The legal ignoramuses and their minions in Congress who today opened Act One: The Impeachment are embarrassing the United States on the global stage.  Does any of them possess more than a double-digit I.Q.? 

Their hysteria and idiocy are reminiscent of a children's fable, Henny Penny, written by Joseph Jacobi in London, over 100 years ago.

Something fell on the chicken Henny Penny's head — possibly an acorn — and she then decrees that the sky is falling.  Off she goes "to tell the king."  Along the way, other barnyard animals fall in line, such as Ducky Duddles, Turkey Lurkey, and Goosey Poosey.  Soon, the assortment of succulent animals meet Foxy Woxy.  Pretending to go along, Foxy Woxy really intends to eat the gullible mob.  They escape, the king is not "told," and life in animal land goes on. 

Sound familiar? 

Aside from the fact that hearsay evidence is not better than direct evidence, that the "star witnesses" have no direct evidence, that the Ukrainians have disavowed the quid pro quo story, and that President Trump has a duty to see where our U.S. aid dollars are funneled, we have heard repeatedly that it is immoral, if not illegal, to ask foreign entities to investigate American citizens.  Oh, really?

Obviously, self-anointed sages are not familiar with "John Doe subpoenas."  In a civil lawsuit, John Doe subpoenas allow a private plaintiff to bring an action against an unidentified defendant.  The ensuing legal process is used to discover the defendant's identity.  Our government also uses this technique — but in a far broader and more draconian fashion.  Internationally!

Since 2008, under then-president Obama, the IRS used John Doe subpoenas to catch U.S. citizens with offshore untaxed bank accounts.  Highly targeted countries included Switzerland, Hong Kong, Malta, Belize, and the United Kingdom.  However, these subpoenas cover more than the daily financial activities of Americans living abroad.  Rather, they encompass every single banking event involving an American, even the one-off cashing of a check by an American tourist who has run out of cash. 

Why do all these foreign banks comply?  Because the IRS has made it abundantly clear to all foreign governments and banking entities that noncompliance is dealt with the immediate and total blocking of the foreign bank's entry into the entire American banking and financial systems. 

So about that claim of foreign intervention into Americans?  Poof.

Graphic credit: Nick Youngson.