Stories are freighted with an inherent power to influence, persuade, even form perceptions from whole cloth among those who hear them. Were it not so, Hollywood would be just another town.

It is that raw power that has taught us to exercise extreme caution when we hear stories claimed to be faithful retellings of provable facts.

For that reason, we raise the bar when the story involves the alleged commission of a crime. We set and maintain a high standard for evidence of the accusation throughout legal proceedings — wisely seeking to strip the "story" of its inherent power and see if it still stands when reduced to the skeletal frame of actual fact.

These legal requirements and protections cannot be abridged without inviting unfairness to sit as the presiding judge.

The Democrats have been telling a story. The Republicans have noted (quite properly in my view) that this particular story has quickly morphed from mere political maneuvering into grave legal proceeding, and as such can no longer be permitted to hide beneath cloaks of insinuation, emotion, and supposition.

They have rightfully demanded that the "story" be stripped, so all can see clearly whether there is indeed a skeleton of facts, or merely a rush of hot air keeping the story upright, like some grotesque inflatable yard decoration.

The rules of order have been twisted and warped by the House Democrats to prevent the examination of the story. Legal prohibitions on conduct have been disregarded, longstanding rules of evidence dismissed, all to protect the story from revealing its framework.

Make no mistake: there is hard evidence to be presented, examined, and adjudicated. It just isn't to be found among the slanderous ephemera the Democrats are calling a case for impeachment.

The hard evidence is on the side of the president. With the life of the Democrats' "story" dependent on the concealment of the actual evidence, it's no wonder the Left has once again resorted to rigging the game.

While watching some of the debate on the articles of impeachment, I couldn't help but think I was watching the political equivalent of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The notion of collegiality and fair play among rivals that once suffused congressional proceedings is long dead, replaced by slathering, snapping, wolfish assaults on the truth.

Attempting to subvert the will of the people (as expressed through our electoral process) by creating impeachable offenses out of whole cloth is not merely a breach of decorum, a "mistake," or "wrong-headed." It's sedition.

The behavior of the Democrat party over the last decade has been that of an overt criminal enterprise, using the power of government to shield themselves from prosecution while engaging in eye-popping levels of corruption.

The articles and charges put forward by the Democrats spring from a laughable pretext, requiring a willful suspension of rational thought to accept.

Presumably, those elected to office as Democrats are not so intellectually disabled as to be unable to see through the obvious charade, a reality that leaves only one other conclusion to explain their behavior: they are fully and knowingly engaged in this seditious scheme and intend to reap the benefits of absolute power should they succeed.

This is not the behavior of a political party. These are not the activities of a "loyal opposition," but rather the acts of an organized revolutionary element attempting to overthrow our government.

It is my opinion that the Democrat party has rendered itself illegitimate in the extreme by not only crossing the line of illegality, but by obliterating it entirely.

I ask you, how do we move on from this?

How does our Republic function when so deeply infested with "enemies domestic"? Is it possible to trust the Democrats again? I cannot.

What are we to do? Disband the Democrat party and ban them from fielding candidates? Were that even an option, I don't believe it necessary. There is a better way.

There must be a reckoning for this grotesque molestation of our body politic. There must be a full accounting of misbehavior; lawlessness; sedition; and yes, even treason. Anything less will simply permit the cancer to metastasize and attack anew.

The Democrat party of today cannot and will not police itself. Its leadership is wormy, its rank and file either deluded or devoid of respect for law. I ask every Democrat I encounter the same question and still marvel at the non-answers given.

"Seeing this, knowing this, how can you remain silent as they rape our nation in your name, with your tacit approval? Worse yet, doesn't your vote for them amount to getting in line to take your turn at the victim?"

This episode has revealed a virus that threatens to kill us all unless destroyed. There are numerous ideologies that are antithetical to liberty, utterly incompatible with a Constitutional Republic, and chief of these is socialism (and its associated collectivist, state-worshiping siblings).

The lure of unfettered power brings on a particular madness in those who fail to inoculate themselves against it. Socialism relies on this madness to gain and expand power. Indeed, it cannot exist without it. It brutally enforces restrictions on contrary speech, lest its adherents develop a natural resistance to the madness.

The Democrat party have succumbed to the madness and, now fully insane, will brook no opposition to their aim of absolute power with which they will rid the world of selfish individuality and replace it with ordered utopia. None of this is acceptable under our form of government.

Understand this: socialism requires the overthrow of our government, the very definition of a grave, prosecutable offense under 18 U.S. Code §2385.

It's time to arrest, prosecute, and imprison those involved in this coup at all levels, regardless of party. Their punishments must be severe, crushing, and public if we hope to deter any further adventurism by the thousands of would-be Napoleons of the Deep State bureaucracy.

It's time to reform the civil service code to facilitate the immediate removal of any member of government engaged in the abuse of his position by commission or omission.

It's past time to declare advocating ideologies that require the overthrow of our form of government as a crime punishable under 18 U.S. Code §2385.

It's time to inoculate our body politic against the lure of absolute power by administering the vaccine of accountability under the law.

If there remains any vestige of the Democrat party afterward, I'll be surprised.

The author writes from Omaha, Nebraska and welcomes visitors to his website DailyHerring.com.