtown and spend at least an hour a day there with my laptop working on the novels I've begun writing that elude me when I'm at home.

Lanita out!