We've only had one presidential impeachment in the past. And I think you're seeing a lot of people feeling their way. We came to the end of the script as of today, and now what happens is anyone's guess. I have to agree with the other opinions that have been expressed. Once every 10 years, perhaps once every generation, perhaps even once in a lifetime comes a moment when one feels the full weight of history bearing down on one, and I think this was exactly such a moment.
People think of history as names and dates about the passage of time.
That's exactly right. And one thing that occurred to me is that there is a very big difference between what's happening now in the Andrew Johnson impeachment in 1868 in one particular way, and that is that in those days the senators who were ruling on his case had some idea of what the people thought of his trial and what they thought of the Johnson case. But nowadays they're going to know instantaneously - they're going to see poll numbers day after day. If there are witnesses, they're going to see Americans reacting against or in favor of some of the witnesses that they see, and sometimes in surprising ways. Oliver North, before the Iran-Contra Committee had sort of a craze for a few days.