Moby Dick

As the impeachment circus drones on for yet another day, the Democrats have chosen their word for the day—"bribery." On cue, their media hamsters repeat the word over and over and over again as Dem politicians put on their somber face and tell us that the Republic in under threat because of a phone call. If you are to believe the sadly deranged Dems, foreign aid had now become a "bribe," meaning that every president in the past 100 years is guilty of "bribery." But no matter, it's just one ring in the circus tent.

Today, a fired ambassador will tell us that she didn't feel safe because Trump or Rudy or somebody were mean to her. Oh my, it looks like this supposed diplomatic professional has decided she's a snowflake who can't abide by palace intrigue. Um ... maybe she's in the wrong profession?

As the nonsense continues, Kim Strassel summarizes:

Democrats laid out their best case for removing Donald J. Trump from office, repeatedly using words like “extortion,” “bribery” and “abuse of power.” Mr. Trump was accused of “presidential misconduct,” of a “shakedown scheme” and of “corruption.” He was said to have broken the law and violated the Constitution. Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro analogized the president’s actions to “attempted murder.”

What else is new? The left has been leveling similar claims since before Mr. Trump was elected. When a party spends three years baselessly accusing a president of everything from being a Russian mole to obstructing justice, from profiting off the presidency to abusing security clearances and cheating on his taxes, that party loses the credibility to say: Really, this time, we mean it. Democrats didn’t lose the war for hearts and minds on Wednesday. They lost it three years ago.

Those hearts and minds are the only prize here. The media will continue to imbue this event with gravity, to report every bit of testimony as more “bombshell” evidence against Mr. Trump. But impeachment is a political process, so the measure of its “success” is whether its supporters can convince a bipartisan majority of the country that Mr. Trump took an action worthy of removal from office. Nothing in Wednesday’s hearing came close, and the Democrats took their best shot.

The FiveThirtyEight blog offers a useful polling tracker that broadly sums up public opinion on impeachment. Aside from a bump in favor in late September, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her semiformal impeachment inquiry, the ensuing weeks of testimony and leaks have barely moved the needle. Instead positions have hardened. Democrats overwhelming support impeachment; Republican overwhelmingly oppose it. A majority of independents continue to oppose it. And a Politico/Morning Consult poll this week found that 81% of voters say there is no or little chance they will change their minds about the proceedings.

81 percent. And yet the Dems slog onward.

Like the obsessed and insane Captain Ahab of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, the Dems look at Trump as their while whale and will pursue him until their ship sinks. Blub, blub.