Riddle me this, Batman. How are these GOP Senators going to literally make it impossible to hold an impeachment trial for Donald John Trump while he is still in office, and then turn around after he's gone and say they cannot hold an impeachment trial because Donald John Trump is no longer in office? HOW?

This was MItch McTurtle exactly thirteen days ago, making it a procedural impossibility to hold a trial:

This statement 13 days ago blocked a Senate trial from starting when Trump was still in office. https://t.co/kDp6XGNN1n

— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) January 26, 2021

This is Rand Paul today, attempting to stop a trial from happening now that Democrats are in charge of the Senate, because Trump is no longer in office:

Sen. @RandPaul: "This impeachment is nothing more than a partisan exercise designed to further divide the country. Democrats claim to want to unify the country, but impeaching a former president, a private citizen, is the antithesis of unity." pic.twitter.com/W8SHXO2URn

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 26, 2021

Are you f*cking kidding me, here? And 45 of the Republican senators voted with him! Never mind that these GOP senators were inside the building insurrectionists were attempting to bomb. Never mind that had the rioters gotten to them, they probably wouldn't have known who they were, let alone to which party they belonged. No, these senators are STILL trying to stop this impeachment trial, STILL trying to get and/or stay in the good graces of Donald John Trump. Why?

Nicolle Wallace nailed it in her Deadline White House segment introducing the topic. He is still threatening them. "A top political aide to [former] president Donald Trump spent the weekend quietly reassuring Republican senators the former president has no plans to start a third party, and instead will keep his imprint on the GOP," she said, quoting Politico. "The message from Brian Jack, Trump's former political director at the White House, is the latest sign that Republicans considering an impeachment conviction will do so knowing that Trump may come after them in upcoming primaries if they vote to convict for incitement of insurrection."

So, where are all these tough talkers, again? These "law and order" Republicans? Garrett Haake likened them to victims of a bad breakup with a toxic ex. "They keep checking former president's social media. They're looking over their shoulders. They're wondering if it's really over this time." No, sweeties. It's not over, apparently. I mean, it COULD be over, if you stopped giving him power over you.

Nick Confessore broke it down further. He said, "I think the key thing here is that this was a vote to put heads in the sand. It was a vote to avoid this discussion on a technicality, or a side discussion, because to confront the underlying issue is much more sensitive and damaging for Republican senators." Ding-ding-ding! He continued, "The underlying issue is, did and how and in what way did a sitting president of the U.S. incite a mob to invade the Capitol and prevent his successor from being installed as president? That's what the trial is going to be about."

But 45 Republicans don't want to talk about the answer to that question, even though it's as plain as the noses on each of their two faces.

2022 is coming: