Best Seat in the House

Best Seat in the House

When the dust settles on the Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, regardless of the outcome, I feel Rep. Adam Schiff deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I’m not so sure Donald Trump will feel up to bestowing it, but I hope whomever is next to sit at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office will set the record straight. Schiff, who has represented the San Gabriel Valley (think Pasadena and Glendale) since 2001 is what New Yorkers would call a mensch, a person of integrity and honor. No Congressman has caught more flack from Republicans, especially Trump, who likes to call him “little Shifty Schitt”, much like the class bully in junior high might do. It’s a funny choice of derogatory name given that Schiff who at 5’11” tall is above average in height. Given his build, he probably tips the scales at 180 pounds. Compare that to Trump, who is 6’3” and 243 pounds. The average American man is 198 pounds. Adam Schiff is almost exactly the median weight of an American man. He has a bachelors degree from Stanford and a law degree from Harvard. He is 60 years old, and has a net worth of $1.7 million, which is below the average “above-average” American male by 23%.

My sense is that when Adam Schiff played the board game of Life as a kid, he filled out his goal card with Fame = 45, Happiness = 40 and $ = 15. With his educational background, he could make or exceed his net worth with a big law firm annual salary in one or two years. Is he likely to pull a John Bolton and write a big book after the impeachment? I doubt it. I think he’s one of those rare men of integrity that may like the notoriety and the “fame”, but he gets satisfaction for doing something meaningful that helps the nation. He was born and trained to be the most important prosecutor of our age. Believe it or not, there a few people around who are motivated by such things. Compare that to Alan Dershowitz, the 82-year-old Harvard law professor and celebrity lawyer. Why does a guy his age get up in the Impeachment Trial and take the controversial and lightly-respected stand that there’s nothing impeachable about what Trump has done, even if he did it? Some say he’s like Giuliani (76 years-old) and just wants to stay relevant. There’s a lot of that in Trumpland (add Barr- 69, Wilbur Ross -83 and Ken Starr – 74). Dershowitz recently said in an interview that he’s mad about the damage to his reputation of his association with Jeffrey Epstein. He has been accused of being a sexual predator with the help of his then-client Epstein. Between O.J., Claus von Bullow, Harvey Weinstein, and now Trump, there does seem to be a pattern in his representation. Anyway, he was crying about not being invited to the right cocktail parties on Martha’s Vineyard. We should feel bad for him.

It is probably not a high bar to be one of the most ethical politicians in Washington, but I would put Schiff at the highest point on that list. What impresses me more and more is how sharp he is as well. I just watched an old hometown favorite, Jerry Nadler, the Congressman for the west side of Manhattan. He is 72 and has been in Congress for twenty-eight years. At a stately 5’3” tall and weighing in at a highly variable weight over the years, he has been a stalwart of the liberal left. Trump calls Nadler a “sleezebag”, another junior high school favorite. I have no view on Nadler’s ethics, but the Trump moniker makes me think Nadler is pretty much a stand-up guy. What I will say is that Nadler should stay away from TV interviews. In fairness, he is going through a family crisis with his longtime wife diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, whenever I see Nadler in interviews or at the podium, I see him struggling for the right words and trying to remember names. I understand the name thing and suffer from it myself, but to be a person who needs to speak publicly as much as he must, means he has to be a more compelling and composed advocate. Sorry, Jerry, but you fall short. Chuck Schumer is only two years younger than Nadler at 70, but when he speaks he is much more commanding. And neither can hold a candle to Adam Schiff.

I am doing what all Americans should be doing, I am following the Impeachment trial. Well, it has just gotten much more interesting. As I assume everyone knows, the John Bolton book draft leak that has Bolton saying Trump told him that the Ukrainian arms hold was, indeed, a quid-pro-quo, has turned the trial on its head. The pundits are having a field day tonight. The Republicans are rattled and running scared, with Mitch McConnell trying to lash all his fellow senators to the mast of the GOP ship, most likely suggesting to them that they should all sink or swim together. Luckily for those of us who seek the disclosure of truth in the extreme, Republicans (and most politicians) are notoriously fickle when it comes to self-sacrifice for the greater good. McConnell was forced to tell his caucus that he doesn’t have the votes anymore to shut-down the witness issue. Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowsky are voting for witnesses. From there it could be a landslide that goes with them.

We probably won’t know where this goes for a few days since we have sixteen hours of senator questions for the two legal teams, the House prosecuting managers and the President’s legal team. In theory it’s eight hours for each side orchestrated by Chief Justice Roberts. That will take at lest all of Wednesday and perhaps Thursday. Then and only then will the question of witnesses get asked and voted on. I wish it were right away because I sense some momentum and I don’t trust Trump or Mitch not to find some leverage point against these Republicans with a conscience (or at least a sense of self-preservation). Nonetheless, it looks like we will get witnesses…or maybe just John Bolton. It is too hard to tell from where I sit whether the smoke-filled rooms of the Capitol will find a deal that strikes us all as strange but reasonable. I’m betting there will be a negotiated solution since none of these guys, least of all Mitch, like to lose in public, especially in a re-election year. Mitch is the sort of guy who is not well liked by anyone, even his own constituents, so he actually has to worry a little about himself in his Kentucky election. The thing about grim reapers is that they are scary as long as they look to have all the power. Once there is a crack in that wall, anything can happen.

I am thrilled to have a front row seat for this show. I am thrilled to be four-square behind Adam Schiff (and Chuck Schumer to a goodly degree too). I am thrilled to be on the other side of the aisle from the likes of McConnell, Graham, McSally and the rest of them. I’m thrilled that our opposing team is made up of boobs like Sekulow, Cipallone (only a boob for sticking so closely with Trump), Dershowitz and Starr. Adam Schiff may have the best seat right now in the House of Representatives, but we all have the best seats in the house of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln.