What's Tony Thinking

After Impeachment and A Few Other Notes

Some readers took my “Kangaroo Court” post of last week to mean that I thought no one was watching the impeachment trial. I know that’s not the case. I was working off an NPR report that cited various reporters and politicians in different parts of the country saying that, by and large, people weren’t much interested or paying attention. For the majority that was probably accurate. But many of you were tuned in.

On Saturday, I watched the whole thing. Jaime Raskin is my hero. I thought he did a helluva job. I particularly wanted to hear the roll call vote, a historic moment. In the movies, something unexpected would have happened. McConnell would have voted to convict and others would have followed, making the moment tense and dramatic. But it wasn’t the movies.

Still, you have to applaud the seven GOP Senators who did vote to convict Trump for their courage. Bill Cassidy, senator from Louisiana, was censured by his state’s Republican Party later that same day. One day, these censures will be a badge of honor.

McConnell’s speech immediately following was pretty darn good, even if I don’t agree with him on the constitutional issue. He minced no words about Trump’s failure and guilt. Was the constitutional argument — the Senate can’t convict a President who is out of office — a convenient dodge or his sincere conviction? I don’t know. What I do know is that McConnell tried to put distance between his version of the GOP and Trump. Maybe the Republican party will split? Maybe it already has.

Friend Grant Sontag sent this illustration from “Winnie the Pooh.”

Biden was wise to keep his powder dry.

A couple other notes.

Last week I moderated a panel on the topic of “The Bible in a Post-Biblical Age,” an event jointly sponsored by Folio: The Seattle Atheneum and Seattle Pacific University. There were over 70 registered, which surprised me. Folio, and many churches, will have to decide post-pandemic if it will continue to offer on-line access to live events. A lot of us have gotten used to that.

Several of you contacted me to ask if there had been a recording of that event. Here’s the link to that recording.

Second note, several weeks ago I ran a flag up the pole for what I called “Conversation 42.” C 42 is a Friday noon hour discussion — 42 minutes long — via Zoom, of one of my blogs for the week. Forty some folks signed up. About twenty have participated each week. Some time is spent in breakout rooms so that everyone gets a chance to talk (and listen) as well as the opportunity to meet folks in different parts of the country.

It’s gone well. A great mix of readers from all across the country. Very thoughtful comments and perspectives. Two more weeks and then we’ll evaluate. Meanwhile, I lifted the cap on sign-up’s for C 42, realizing that on any given week some will be able to or choose to come and others not. So if you are interested in being added to that list and receiving the weekly mailing and link, let me know.

Finally, our readership numbers were up in January, probably because of the January 6 events. We had 3,100 total users, logging in for about 7,500 sessions. Thanks for being one of them. And thanks for those of you who share my work with others who may be interested.