Bananarama

To an objective observer, the second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump has been nothing but a show trial presided over by a kangaroo court. No, seriously. Just like the Senate recently engaged in a “vote-o-rama” over “COVID-19 relief”, we here at The Objective Observer dub this debacle a “Bananarama”. Banana referring to just the bat shit craziness of this entire impeachment proceeding. The sorry spectacle of this show trial is incredibly sad for America and does real harm to the country going forward both in terms the repercussions for American politics and America’s image abroad. Lest you feel otherwise, we will demonstrate, point-by-point the irrefutable veracity of our view.

First, a show trial, by definition is:

“A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt, and/or innocence, of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so they will serve as both an impressive example and a warning to other would-be dissidents or transgressors. Show trials tend to be retributive rather than corrective and they are also conducted for propagandistic purposes.” – Wikipedia

So here we have a public trial where the Senators already predetermined the guilt and/or innocence of the defendant, innocent. Everyone has known since the beginning that Trump would not be convicted. Thus the only goal of the trial is to serve as an impressive example and warning to Trump and his followers. It is a retributive action conducted purely for Democrat propagandistic purposes.

The propaganda element is overtly obvious in the very way in which the House managers presented their case, the core of which being to repeatedly and disgustingly show video footage of the Capitol riot again and again. Quite simply, there was nothing fact based to be learned from viewing footage of the Capitol riot, repeatedly. No one is refuting that the Capitol riot took place. No one is refuting that it was a horrific event. The sole purpose of continuing to show footage of the riot is propaganda, an intent to drive an emotional response of hate and vitriol for the defendant.

This is the type of propaganda the show trials of Mao Zedong’s Communist China or Joseph Stalin’s Moscow Trials of the Great Purge would be proud of. Dare we say that the House managers’ presentation is one we might expect to see during a Nazi era Sondergericht or “special court” in Hitler’s Germany? Why on earth have Americans caused this same kind of shameful sham trial to be written into the history books of the United States? It simply diminishes America in the eyes of the world. We are now in the same league as Mao’s China, Stalin’s Russia and Hitler’s Germany.

But the propaganda is required because of the sheer absurdity the House managers’ case. As we explained in The Fatal Flaw, Trump bears some responsibility for the Capitol riot because he was negligent in his duties as President to consider the greater good of the country rather than his own personal opinions regarding the fairness and validity of the election. House managers have inexplicably flipped this tale of gross negligence to be one of carefully calculated preplanning of violent insurrection. The notion on its face is absurd. In order to cover the absurdity, we are overloaded with slick, movie quality propaganda films.

Along with their propaganda the House managers have turned the Senate into a kangaroo court, which is, by definition:

“A kangaroo court is a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice and often carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides. A kangaroo court may ignore due process and come to a predetermined conclusion. The term may also apply to a court held by a legitimate judicial authority which intentionally disregards the court’s legal or ethical obligations.” – Wikipedia

Ignoring recognized standards of law or justice? Like ignoring the recognized legal meaning of incitement? The legal definition of “incitement” is “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action” as defined in Brandenburg vs. Ohio? Not being content to simply ignore the legal definition of “incitement”, House managers actually went so far as to make up their own standard. In no possible universe can anything that former President Trump said be classified as intended to produce imminent lawless action. Ignoring due process? Where to start? Disregarding the court’s legal or ethical obligations? You mean like having a full accounting of the facts prior to starting the trial? You mean like calling witnesses? You mean like presenting outright lies as evidence? Lies Trump’s defense team adroitly pointed out.

The term “kangaroo court” actually comes from the notion of justice proceeding “by leaps”, like a kangaroo “jumping over” (intentionally ignoring) evidence in favor of the defendant. Like the House managers “jumping over” the fact that former President Trump asked his supports to “patriotically and peacefully make your voices heard”. Former President Trump may have only said it once during his speech but there can be no “leaping over” the fact that former President Trump actually uttered those words. The examples of this intentional “jumping over” the facts are too many to print in a mere blog article.

The repercussions of the this shameful, disastrous, sham of an impeachment trial will be felt in American politics for decades to come, perhaps forever. Impeachment of a President has now been, and will forever remain, corrupted. No longer a weighty, solemn affair undertaken exceedingly rarely and with great thought and consideration, impeachment is now simply another common political tool for the legislature to weaken and bully the separate and coequal branch of the Executive. As if Democrats are in some bizarre, high stakes poker game saying, “Donald Trump, we call your dismissiveness of what’s good for the country and raise you everlasting harm to the pillars of democracy”. The harm to the crucial separation of powers within the federal government is real and it should be alarming to every American.

There is little question that allies of the United States have watched the trial proceedings in abject horror while enemies celebrate and will, no doubt, use the proceedings as propaganda to demonstrate how weak, unjust, stupid and hypocritical the United States really is. Perhaps the only saving grace is that in contrast to the House managers’ emotional propaganda, Trump’s defense team presented a largely logical, reasonable, judicial and short case based upon facts. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

Just as there can be no denying that former President Trump bears some responsibility for the Capitol riot on January 6^th, 2021 due to his negligent words and actions, there is no denying that King Biden failed a critical leadership test by not speaking out against this sham of an impeachment trial. So too can there be no denying that Nancy Pelosi bears the sole responsibility of turning the United States, in the eyes of the world, into nothing more than a banana republic. “Mean, bitter, frog mouthed old hag vainly obsessed with a youthful appearance.“…we forgot thoughtless, brainless and a complete and utter disgrace.