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The bad news for Democrats is that the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump is poised to end in a an acquittal without further witnesses. The good news for U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley's teeth is that he can stop chewing ice cubes.
An exhausted Merkley (D-Ore.) is one of three senators featured Thursday in a New York Magazine feature on the logistics of the trial. Merkley tells New York he's taken 50 pages of notes and would structure the evidence into lists before casting his vote on Trump's fate.
This judiciousness is, of course, largely a formality in a partisan trial where the outcome was all but decided before it began. So perhaps you'd prefer to read about Merkley's head cold, and his beef jerky stash? Great! Us too:
Battling a bad cold, Merkley said he felt "very depleted" as a result of the long hours of the trial despite being "normally being very high energy during the day." To cope with this, he said, "I'm doing a fair amount of standing and I'm getting glasses of ice cubes. So I'm crunching on ice cubes." Merkley also said that he kept "little pieces of beef jerky" in his desk drawer. The Oregon Democrat compared the ordeal to being on a long road trip. "This is what I do when I drive," he said. "When I'm on a drive and if I'm tired, I try to have something to sip or to nibble on. It somehow just helps me. Here, in this case, it's ice cubes and standing."
Hang in there, Jeff. It's almost over.