Given McConnell's statement that he would coordinate closely with the White House regarding the rules and conduct of Senate Impeachment proceedings it might be better to hold the impeachment findings as a threat than to use them now.

 I am concerned that Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler may be better lawyers than politicians. They have crafted a very compelling, if minimalist, case for the impeachment of Trump - IF THE CASE WERE TO BE TRIED IN A COURT OF LAW.

Instead, we have a partisan Senate in which the case will be tried and there is only one way to change the minds of Republican Senators - overwhelming public opinion favoring impeachment. Thus we have the electorate as the real jury. Sadly, the Democrats have not adequately addressed this issue to date.

The Republicans in the House have not addressed the merits of the charges or the evidence against Trump. Instead, they have ridiculed the process and poised transparently fallacious exculpatory 'theories' such as 'Zelensky said he felt no pressure', 'there is no evidence of a crime in the transcript of the phone call', 'there was no investigation' and 'Ukraine got the money'. These 'defenses' need to be forcefully rebutted each and every time they are deployed. The Democratic House members have largely left these assertion unchallenged. Clinton knew that even ridiculous assertions about his candidacy and presidency had to be immediately rebutted. Have the Democrats forgotten that example?

The Republican defense of Trump 'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing'. It needs to be treated as such at every opportunity. Ridicule and scorn and indignation are the strongest weapons against such nonsense. It is insufficient just to keep asserting Trump's wrongful acts. This will not change the mind of the Republicans, though they will, ironically, complain about the nasty tone of the Democrats should such rhetoric be used. But the target is the electorate.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."