It's even worse than it appears.
Thursday October 31, 2019; 9:58 AM EDT
  • NPR isn't reporting the news, they're reporting Republican spin.#
  • For example this morning they talked for a half hour about the impeachment inquiry as a partisan issue, repeating the Republican claim that it's bad for the inquiry to be private. They said the Democrats in 1998 had the same objection, which wasn't true, because then there was a special prosecutor, Ken Starr, who did his inquiry in private before issuing his public report. As far as I know the Democrats never said this inquiry should be held in public. Even if they had it wouldn't have been. There are rules about the process designed to protect the accused and the process. NPR never presented the other side, how this all looks from the point of view of the Democrats, or more importantly, the Constitution, which is really what Trump has offended. (Could they cover a story without it being totally and inappropriatey partisan?)#
  • This is why the hearings have been private. #
    • The DoJ wouldn't appoint a special prosecutor, so the House had to do it themselves.#
    • Such inquiries are private to protect the accused because, if there is no indictment, they want to limit damage.#
    • They want testimony to be private so the witnesses can't get their stories aligned.#
  • The Repubs also complained, through their NPR voice, that the president should have been given a chance to present his evidence. He was given the chance, and chose to try to obstruct the process instead of participating. Makes the Republican complaint seem hollow. #

© 1994-2019 Dave Winer.

Last update: Thursday October 31, 2019; 8:25 PM EDT.

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