The House of Representatives censured Adam Schiff on a 213–209 party-line vote on Wednesday.

The censure stems from Schiff aggressively pushing numerous false claims, especially the one devised and paid for by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign that her political opponent colluded with the Kremlin in an effort to gain the most powerful elected office in the land.

Schiff Peddled the Russia Collusion Hoax

This space does not allow for a comprehensive, seriatim list of Schiff’s false statements. A few lowlights include his displaying a rewritten text message regarding Jan. 6 and falsely depicting it as the words of a colleague; peddling preposterous claims that Trump campaign aide Carter Page held secret meetings with Vladimir Putin’s inner circle; and insisting to Chuck Todd, who appeared incredulous, on MSNBC that he reviewed evidence beyond “circumstantial” that indicated that Donald Trump was in cahoots with the Kremlin to steal the 2016 presidential election.

“Actually no, Chuck, I can tell you that the case is more than that,” he maintained in contradicting both the host and the then-stance of former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. “I can’t go into the particulars, but there is more than circumstantial evidence now.”

The censure notes that Schiff “occupied positions of extreme trust, affording him access to sensitive intelligence unavailable to most Members of Congress” but “abused this trust by alleging he had evidence of collusion that, as is clear from reports by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and Special Counsel Durham, never existed.”

Schiff Celebrated by Fellow Dems

The demagoguery struck Schiff’s colleagues as so beyond odious as to merit condemnation. Schiff, though, did not hang his head in shame. In a sign of the times, he became the jolly good fellow.

When you lie to Congress, you face criminal charges. When Congress lies to you, they now face pats on the back and cheers.

Schiff enjoyed just that in a scene reminiscent of when a teenage Henry Hill emerged from the courtroom in Goodfellas to a mob of mobsters celebrating him for not ratting them out. The current politician code that draws a celebratory crowd for its adherents involves sticking by the Big Lie.

“I wear this partisan vote as a badge of honor,” the California representative said after the House censured him. His Democratic colleagues chanted “shame,” patted him on the back, and congratulated him on becoming the 25th House member in 234 years to receive this public disapproval from colleagues. Think of the spectacle as a four-decades-in-the-making reinterpretation of Gerry Studds literally turning his back on the House of Representatives after his censure.

Contempt of the Opposition a Win for Schiff

The rewards likely do not stop there.

Rich irony comes in the consequences for the censure for sowing such division through lies. The bitterness engendered by Schiff’s whoppers, which dragged the nation into such incredibly bitter times — with millions of eager-to-believe partisans investing in his lie that a president relied on a foreign power to gain his office — ensures that Democrats love him more, not less.

Schiff, of course, is running for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat. His campaign manager silently thanks the Republicans. So does his fundraiser. In a Democratic primary in deep-blue California, this helps so much that the Federal Election Commission should demand House Republicans declare their in-kind campaign contribution.

One sees a mirror image of this phenomenon in Donald Trump. The more Democrats impeach him, slander him, and indict him, the more Republican voters race to his side.

For both Democrats and Republicans, the key to popularity now comes not from fidelity to, and effectiveness in advancing, the party platform but in winning the compliment of contempt from the opposition. Republicans determine who Democrats love, and Democrats determine who Republicans love.

Division, fostered and festered by Schiff playing P.T. Barnum to the collusion hoax, largely created this unhealthy, negative dynamic. And this unhealthy, negative dynamic necessarily fosters further division.

Our politics occupies ugly ground. Worse, it perpetually boards the Ryder truck, moving rapidly but to the observer in slow-motion, to inhabit a still uglier place.

Something wickeder this way comes.