>As an aside: this "impeach" meme. In Western modes of justice, after a crime is established then impeachment might be considered. In totalitarian and other repressive regimes, the intention to press charges/impeach is declared and then investigation persists until a suitable crime is established. Which do you advocate?

In proper totalitarian regimes, the investigation only makes a list of people who'll be pressed into testifying, and writes them into the scenario. Then the curtain is raised and a show trial is run with full publicity, on trumped up charges (and not even this pun will be pardoned).

The russian trump card (another pun which won't be pardoned) was just about the worst move the dems could have played, which I don't know what it is a proof of - of their incompetence or of their panic. They truly look like a dog near a dog's poop in a hallway, with "it was the Russians" in the caption. Doing this, they have largely destroyed the chance of bringing up other, more plausible and probably provable charges against Trump. They blew the big cannon first, to no effect but to make themselves look like... themselves. Now nothing will be taken seriously. It crosses my mind that there was some background deal on this, but completely unclear on what did they think to gain.