Brian Williams surprised me when he said that

[BigmanPigman]

A lot of the GOP Senators had not heard the case being put forth when it was over in the House and were unaware about a lot of the info that the public is aware of. That never occurred to me that GOP Senators would know less than we do by watching it on TV. He said many were not interested in hearing what the Dems were doing in the House for several weeks of testimony and are somewhat clueless about the details and the whole picture.

[pnwest]

1. I don't buy that for a second.

[OnDoutside]

2. I agree. At worst they have staffers to keep them up to date.

[lunatica]

4. We're the staffers keeping them up to date for the last 3 years?

The jury is out on that one.

[lunatica]

3. Why would they bother when they know the outcome already?

Why would they stop blowing us off now?

[Hortensis]

33. Conservative Jennifer Rubin also says a lot of Republican senators

are willfully ignorant and are probably hearing a lot of this evidence for the first time. Hard to believe, I agree, but over the past 30 years the good ones were purged and replaced with mostly hard-right ideologues and go-alongs. And this era is revealing what anti-democracy RW plutocrats have created to front for them in government.

So yesterday, and again today, while Democratic house managers with meticulous precision lay out the evidence and also speak principle to the nation, Republican senators are forced to sit and hear it all. No one's saying it'll change their votes. But it's probably making some of them unhappy.

VP Biden to on Scarborough: "I was embarrassed for the institution. I was there a long time, Joe, and I never saw anything like that. ... I think it’s one of those things they’re going to regret when their grandchildren read in the history books about what they did."

Yup. Except many have grandchildren already watching the proceedings. Their descendants will learn about it in school.

Rubin points out that Chief Justice Roberts is also spending long hours watching the Republican senate in stunningly corrupt action and that this might affect him. He'll be ruling on a lot of Trump/executive branch issues back on the court. Roberts is watching the enormous contrast between the Democrats laying out evidence with meticulous precision and citing the constitution and the Republicans, with no legal case to offer, are promising and using their power to smash our government.

[renate]

5. I thought that was FASCINATING

I just assumed they got their information in the equivalent of Senatorial Daily Briefings, but tonight I heard several times that this stuff was genuinely new to a lot of the senators.

Which, by the way, is utterly terrifying. Senators get their news from the commercial media just like the rest of us!?!?

[stopdiggin]

6. Not unless you are a FOX News/Trump cultist. Or a vegetable.

Neither of which are entirely beyond the scope ....

[Skittles]

7. they don't know because they DON'T WANT TO KNOW

they put PARTY ABOVE COUNTRY

[Cosmocat]

22. Right, they could care less

Its all liberal bullshit to them.

[SharonClark]

30. Agree 100%

[herding cats]

8. I didn't see it, but that seems kind of pie-in-the-sky to me.

This isn't a simple bill, this is an impeachment hearing we're speaking of here. If they weren't at least keeping up after hours on the important details, they shouldn't be be in the senate.

[Delmette2.0]

11. The Senate has had very little to do for the last year.

IMO none of them have an excuse for not keeping up with the House investigations.

[Midnight Writer]

9. Perhaps these are the non-FOX GOP. When you do something ugly, sometimes you look away.

I'm not a sap, but I gotta believe that out of these, what, 53 Republicans, there are at least a handful that are looking at the needs of others rather than their own. There are at least a few that know what they are doing is wrong and will hurt the country. And maybe? Maybe there are four that will stand up and make history.

Well, maybe I am a sap.

Doesn't mean I'm wrong.

[padah513]

10. Not gonna poo-poo what he said

I hope he's right. They are Fox-acolytes and believe everything they hear from the talking heads on there.

[Aussie105]

13. It's collective insanity

feeding on itself and spreading like a plague. It's become self justifying and all too common.

Got to ask though - why is Fox doing this? What is in it for the brains behind the shaping of the words that spew forth from the Fox Talking Heads?

[Aussie105]

12. Internal dialog?

I can't believe that some GOP senators aren't fully aware of what negative things Trump has done, or how a large part of the population feels about Trump.

I'd like to know the internal dialog that goes on inside their own heads that makes it all make sense, that it is for the general good of Americans, and what in their opinion, makes it all ok with them.

There's a lot of denial and convoluted thinking going on, bordering on collective insanity.

[dewsgirl]

14. Considering between 12-21 of them, left for God knows how long yesterday,

while Adam Schiff was speaking many don't seem to give a shit.

[Duppers]

20. Nailed it....they don't give a shit.

They are so myopically focused on staying in office & THAT's all they care about. Whatever it takes.

They're almost as stupid as the people who vote for them.

[MontanaMama]

40. I think they left because

they’re whiny little snowflakes who don’t like to hear the truth about their cover up.

[tblue37]

15. GOP Sen. John Kennedy said that, too. nt

[GeorgeGist]

16. Most of them appear to be clueless ...

about right and wrong.

[malaise]

17. As I was listening yesterday it dawned on me

that I am very familiar with the details.
ReTHUGs live in their own bubble and don't want to know the facts.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

37. Maybe it's bigger than that? They know it's true

that trump extorted Ukraine for personal gain. Hell, the phone call proved that. I doubt that any of them are thinking "oh this changes everything, hearing what Sondland said," for example. It's not like they are on the fence and one more fact would do it. They knew going in he was guilty. And they also have long ago decided to stick with him.

A vote to convict is a vote to have a Dem president in November.

I bet things would have been completely different if the election was 2-3 years away.

[malaise]

38. You nailed it

They all know he's guilty and so are many of them

[Laura PourMeADrink]

39. Yes! The group that abetted him are trying to save

their own asses. No wonder none of them want to testify. Although it was interesting trump said it was ok for Perry and Pompeo to testify.

[Arkansas Granny]

18. That dog won't hunt. TV is not the only source of info. The impeachment

has been front page news for weeks. I would imagine that the halls of Congress have been buzzing with talk about it. If they are ignorant of the facts, it's wilful ignorance. As someone else mentioned, they all have staff to help keep them up to speed.

[Ilsa]

23. It is willful ignorance. They've been given their

Marching orders, and they don't want the information that would create cognitive dissonance. There are few leaders in their party, and those leaders are corrupt or compromised.

[crickets]

41. +1

[DanieRains]

19. When You Serve Evil And Are Evil

Anything is possible.

[Pacifist Patriot]

24. Well isn't that lovely. Some of the most powerful people in our country...

don't watch the fucking news.

[C_U_L8R]

25. The only thing that has their attention is the polling

and their shifts in position just reflect their fear to remain in power. Enough of these schmucks.

[retread]

26. Wait 'til they find there's gambling at Rick's!!

[samnsara]

27. others have said that too. I totally believe it..they are just now hearing stuff about trump*

..and why all this impeachment stuff is going on.

[eShirl]

28. I can believe it.

[tanyev]

29. I guess 'I had no idea' is their fallback position if everything goes south?

[Tech]

31. A lot of them claimed to not be interested when the House had their hearings I think

they were trying to discourage their followers from watching.

[JHB]

32. Any senator claiming that does not belong in the U.S. Senate

[Arkansas Granny]

35. Absolutely. If they are that uninterested in something as important as impeaching the President,

they should look for another line of work.

[blm]

36. ✔️

[spanone]

34. That's because they don't care, they THINK they're winning.