But mid-afternoon, Collins had a brief private word with his wife and made an announcement to the committee Democrats: “We’re going to be here a long time tonight,” he said. Republicans aimed for this: If they could turn the proceedings into a circus, they could discredit President Trump’s impeachment. But in the process they have bludgeoned not just this impeachment but impeachment itself, the powers of Congress, the legitimacy of government, the law and any sense of objective truth. What’s historic about this moment is the near-complete dysfunction of, and loss of confidence in, American democracy. ADThen Republican committee members went straight to the cameras in the Longworth Building lobby and resumed the previous night’s epithets.

Source: Washington Post December 13, 2019 21:56 UTC