Seemingly, the nowadays a drama-like perpetual-motion machine — in a snap of time this morning (a measured dog-walk length), comes this:

EXCLUSIVE: Bolton book contains new, earlier, allegation of Trump's involvement in pressure campaign. Trump asked Bolton to call Zelensky to ensure he would meet w/Giuliani. Cipollone and Mulvaney were in room. w/@maggieNYT https://t.co/8lZaG4zbfu

— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) January 31, 2020

When I’d left on the walk with Leroy, my daughter’s Basset/Greyhound mix, the pose of the sad-depressing state of the Senate impeachment trial was evidently-naturally sad and depressing. Flashes of dictators and coup-like scenarios swam around in my brain, as the Senate supposedly appeared geared to the worst — the vote would go with Republicans, including no witnesses, followed by a quick recquital of a way-way-obviously guilty T-Rump.
However, upon return home and an iPad quick-peruse of the InterWeb news came the incident on many sites — a version at The Week:

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has even more bombshells to offer in his upcoming book.
Not long before President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial was set to resume Friday, The New York Times reported that in Bolton’s book, he alleges Trump in May 2019 directed him to help with a Ukraine pressure campaign.
This would have been two months before Trump’s infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which he pushed for investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
Bolton reportedly writes that during an Oval Office meeting also attended by Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Trump told him “to call Volodymyr Zelensky, who had recently won election as president of Ukraine, to ensure Mr. Zelensky would meet with Mr. Giuliani, who was planning a trip to Ukraine to discuss the investigations that the president sought.”
Bolton writes he did not end up making the call.
The Times notes this would be the “earliest known instance” of Trump taking steps as part of a pressure campaign against Ukraine that would ultimately result in his impeachment.

Once again, a wrench in the fly-wheel. Yet the blast was staggeringly deflected.
Yet in impeachment, Bolton’s second ‘bombshell‘ will not have even a consideration as the votes has already been done. I watched the MSNBC version of the Yea-Nay call this afternoon with the contest ran as near-figured, 49 Senators to okay calling witnesses/documents, 51 voted no — more sham than any shine, a trial without any witnesses or any documents either.
Earlier during a break in the Senate-floor action, before the vote, Brian Williams and Nicolle Wallace were jabbing over a shot of the chamber when they both agreed this whole affair was actually a combo “car wreck, and a dumpster fire.”
And the end result will be the T-Rump skating.

In a tiny, tiny good spot (CNN): ‘Senators would deliver floor speeches on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. And an acquittal vote would occur on Wednesday afternoon — after President Trump’s State of the Union address.’
We can hope for a T-Rump melt down, blubbering vindictive and nasty for the whole world to witness..

I first saw “Seven Days In May‘ when about 14 years old. In 1964, my family was then in Japan located at an Air Force installation on Kyushu, the southmost island. I watched the political thriller at the base theater.
Although now nearly 56 years ago, I do remember thinking on the walk home after the movie of all kinds of conspiratorial scenarios wrapped around the premise of ‘Seven Days in May,‘ that a bunch of DOD high-ranked military types scheme to take control of the US government. Somehow, I also someway worked LBJ and the JFK assassination into the imagined plots, my memory is way-off on details.
Watched the movie again a couple of times in the 1990s, but a long, long time since the last time.
Decent end to the film, though, the generals fail in their endeavor.

Relating to the nowadays, there’s not much chance the overthrow of democracy will come from the military, most of the high-level officers/officials hate the T-Rump — he’s treated them and the intelligence agencies like shit. However, our biggest fear will come from the damage done by the unleashed, unhinged, unconvicted T-Rump, backed to the hilt by his GOP toadies.
In a cinematic sense, an interesting post at First Draft this morning took a look at the situation from the lofty sights of iconic filmmaker, Frank Capra — some bits:

If life were a Capra movie, the eloquence and passion of Adam Schiff and the House Managers would sway the Senate into removing President* Pennywise from office.
If life were a Capra movie, Donald Trump would be played by Edward Arnold who was a wealthy fascist who manipulated the “little people” in Meet John Doe. He would be exposed in the end as a mountebank by Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck.
If life were a Capra movie, Mitch McConnell would be a corrupt Senator played by Claude Rains who could be shamed into doing the right thing in the last reel of the picture.

After a spot-on set of examples, the end:

Unlike real life, Capra movies always had a happy ending.
America’s chance to have a happy ending is on November 3, 2020.
We licked Trumpism in 2018.
It’s time to consign it to the ash heap of history in 2020.
Do it for Longfellow Deeds, Jefferson Smith, Robert Conway, and George Bailey.
Do it for your family, and your friends.
Most of all, do it for America.
She’s in trouble and she needs our help.
End of Capraesque peroration.

Yeah, the election, the last pitch. Republicans have to be eliminated from having any governing authority, destroyed as a political party. Along with the T-Rump, Moscow Mitch has to go, Lindsey Graham, the whole bunch.
The only way…

(Illustration by illustrator and portrait painter, Tim O’Brien, and can be found here)