As might have been anticipated, yesterday's Democratic presidential debates were used to spotlight the so-called "impeachment" effort against President Trump.

The very first question was whether the president should be impeached rather than being allowed to run for re-election.

This, needless to say, is a misstatement of the situation, since Trump, with a GOP Senate, faces no danger of being removed from office.

But that didn't stop any of the candidates from going through his paces.  Elizabeth Warren attempted to play the statesm...statesperson, with about the results you'd expect: "This issue is bigger than politics[.] ... This is about Donald Trump, but understand it's about the next president and the next president, and the next president, and the future of this country."

Except for the Democrats, I would venture to add.

Tom Steyer, founder of "Need to Impeach," surprised nobody with his comments.  Kamala Harris reminded the audience that she was a prosecutor and knew a bad'un when she saw one.  Spartacus, for his part, reminded people that he was a senator, perhaps in the belief that they might have forgotten since the last debate.

The most egregious of them all was Joe Biden, the actual man in the hot seat over the Ukraine scandal.  When Old Joe said there is "no choice" but to impeach, the self-control of all present was impressive.  Not a single smile was cracked, nor did anyone look askance at the cameras.  But really, the gall of this display is something unmatched in current politics.  Putting the question to Joe is like putting one of Al Capone's button men on the stand as a character witness.  It's something that's going to end up symbolizing the entire process in much the same way that Nixon's "I am not a crook" did back in the '70s.

I suppose we're lucky that they didn't toss Joe's son, Dindu Nuffin Biden, up on stage to give his opinion.

The sole example of sense was provided by Tulsi Gabbard, who reminded listeners that Trump won the election and that an impeachment would simply divide the country.  There's considerable irony in the fact that Gabbard has repeatedly shown herself as the most sensible of the candidates.  Though people have been too polite to bring it up, Tulsi is a bit of a weirdo, with her involvement in a dubious Krishna cult.  It really says something about the Democrats that a cultist comes across as the most normal of them.

A further irony lies in the fact that this comes the same day that impeachment magicians Pelosi and Schiff were doing their best to put the genii back in the bottle.  Both of them stated publicly that there would be no vote anytime soon on an impeachment inquiry.  This means that until that happens, there will be no impeachment.  It can't be pointed out often enough that the plotters had to strike swiftly, accurately, and hard to succeed.  They have done none of these things, and their impeachment effort, as a result, is in a state of collapse.

The echo of that has evidently not reached the candidates, or the media.  You'd think they'd make sure everybody was on message.  But that may well be the least of their problems.