The charade of a defense of Donald Trump at the trial for his second impeachment (the first time Senate Republicans decided they didn't need a trial) was shocking not just for its bad faith and vulgarity but for how brazenly it displayed Trump's domination of his party. In a court of law, which the Senate is not, threatening the jurors is unthinkable. Here we had his latest surrogates telling Republican Senators that if they did not vote to acquit, he would - as he's thuggishly threatened all along - set the hounds on them. This is how authoritarianism perverts a society, isn't it: nakedly.
