Easing into his opening remarks on the second full day of the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Trump, Representative Adam Schiff, the lead House manager, took a moment to engage in some tactical flattery, thanking Chief Justice John Roberts for having presided over “a very long day.”

One could not fault the chief justice for being weary. Tuesday’s marathon brawl over the rules of the trial, extending well past midnight, offered a bracing glimpse of what he can look forward to in the coming days: pettiness, partisanship, preening, dissembling and enough outrage, faux and genuine, to unnerve a lesser man. In the wee hours, the fight got so raw he had to scold both sides for excessive jerkiness. “Those addressing the Senate should remember where they are,” he warned.

There’s no way such antics would be tolerated across the street at the Supreme Court. But, having already spent his morning on court business, the chief justice was trapped outside his comfort zone for the next 12 hours, exposed to the TV cameras, overseeing 11 acrimonious show votes fated to fail. With no cellphones allowed, he couldn’t even prank text R.B.G.

Thankfully, Wednesday’s proceedings proved more substantive and subdued, as Mr. Schiff and his team opened their case for removing the president. The seven House managers have 24 total hours, spread over three days, to try to persuade 67 senators to vote to convict. Their odds of success are seen as roughly the same as Bernie Sanders asking Hillary Clinton to be his running mate. Nevertheless, they persisted.