Oaths not at the mercy of your politics

Is it too much to ask that when you swear an oath you mean it?
We refer to the anything but members of the impartial jury in the U.S. Senate who swore an oath to render “impartial justice” Thursday.
Most would agree the fix is in and the verdict preordained on President Trump if remarks by senators on both sides of the aisle and their party’s comparative strength are any measures.
Yes, incriminating, no damning evidence or witnesses could still emerge and upstage that line of thought. No one ever imagined the testimony of some of those witnesses during that Watergate summer in 1973 so long ago.
And we suspect the president and the Senate’s leadership don’t want an obvious sham trial for fear of alienating too many voters.
Still, is it too much to ask that these 100 senators, who we have placed our trust in, should not already be for President Trump’s defense or demise — before his trial even begins in earnest?
We are not going to look beyond our state’s two members of this august body to answer that question.
Sen. Shelley Moore-Capito has proven throughout this entire process she is hardly an impartial jury member.
According to her, “West Virginians have made it clear to me time and time again that they would rather Congress focus on working on behalf of the American people on issues that really matter, and I agree. The Senate will promptly begin performing its constitutional duty to sit as a court of impeachment and then get back to working for the American people.”
That statement smacks of being dismissive of this entire constitutional process we have entrusted her to fulfill. She is certainly not speaking for tens of thousands of West Virginians who think this issue does really matter.
Furthermore, if issues such as abuse of power by our president doesn’t really matter what in the world possibly does?
She notes too, that “By delaying the process, Speaker Pelosi confirmed that this impeachment is a partisan process.” That sound impartial?
Most would agree that impeachment is about politics. It’s not a legal proceeding. The Senate’s chambers are not a courtroom. Those 100 senators are 100 politicians. There will be no judge, Chief Justice John Roberts will preside, but as a referee.
As for Sen. Joe Manchin, he may have done something right for a change.
He has said unequivocally, “I’m very much torn on it. I think it weighs on everybody.”
He also has suggested we hear from other witnesses, including Rudy Guiliani and possibly even Hunter Biden.
“We have a divided country. On the other hand, we have equal branches of government, responsibilities to the Constitution,” Manchin said. “There are a lot of things at stake here.”
No one doubts what’s at stake here or the politics at play here, but those politics should never come at the expense of our principles, our ethics and our Constitution.
Or the oaths those senators swore.