On Monday, January 20, 2020, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts cautioned both teams who were presenting their impeachment cases to be more respectful of each other. After all, he said, they were in the presence of the greatest assemblage of debaters in human history. Two days later one of the presenters would rise up and show the world that he was worthy of Roberts’ praise. This is a story about that man, about us, and about this moment in our history.

The impeachment trial of Donald Trump started with a plop, then a fizz, and then it quickly morphed into a deadly silence The Senate majority leader was ready with his handy bag of procedural tricks carefully selected, laid out, and delivered to assure a quick victory. Above all, he had corralled his flock, where they had rehearsed their deadly mantra into a funeral requiem: “No, nada, nyet,” they were saying. The end was near right from the start. The Republicans repeated their obedient response 11 times in succession as the Democrats offered motion after motion to get evidence and witnesses into the record. Each was defeated 53 ayes to 47 nays. By the wee hours of the morning, the coffins of the accusers had been nearly sealed. The Trump was alive and in full survival mode. His victorious outcome was a virtual fait accompli.

Day two began like the final day of a championship poker game of 5-card draw, Texas Hold’em style. The Repubs had the superior number of chips, they had just been dealt a powerful hand with two aces in the hole, while the Dems crouched and looked at their two weak cards: a 2 of diamonds, and a 3 of hearts. Smiles were as wide as a Texan sky as the Repubs pushed in a stack of chips exactly equal to all those in front of the Democrats, headed by Congressman Adam Schiff.

Schiff is a modest looking guy, average height and weight, with slightly bulging eyes. He rarely smiles. In a fist fight, the casual on-looker would probably bet on his opponent without even seeing who he was or what he looked like. But behind those protruding eyeballs lurks a Stanford U. graduate, and a Harvard law school grad. He is a 16-year veteran of Congress, winning his last four Congressional victories in landslides. Add to that list of achievements are these tidbits: He regularly runs the triathlon, and he once rode his bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles—just to clear his thinking.
That bike ride must have cleared something. On Wednesday, January 22, 2020 Schiff went “all in” and called the bet made by the Team Trump. And then he took center stage.

For the next 2+ hours, America and the world were treated to one of the most powerful feats of persuasive oratory this observer has ever witnessed. All 100 senators sat dumbstruck in their seats. With all the skills of John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr., rolled into one, Adam Schiff moved the hearts, minds, and souls of lawyers, teachers, and viewers everywhere. One commentator remarked that Schiff was speaking to Americans 200 years from now because college students will be citing his oratory skills and the power of public speaking for at least the next 200 years.

It was his propitious moment. He told us a tale of how America is teetering on the brink of becoming a monarchy, a country run by autocrats where laws mean nothing to them. He personalized every topic as he delivered facts, the Constitution, and the law in understandable terms. He masterfully inserted persons, events, and locales together into a mosaic dominated by the United States and Russia, but with the tide of history shifting away from us and toward Russia. He reminded us of our heritage, and of how our forebears were willing to risk everything and go “all in” in their pursuit of a democracy that could last. He named those in service to their country today who had had the courage to come forward and put their livelihoods at risk and their honor on the line for their country. He inserted pauses at precisely timed moments to let his words settle into the core of our beings. His eyes scanned his audience in sweeping grandeur, especially those watching on television. He was serious without preaching, thoughtful without rancor. He ended by challenging every senator to have the same courage shown by those who had come forward to testify, as difficult as that may be, and leave the rest to history and to our posterity with a clear conscience.

Nobody expects that Trump will lose in this impeachment trial. But Schiff needs to swing four votes away from the lineup of Republicans to keep the trial alive long enough to bring witnesses, testimony, truth, and enlightenment to America and the world. Can he do it?

Propitious moments and how we respond to them can make all the difference. Some refer to them as “defining” moments when our character is revealed, and we show each other and the world whether we have the guts to stand on the right side of history, or not.

I stand with Adam Schiff. How about you?

Watch and listen to the most persuasive presentation you are likely ever to have the pleasure and the awe of assimilating direct from the Senate of the United States:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW_ZiVk6Pg