OP-ED: Democrats' impeachment messaging has completely fizzled

Democrats' impeachment talking points have gone awry. There is nothing to sustain an impeachment, so Democrats have to craft a narrative to support their bogus dream of impeachment.

Remember that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that removal of a president from office is as somber and serious as considering a declaration of war. Yet, the same leftist crew was talking about impeaching Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh over unfounded claims and the unworthiness of President Trump because someone recently claimed Trump stole pancakes (hot cakes anyone?).

But then here comes a complaint from a "whistleblower," who admits that he or she didn't have firsthand knowledge of most of the allegations contained in the complaint. They heard it from someone, who probably heard it from someone else. The theme song of the "whistleblower" is REO Speedwagon's classic Take It On The Run: "Heard it from a friend, who, heard it from a friend, who, heard it from another."

Because there was no wrongdoing on the part of the president, the evidence is nonexistent. The messaging of impeachment-chasing Democrats thus takes on even more importance if they hope to justify removal of Trump to the majority of people who have opposed impeachment and most of the country who approve of Trump's policies.

Let's see how the narrative has held up. Before the transcript of Trump's call with the Ukrainian president was released we were told that Trump threatened him more than a half-dozen times, and that there was a quid pro quo requiring investigation of Joe Biden's son and his illegal conduct or else Trump would withhold appropriated aid for Ukraine.

But that theme started falling apart when the Ukrainian foreign minister said there was no threat nor bribe by Trump, and it crumbled further when Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the same. When the transcript was released, debunking Democrats' narrative completely, all that was left of the quid pro quo story was dust too small to be picked up by an industrial vacuum cleaner.

The nimble Democrats then switched to a new story: The threat wasn't explicit, it was done in the style of a mob boss. The impeachment-mongers claimed clairvoyance and an ability to read between the lines in a way that those who were parties to the conversation simply could not. The public, always smarter than Democrats give them credit for, flushed that narrative down the political toilet.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff tried to revive the original "explicit extortion" narrative by fabricating what he hoped was in the transcript of the telephone conversation, but it wasn't there.

The extortion theme, either explicit or implicit, has now fizzled on Democrats. Having lost their rationale, they are now losing their message focus and discipline. Hillary Clinton is back to claiming that Trump is an illegitimate president, and the elites are all over the bus.

In the end, for Democrats, Trump must be impeached because … well, just because.