Schiff's account was chilling. I watched most of it live, and found myself clinching my fists and furrowing my brow. I noticed that he only occasionally looked down at his notes, and his summary was largely formulated on-the-fly. This kept him from looking weak or inept, like almost everyone else (both sides) reading word-for-word off of a document in front of them, slipping in and out of the "reading mode" monotone so many people revert to. He imbued his statements with passion, when he felt it. There's at least one audible reaction from the audience (@8:14).

Schiff laid waste to the GOP defense. He peeled back their ever-evolving layers of defense, with little embellishment, using indisputable evidence acquired solely during the public hearings within the last 8 days. My favorite part was him pointing out that the GOP would prefer we rely solely on what the president claims (somewhere around @13:20-ish). I wish he would have lingered a little longer here, and reminded everyone that this president has amassed an unprecedented amount of false claims during his tenure. I also enjoyed when he compared this Congress to the Congress during Nixon, a Congress that when presented with irrefutable evidence, found its spine and made a bipartisan decision to oust him. And he's right, Trump's is far and beyond Nixon's criminality.

But despite his incredibly damning condensation of relevant materials, like I've said, it doesn't really seem to matter. The GOP's impeachment strategy is largely a referendum on the attitudes of their constituents, and the needle still hasn't moved (granted, the poll was probably taken prior to any measurable reaction from these public hearings). They won't turn on Trump. They seem intent on following him to either the death of the GOP, or the elevation of the executive to heights of power never imagined by anyone sympathetic to systems of checks and balances.

Speaking of, I've even read some recent pieces by pro-Trump fuckers claiming that Congressional oversight has gone much too far, and we need to rescind executive oversight functions. These people are dangerous to the American experiment. Sometimes, their intellectual bankruptcy is evident in their poor prose alone. Seriously, one paragraph in an (Sheryl Atkisson? can't remember) opinion piece at The Hill (LOL, and their "opinion section" may be under investigation for providing John Solomon a vehicle on which to propagate conspiracies) began, "It is exactly what it is.", after the previous paragraph ended with something like "Schiff asks, 'How can this inquiry be a witch hunt?' ", or something like that. It's like, phew, that last sentence I just constructed was pretty bad, sure, but I'm a pseudonymous physicist on a lightly-trafficked forum.

I don't identify as a democrat, but it's pretty fuckin' obvious which side is going to be shit on in the annals of history. I won't be voting for that side, and if the Senate acquits, I'll see you in the streets.

Maybe kingmudsy could sling a little mud here too? :)

Edit: As the inquiry and investigation phase of impeachment appear to have been completed (but see edit 2), the Senate GOP has probably assured Trump today that they intend to acquit him, clearing the way for the White House to "endorse" a Senate trial. I don't think the senate GOP members are lying to him, but it's possible. Either way, I'm sure 'bl00 is right, they'll use this to attempt inhibiting the campaigns of Sanders, Harris, Warren, and Booker. :(

Edit 2: What if Schiff drops the mic (re: today), the Dems keep their ears to the ground for a couple of weeks, and say nothing of their future plans? All the while, they listen to polls, do press interviews/PR, etc. If the polls don't move, Pelosi makes an announcement, basically: "The beatings will continue until morale improves", and they bring forth any additional witnesses willing to testify, or even those we've seen already once again (if there's any willing), along with issuing another round of subpoenas to everyone obstructing (can you get hit with two counts of defying Congressional subpoenas?). If I'm the Dems, I'm asking myself "Did we go too fast once we made it to the public hearings?". Hah! Look at me, hoping beyond all hope that something, anything, can help pierce the right wing megabubble.