"What a bunch of entitled complainers. Thousands of Americans do precisely this each day serving in jury duty, yet some of these elected officials -- elected precisely to serve their constituents and pay attention in one of the rarest Senate proceedings to take place -- cannot muster the self-discipline and stamina to actually sit still, pay attention, and reach an impartial determination. My 10 and 12 year old sons have better discipline, self-control, and manners than these clowns." - 'Chloe' - commenting about bored GOP Senators (NY Times)
We learned Friday (WSJ, 'Marathon Days Make Many Senators Antsy', p. A4) that Senators (mostly Repukes), required to sit through the Trump impeachment trial in silence and without their smart phones, have "grown increasingly comfortable testing those rules" as the trial wears on.
According to Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota.:
"We’re doing our best. With each break and with each disruption if you will, to the sitting in the chair, there becomes a little less discipline."
Awww...boo hoo and hoo. Cry me a river you worthless little imp. An historical Senate trial is under way requiring your rapt attention and you choose to make excuses to fritter away time.
Incredibly, despite impeachment trial rules that require them to sit silently at their desks when the proceeding is in session, senators have increasingly been wandering out for short or long breaks, to accommodate bathroom stops, telephone calls and even cable television appearances. On Thursday afternoon, as the Democratic impeachment managers took turns speaking during their second full day of presentations, at least 19 Reepo senators could briefly be seen out of their seats.
Some rose from their chairs and crossed the chamber to whisper to one another, while others exited the chamber entirely for 15- to 20-minute stretches and could be seen in the cloakrooms on their phones.
Those who remained in their seats often took up some elaborate distractions. Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, who was noodling over a crossword puzzle on Wednesday, could be seen on Thursday laboring over a detailed sketch of the Capitol. Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, twice appeared to swipe at an Apple watch on his wrist, despite the ban on electronics. Multiple senators, in an apparent attempt to rouse themselves, could be seen vigorously chomping on gum- including Tom Cotton and Joni Ernst.
Meanwhile, Ben Sasse brought in a tin of Red Man chewing tobacco, right onto the Senate floor. (If you've ever dealt with this stuff - as I have had to with AK students in space physics labs- and seen the spittle left behind you'd know it ain't cool.) Well, at least he had to bury it when the sergeant-at -arms chastised him.
During the lunch break on Thursday, Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina, passed out fidget spinners for his 52 Republican colleagues, the better to pass the time.
Fidget spinners? NO wonder so many refer to you morons as Reeptards. Don't you bozos have the minimal focus to pay attention for the time - excepting lunch, dinner and restroom breaks? The plague of inattention and ploys to avoid doing their duty reached such a point that Barry Black - the Senate chaplain- opened Thursday's session with the following prayer (WSJ, ibid.):
The WSJ piece goes on to try to portray the difficulty of conducting an historic Senate trial in the modern world - beset as it is with millions of distractions, social media intrusions etc.:
Unlike their counterparts in 1789, who set the parameters for impeachment in the Constitution, Senators today rarely sit and listen to complex oral presentations for hours on end.""
Well, maybe it's past time that changed. Perhaps - if these cretins possess the attention span of slugs- they aren't truly qualified to be in the Senate. Maybe they ought to leave and form their own 'old boys' club somewhere - a place they can fidget spin, do crosswords, chew gum, chomp Red Man, and blow farts to their heart's content. Perhaps they simply aren't up to the cerebral stature of their forbears and the founders.
Among the lamest of excuses is one offered by Sen. John Barrasso (WY) who opined (ibid.):
Which is total horse pockey that wouldn't be tolerated by any judge worth his salt in any jury trial. Imagine an ordinary juror in a criminal case whining to the judge that he can pay better attention outside watching a closed circuit TV screen than seated in the jury box. The judge would issue a contempt warning on the spot, as Justice Roberts ought to have done once this imbecile's BS was made public. But it shows the degree to which Roberts has allowed flouting of the rules to escape sanction.
The irony is that the whole process might have been truncated had the Reep Senators simply allowed witnesses as the Dems proposed, and also just voted Trump to be removed from office as the leprous, vile orange ape he is.
Of course, then Trump's base of losers would have ensured their senate reps be primaried. But at least then they'd no longer have to suffer the evident scourge of "boredom" in listening to complex oral presentations.
Here are some of the choice comments from NY Times readers about these losers:
"SENATORS: DO YOUR JOBS! Wake up or get a new job. You are now jurors in a sordid bribery case involving the most openly corrupt POTUS ever. "
"The American people are watching. The world and our allies are watching. History is watching. This is not a game."
"Pathetic. Remember when you thought Senators were professional serious people who knew what their job was knew how to do their job and actually did serious work for the American public? It was fun to be a kid."
"For every minute a senator is not engrossed in listening, we should dock their salaries. Shameful. The fate of our nation, indeed our planet, lies in the hands of these people who have blinders on and refuse to face facts. I hope details of attendance and attentiveness is reported back to their constituents and each one vote they may cast should be reduced by fractions based on undivided attention."
"Undisciplined rule-breakers and cheaters. It's how they run their lives; it's how they "do their jobs." Throw the bums out. Make them get real jobs, where their employer is actually watching them, and holding them to account."
I personally am all in with the last two comments especially, in respect of: 1) docking their salaries for every minute they're not at their desks listening, and 2) engineering and pushing for the loss of their seats to qualified Dems - to at least make them look for real jobs. Since they clearly don't treat the Senate as such.
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