Revolution 2.0

Introduction Impeachments throughout history have been entirely political proceedings, with voting almost entirely along party lines. Juries in criminal proceedings vote in accordance with the evidence as they see it. Congress votes along party lines. That is the subject of today’s 10 minute episode. Continuing Armed with the knowledge that voting follows party lines and not the evidence, then why do we have impeachments, and why do we bother following them? A. Political Theater is useful for politicians, and entertaining for us. And impeachments allow us further opportunities to vent. Impeachments have nothing to do with determining innocence or guilt; they are show trials with the outcome predetermined. Let’s pause for the definition of a show trial: “A trial held in public with the intention of influencing or satisfying public opinion, rather than ensuring justice.” (Oxford Languages). History is rife with samples of show trials, almost always in totalitarian countries. But Revolutionary France had mo