I am in awe how absolutely awful the opening presentation was by Bruce Castor, the lead lawyer defending Trump. Talking about how none of the mob were arrested for conspiracy -- when the issue isn't conspiracy, but that Trump incited them. Explaining how crowds sometimes act out of sudden emotion, not criminality, but the mob isn't on trial. Referring to Trump as the former president, which is the very thing Trump has been trying to deny. Praising what a good job the House Managers did in their presentation. Saying that impeachment was the wrong charge, since as a public citizen now Trump could be charged with normal crimes just like everyone. And much more. And the yelling David Schoen who followed him was on the edge of being out of control that he didn't do much better, including weirdly showing a minute video of Democrats calling for Trump's impeachment. I know he was trying to suggest this was all just political, but it just showed people endlessly saying Trump should be impeached. But what was stunning to me -- mostly on a personal level -- was when Bruce Castor began quoting Everett Dirksen, who was a senator from Illinois when I was growing up there. This was a very small matter in the overall picture of events, but not only did it have an impact on me particularly, but I also thought it was indicative of the overall mess of an opening presentation, not just for its inaccuracies but also for how he was actually hurting his own case. And that's when Mr. Castor continually, relentlessly tried to suggest that the recording Dirksen made in the 1960s of "Gallant Men" was about senators. And in fact later he was even more explicit, no mere suggestion about it or hinting, but saying very directly "to quote Everett Dirksen" and then contending that he was quoting Dirksen supposedly talking very directly about the "gallant men of the Senate." NO! It was not about senators. Indeed, the word "Senate" never appears even once in "Gallant Men." It is very specifically about soldiers. Young men, brave gallant men. "Men who have died so that others might be free." Yes, really. Trump's lawyer was repeatedly quoting a piece about -- Men...Who...Died. Men who died, like Officer Brian Sicknick protecting the U.S. Capitol. Like five people who died during the insurrection, and then later, two police officers who died, when they committed suicide. That's what Bruce Castor didn't seem to realize he was repeatedly bringing to everyone's attention. By the way, worse and even more stunning is that the recording actually includes the line, "Tyrants must know, now just as then, that they cannot stand just as long as there are gallant men." And this is what Trump's lead defense attorney was quoting!! In support of his client charged with inciting insurrection to overthrow the U.S. government! That gallant men will die to protect us against tyrants! It should also be made clear that "Gallant Men" was not a Dirksen phrase from a grand Dirksen oration at all. Rather, it was a spoken "song" that the Republican Minority Leader had recorded, which oddly became a big hit as part of an album. So, Trump's defense attorney wasn't actually even quoting Everett Dirksen in the slightest -- not about soldiers, let alone senators -- but rather just quoting the songwriter! (Fun fact; the two people who, in fact, wrote "Gallant Men" in 1966 were composer John Cacavas and the words were written by a young man who was then a low-level news writer for ABC radio and would move over to host a CBS radio show the next year, eventually becoming a mainstay at the network, non-other than Charles Osgood. So, that's who Bruce Castor was really quoting.) While I don't expect the House Managers to make clear that not only was Trump's lead defense attorney not telling the truth when quoting Dirksen, but the truth actually hurts Trump's case and supports the very point of impeaching him for insurrection to overthrow the U.S. government. And here as proof is Sen. Dirksen's recording of "Gallant Men". Written by Charles Osgood and John Cacavas. By the way, Mr. Castor was right about one thing -- Everett Dirksen did have a spectacular and unique speaking voice. By the way, I consider myself an expert on Everett Dirksen. That's because when I was a young kid in school, I had a class project and wrote to him as one of my senators and the Minority Leader of the Senate. He wrote the following back --
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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