Yes, impeachment is a constitutional process, but because nobody expects President Trump to be convicted, this impeachment is mostly a television show — in the genre of reality TV — intended by its creators to influence the November elections for president and Senate.  But Democrats forget at their own peril that President Trump is the most successful reality television producer in the history of the medium.  He not only understands how drama is played out in a way that satisfies mass audiences, but is a practitioner of the dramatic form of reality TV in which real people react to structured situations and act out their roles without following an actual script.  

Students of drama realize that successful shows generally follow a three-act structure, with the first act introducing the characters and an "inciting incident" leading to a dramatic situation, usually a confrontation.  Trump's election and the immediate move to impeach him constitute the first act of this drama.

The second act usually features the protagonist (Trump) trying to resolve the problem introduced in the first act but unable to do so because of rising complications or lack of skills or resources.  The media's lies, the power of the resistance, and Nancy Pelosi' unctuous piety ("I pray for the president") are all notable elements of the second act of this show.

The third act features the resolution of the problem, following a climax in which new truths are discovered, new actions taken by the protagonist, and elements of surprise lead to a satisfying outcome.  In this particular drama, exposure of the lies of Schiff and his media supporters will turn the tables on the attackers, and they will be exposed as the real miscreants and will face their fate: rejection at the polls in November.

Rush Limbaugh gets it.  In the first hour of his show Wednesday, he advocated making Schiff "the center of this so-called trial."

It's painful to watch these people on the Democrat side continue to get away with these mischaracterizations, the outright lies and the out-of-context lies. And one of the biggest ones is their continuing effort to say that Trump wants to act like a dictator, that they quote him as saying, "I'm president. I can do anything I want." And everybody knows that he was talking about firing Mueller in that excerpt.

He was explaining to people Article II gives him the power to run the executive branch. Mueller was special counsel. He could fire Mueller any time he wanted. "I can do anything I want." They have taken that and they have been using it for the past number of months to suggest Trump is saying as president he can do anything he wants about anything. And everybody in that Senate chamber yesterday knows exactly what they're doing.

Schiff was unmasked. He was undressed yesterday. He was exposed as lying big time on the entire characterization, the transcript of the phone call that Trump had with the president of Ukraine, Zelensky. But the theme yesterday from the Democrats was McConnell wants to hold a trial with no evidence. And they're doing things, saying things that they hope will resonate with whoever they think are average, ordinary Americans. (snip)

I really think the Republicans ought to bring Schiff in here and put him front and center and I think they ought to call him. I think they ought to make everything the Democrats are doing related to Adam Schiff. This guy needs to upheld front and center as the energy, the face behind this entire thing, because he'll fold. Folks, he hasn't said much that is the truth since this began.

Many people have documented Schiff's lies.  Let's start with the White House:

5 times Adam Schiff just totally made it up today

Democrats have based their whole impeachment sham on the word and judgement of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who pleaded the left's case for 2 ½ hours before the Senate today. Spoiler alert: That wasn't a good idea.

Schiff is the worst choice to put in front of Americans fed up with Washington's partisan circus. His only real priority is attacking President Trump, and he's more than happy to resort to lies, leaks, and whatever else it takes to do it.

In September, during a House Intelligence Committee hearing, Schiff made headlines by fabricating a completely made-up version of the July 25th phone call between President Trump and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Then, news broke that Schiff's staff had behind-the-scenes contact with the "whistleblower" at the center of the impeachment probe before that complaint was ever even filed.

"We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower," Schiff had claimed before the truth caught up with him. Oops — not the best person to stake Democrats' credibility on.

Today was no different. Schiff's one-sided impeachment report — the document that serves as the basis for Democrats' entire case — is nothing but a partisan hatchet job. Rather than draw more attention to their flimsy, fake "investigation," Schiff chose to deflect and make up more lies about President Trump. Here are a few of the biggest ones:

·       Schiff claims that President Trump endorsed the theory that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election. FACT: President Trump has publicly said, very clearly, that he accepts the conclusion of the intelligence community that Russia interfered in 2016.

·       Schiff says that President Trump withheld an Oval Office meeting from President Zelenskyy. FACT: President Trump invited President Zelenskyy to the White House — with no preconditions — on THREE occasions: April 21, May 29, and July 25. They met at the first opportunity, at the UN General Assembly.

·       Schiff once again brought up claims of a "quid pro quo." FACT: Notice what's not in Democrats' articles of impeachment? Allegations or accusations of a quid pro quo. They couldn't include that claim — because no such arrangement existed.

·       BONUS: Schiff completely misrepresented what Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said about foreign policy, Chris Wallace says.

For years, Schiff lied about the Russia hoax, claiming there was evidence of collusion only to be proven wrong by the Mueller Report. This time, House Democrats learned their lesson: Why risk letting the facts get in the way? Impeach first, investigate later — or beg the Senate to do it for them.

As the late night commercials tell us, "But wait!  There's more."

Chris Wallace of Fox News, no fan of President Trump, yesterday confronted Schiff for totally misrepresenting what Mick Mulvaney said in his now infamous press conference.  This video lasts 94 seconds, but The Right Scoop summarizes:

... Wallace notes that Schiff quoted the line "just get over it" from Mick Mulvaney's infamous press conference. But Wallace points out that Mulvaney was only referring to the fact that there is a political bent to their foreign policies, just like there was under Obama and previous presidents.

Schiff, he seemed to indicate, was using it to suggest Mulvaney was saying everyone should "just get over it" referring to the quid pro quo. But Wallace said that's not what Mulvaney said and criticized Schiff for "completely misrepresenting" Mulvaney's comments.

Matt Morgolis of PJMedia chronicles "The Top Seven Lies Adam Schiff Has Told to Boost Impeachment." Check them out.

But what elevates Schiff from a liar into a Bond villain is his (and his allies among the Democrats and the media) intention to delegitimize the election coming in November. Here is the relevant portion of his two and half days hours presentation yesterday (rush transcript via Grabien)

On the basis of this egregious misconduct, the House of Representatives returned two articles against the president. First charging that President Trump corruptly abused the powers of the presidency to solicit foreign interference in the upcoming presidential election for his personal and political benefit. Second, President Trump obstructed an impeachment inquiry into that abuse of power in order to cover up his misconduct. The House did not take this extraordinary step lightly. As we will discuss, impeachment exists for cases on which the conduct rises beyond mere policies disputes to be decided otherwise and without urgency at the ballot box. Instead, we are here today to consider a much more grave matter, and that is an attempt to use the powers of the presidency to cheat in an election. For precisely this reason, the President's misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won. In corruptly using his office to gain a political advantage, in abusing the powers of that office in such a way to jeopardize our national security and the integrity of our elections, in obstructing the investigation into his own wrongdoing, the President has shown that he believes that he is above the law and scornful of constraint.

David Marcus of The Federalist distills the message:

Schiff is flat out telling voters that if Trump is not removed from office they should question the fairness of the outcome of the next election.

This is the corner the Democrats have painted themselves into. The Mueller investigation failed, this impeachment has failed to gain bipartisan support or even anything approaching a strong polling majority, and now when the impeachment trial inevitably fails, they will resort to arguing that their thwarted efforts have rendered the upcoming election corrupt.

This is the madness in all of this. A dispute in the White House as to whether to put a temporary hold on a foreign aid package that was released by the deadline has turned into a vast conspiracy that will the undermine the most important election in America. It is a deranged theory.

On the basis of no evidence at all, Schiff is seeking to turn American from a nation proud of its unbroken record of a peaceful handover of power to political rivals into a banana republic in which legitimate elections are disputed by the loser. A rising tide of political violence against Trump supporters, starting with the attempted assassination of a large number of House Republicans, and ongoing Antifa attacks, lends urgency to the specter.

Schiff is an unappealing figure with his bug eyes and pencil neck.

Twitter video screen grab.

He is perfect for a villain.  And he has already gone to the casting call and won the part.