By Andrew Leheny
If satire is a reliable indication of public sentiment, then Saturday Night Live’s parody last weekend of Donald Trump’s Impeachment trial merits some examination.
In the parody, the Devil offers praise to key GOP figures for their hypocrisy and blindness to evidence while defending Donald Trump. SNL’s opening skit lampooned such figures as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, attorney Alan Dershowitz, and the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein. But is the parody accurate that the GOP will break accepted norms of a fair trial, such as hearing testimony from relevant witnesses and reviewing pertinent documents, and deny both the prosecution and defense these normal resources?
The resolution to the concerns is of critical importance to our nation.
SNL’s satire also brought to mind a short story about a fictional trial and the issue of its fairness.
Published by The Saturday Evening Post in 1936, “The Devil and Daniel Webster” presents the tale of a New Hampshire farmer who in a moment of despair agrees to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for a more successful life. Written by Stephen Vincent Benet, the story shares the farmer’s desire to be released from his contract with the Devil when it comes due a decade later. He secures the assistance of famed orator and politician Daniel Webster to seek to free him from his deal with the Devil.
When the Devil comes to collect the farmer’s soul, Webster protests that no American can be in the service of “a foreign prince”, an ironic statement considering the nature of Trump’s Impeachment. The Devil argues he merits to be considered an American because of his presence at incidents of injustice throughout our nation’s history. But since the Devil admits he is far older than our nation, reason dictates he was not born in our country and cannot be an American.
Webster demands for his client a trial by an American jury and an American judge. But it’s generally known one cannot rely on the good intentions of Satan, and although he agrees to a jury trial, the Devil provides a jury of men with Hell-darkened hearts and as judge, Justice John Hathorne of the Salem witch trials.
Rep. Adam Schiff faces a jury problem similar to the fictional jury concerns of Daniel Webster.
I am not suggesting that all GOP senators have hell-darkened hearts, although there can be some debate on the issue. But Webster realized that the fictional core problem he faced was how to appeal to the better selves of jurors immersed in hatred, violence and fear which hell seeks to oppose upon mankind. Rather than permit himself to fall prey to the anger of injustice in his arguments, Webster spoke to the jurors calmly of the good pleasures of being human. He spoke of “the freshness of a fine morning when you’re young, and the taste of food when you’re hungry.”
Webster talked to the jurors about our nation. He spoke of freedom and the “sadness” of life without it. Webster did not ignore the failings of America. Webster “admitted all the wrong that had ever been done. But he showed, out of the wrong and the right, the sufferings and the starvations, something new had come.”
America was the something new, men and women in pursuit of freedom and happiness. By enabling jurors to rekindle what it means in pure spirit to be Americans, they choose to allow the New Hampshire farmer to retain his soul.
Adam Schiff, and the other House Managers, have effectively presented the available evidence to the Senate jurors. But in Schiff’s final presentation on January 24 he spoke powerfully and emotionally, seeking to convince the hearts of the GOP senators to be impartial and to recognize that in America “Right Matters”. Schiff argued it is not right for Trump’s to consistently place himself above our laws, and to choose his benefit over that of the American People. Such anti-American behavior merits his conviction and removal from office.
I do not know if Donald Trump is familiar with “The Devil and Daniel Webster.” It does not appear Donald Trump has much of an understanding of the history of America. I would suggest what Trump would find most interesting from Benet’s short story is the claim that the chickens raised by Daniel Webster “were all white meat down through the drumsticks.”
But for individuals with a strong understanding of the history of our nation, such as Adam Schiff, they understand the clear and present danger of a President of the United States who considers himself or herself above the law. The desire of a President to become a monarch is a grave threat to our nation, especially when the GOP majority Senate appears committed to be complicit in this effort.
May the spirit and ideals of our nation guide Adam Schiff and the House Managers in awakening the hearts of GOP senators to remember what it means to be an American.
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The Focus 