In basketball, "flopping" is a diversionary tactic when a player is either barely touched by an opponent, or not touched at all, but then throws him or herself down to the ground in the hopes of fooling the referees into calling a personal foul and setting up a free throw.

It's a desperation move, usually made when one's team is losing, which relies little on athletic ability and far more on acting skills.

But basketball players are not the only ones to "flop."

Professor Karlan makes a harmless pun that merely mentions the name of Trump's son--Boom! She was "mocking" Barron Trump!

Representative Schiff paraphrases the readout of phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky--Boom! He was "falsifying the record" and ought to be "impeached" for "treason"!

Lieutenant Colonel Vindman raises concern about the substance of the Trump-Zelensky call--he's a "foreign agent"!

A whistleblower--still not yet identified--reports via proper channels his concerns about the call--He/she is supporting a "coup" against Trump and must be publically identified, mocked, and humiliated!

The reason why Trumpists do all of this is quite simple and transparent--the evidence against Trump is so completely damning that they're desperate to create any sort of counternarrative that will distract the public away from the facts. It's what they've tried to do with the whole IG report and ridiculous claims that the 2016 Trump campaign was "illegally spied upon;" thankfully, it appears from initial reports the IG did not take the bait.

It's why they want to make this most recent episode all about Joe and Hunter Biden and Crowdstrike and the DNC and poor Alexandra Chalupa whose name gets dropped by Republicans left and right even though she did little more than help bring out some facts that showed Paul Manafort's criminal behavior.

They're "flopping."

We, the People, are the refs.

Don't buy it.