Guilty but not Guilty Enough

There are two reasons not to call witnesses.  One is because you just don't care about the fact of the case.  That is pretty damming and an aspect which I see a lot of focus on.

The second though is a little more reasonable.  Namely that you already proved he did the act accused of so why keep going?

If you accept the second premise all you need to do is determine if that particular action is worthy of removal from office.  Obviously we all expect that not to happen.

Without laboring the point one can have a legitimate difference of opinion on that issue.  Similarly, when we last had an impeachment there was no doubt that the President had committed the acts, but enough senators decided it was simply not enough to merit removal.

Crimes have certain degrees of harm associated with them.  If someone steals a loaf of bread, we no longer consider that act bad enough to warrant imprisonment without extenuating circumstances.  On the other hand stealing a million dollar necklace is likely to be treated with serious consequences.

The acts are very similar but have different consequences.

So the two articles of Impeachment are the issue here.  The first is that he misused his office to gain a personal favor.  Its a bit complicated by the military aid involved but is it bad enough to warrant removal from office?  Whether or not it is actually a crime is part of the issue.  While the radical argument that he actually can't commit a crime is nonsense, it might be valid that his actual act was allowable but it was his motivation that made it wrong.

That is subjective enough to allow legitimate differences of opinion.

The second article is tied up with the first and regards obstructing congress.  He did but so have previous Presidents and generally there is recourse in the courts.  So if the first charge wasn't filed, the second wouldn't have been.  If the first is not enough, the second joins it.

The vote on Wednesday will acquit the President even though he is in fact guilty.  Its a question of how guilty more or less.