Some progressives are beginning to scratch the surface of an alternative — but equally cynical — analysis that I think leftists ought to consider:

Trump's impeachment is a DNC/centrist coup attempt against progressives inside the Democratic Party.

Democrats could have launched impeachment proceedings over any number of more compelling issues: Trump's child separation policy at the border, the Muslim travel ban, emoluments, the president's erratic behavior on social media. Why the Ukraine/Biden affair?

The House inquiry is hardly ideal from a framing perspective. The only conceivable reason that the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma hired Vice President Joe Biden's screw-up drug addict alcoholic son, with zero experience in the energy sector, to sit on its board of directors for $50,000 a month was that he was the vice president's son. Vox notes that "the situation constituted the kind of conflict of interest that was normally considered inappropriate in Washington." Pre-impeachment, no one knew about this sleaze.