We are living through significant events that will be looked upon as a key moment in American history. We throw around the word “historic” all too frequently, but in this case it can be written it in all red caps in a bold font.
It appears that the time Nancy Pelosi gave the House Impeachment team to prepare was well used. They have put together a cohesive, compelling narrative that clearly walks the public though the actions and events that brought about the public impeachment of Donald J. Trump. The story is made easier to digest by the inclusion of graphics that include documents, bullet pointed lists and video testimony from the House impeachment proceedings.
In the millions of words that will be written in books and in law school thesis that will be composed about this impeachment, just as there have been about the impeachment of Richard Nixon’s for example, the likely key figure in all of it will be the role and words of Adam Schiff. I also suspect future law students will be watching videos of his trial presentations before the Senate and model their courtroom manner, cadence and style after his. We are watching the mastery of the use of argument, persuasion and eloquence that is comparable to any maestro in the arts.
The Senate is filled with lawyers and outsized egos, yet I have to think that they are at least a little impressed, if not occasionally awed, by the oratory skills of Adam Schiff no matter what their reaction might be to the substance of his argument. To be sure there is a lot of substance, the weight of which was more than enough to end Trump’s presidency.
The story presented by all the House Managers leaves little doubt that something corrupt was afoot. The facts are unassailable. Facts alone can’t sway opinion however, it is the ability to engage the emotional state that moves people to change their mind. This is where Schiff excels. He has the ability to speak extemporaneously in a modulated tone that reminds me of a skilled jazz musician hitting all the right notes in an improvised composition. You can tell Schiff feels his words, just as that musician feels the notes that come out of his instrument.
If this were truly a fair proceeding, free of jury bias, Adam Schiff would win his case. That is not what he faces however. The majority of people in the room have a significant stake in not allowing themselves to be persuaded, so they won’t. There will never be an outcome like we saw in the 1939 Jimmy Stewart film Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. The world presented in that movie, where Congress ultimately bent to the gravity of the opportunity to do the right thing, is life as we would like it to be. One where truth prevails and people will set aside their personal stake and ultimately do the right thing.
In the real world, our most optimistic outcome for this trial is that enough Senators will cross over to allow witnesses and documents. There won’t be a conviction by the Senate. That was a foregone conclusion before the trial started. What Schiff is doing masterfully is making it easier for enough Senators to find a safe harbor for allowing evidence and testimony in to the public domain. This surely will flood the proceedings with additional daylight. If this does happen, we have Adam Schiff and his persuasive skills to thank for it.