Timing

   Speculation is rampant as TV commentators guess how long the Senate will debate the removal of the president.
   The House is expected to impeach him this week, and the Senate will take up the issue as the new year begins.
   Already, however, Republican leaders of the Senate say they have decided to clear him, and they are working closely with the White Staff on defense.
   So much for the Constitutional idea of a fair and impartial trial by an independent legislative body that would hear evidence from both sides before voting.
   Granted, a Senate impeachment trial is not the same as a civil or criminal trial in a court of law. But Senate and White House people have been echoing the president's words, like "sham," for many weeks, ignoring facts and evidence and attacking the process instead.
   As for the claim that the president is immune from prosecution, that was settled by the Supreme Court years ago, when Bill Clinton faced impeachment. And rather than obey a subpoena to testify before Congress, Clinton appeared voluntarily, thus eliminating the possibility of setting a precedent.
   The current president, however, seems determined to have all things his way all the time, and has refused all requests, demands and subpoenas for stuff related to the impeachment inquiry, and has told his subordinates to do the same.
   Now it seems the Senate has subordinated itself to the presidency -- not something the framers of the Constitution had in mind in 1789.
   Why the House committees did not challenge the presidential defiance in a court of law can only mean they wanted to avoid a delay of many months, if not years, of appeals and legalistic maneuvering.
   This, of course, would in turn mean the president would remain in the White House through the summer, the election season, and even to the end of a second term in office -- assuming he be re-elected. And if not, would he leave.
   Meanwhile, we're likely to see a sham trial in the Senate, as Republican defenders block any attempt by Democrats to introduce testimony to help convict the president of the impeachment charges and remove him from office.
   Instead, the GOP is likely to find ways to attack former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, even as they block Democratic attempts to introduce witnesses in support of the impeachment charges.