Inside the Beltway: Impeachment: Bill Clinton had it easier

NEWS AND OPINION:

One headline says it all: “Why can’t Dems treat Trump as fairly as Republicans did Bill Clinton?” asks a New York Post editorial.

But now, against President Trump, “Democrats are rushing to a final impeachment vote before Thanksgiving. They’re deposing witnesses behind closed doors and denying Republicans fair time to ask questions and the right to call their own witnesses — and won’t even release full interview transcripts,” the editorial notes.

“Instead, they’re leaking negative info and withholding favorable facts — feeding fanatically anti-Trump media to repeat slanted interpretations as fact. This is no constitutional effort to get at the full facts: It’s a rush to sell the public on a narrative of presidential wrongdoing,” it continues.

“The White House is entirely right to call out [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi’s game. And her only proper response is to treat her drive to impeach Trump the same way her Republican predecessors did their drive to impeach Clinton. Is she simply afraid to be fair?”

THE HAPPY HILLARY PRESS

The news media is offering sprightly coverage to former first lady, senator, Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who has reemerged on public radar with non-stop commentary against President Trump — including a brag that she could beat Mr. Trump in a White House rematch.

The press is giddy. A few headlines from the past 24 hours:

“Do it, Hillary” (The Week); “Hillary Clinton is joking about running again in 2020, right?” (CNN); “Hillary is the one that got away. But isn’t going away” (The Washington Post); “Who should run against Trump? How about Hillary Clinton?” (The San Francisco Chronicle); “Will Trump persuade Hillary Clinton to run again?” (The National Interest).

ABOUT THOSE ’ENDLESS WARS’

President Trump’s decision to pull back the U.S. military in Syria may be a policy even most Democrats can agree with.

“It is time for us to get out of these ridiculous endless wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home. We will fight where it is to our benefit, and only fight to win,” Mr. Trump said this week.

A Rasmussen poll asked respondents whether they agreed with this statement. A majority did.

“Fifty-eight percent of likely U.S. voters agree with Trump’s statement; just 20% disagree, while 22% are not sure. Even 55% of Democrats agree with the statement, although it is important to note that Rasmussen Reports did not identify Trump as the source of the quotation,” the pollster points out.

Another 69% Republicans and 50% of independents also agree. The survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters was conducted Oct. 7-8.

MEANWHILE IN MINNESOTA

President Trump will be in Minneapolis on Thursday for a jumbo Keep America Great campaign rally with all the trimmings. Oh, but it’s complicated. Lt. Larry Elder, spokesman for the Minneapolis police, says his force for the event has the help of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the University of Minnesota police, Metro Transit police and the State Patrol, as well as local and federal law enforcement agencies.

There’s tension afoot. Thousands of pro-impeachment protesters are expected to show up according to Minnesota Public Radio. In addition, local officials threatened the Trump campaign with a security bill topping $500,000, and the campaign, in turn, threatened to sue the city.

Undaunted fans of Mr. Trump, however, have been assembling outside the venue since Tuesday.

“More than 48 hours before the rally was scheduled to start, President Trump’s supporters began lining up outside the arena. Among the first in line was Dan Nelson, an engineer from Spring Lake Park, Minn. hoping to get a front-row seat. He wants to show the president how much he appreciates Trump’s tax and economic policies,” MPR noted.

HERITAGE FOUNDATION THROWS A PARTY

A significant conservative organization is planning a very upbeat celebration in the nation’s capital. The Heritage Foundation will host an inaugural black tie gala on Oct. 22 titled “Heritage Honors,” hosted by Kay Coles James, president of the group.

Vice President Mike Pence is the keynote speaker; the big night will feature “musical experiences that will bring you to your feet, real-life stories that showcase our American identity and culture, plus a special tribute to Heritage founder Edwin J. Feulner,” the organizers advise.

The program will also launch a new scholarly institute centered on “a compelling vision of American exceptionalism” to share with “all Americans in the spirit of our national motto ’E pluribus unum’ — out of many, one.”

Find information at HeritageHonors.org.

FOXIFIED

Fox News remains the most-watched cable network throughout the day for the 39th consecutive week, according to Nielsen. As it has for over 17 years, Fox News also bested its cable news competition with 2.7 million prime-time viewers, compared to MSNBC with 2 million viewers and CNN with 1 million.

And “Fox & Friends,” co-hosted by Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade, enjoyed its highest-rated week of the year last week with an average of 1.6 million viewers, the biggest audience since the November 2018 midterm elections.

Meanwhile, presentations of “Hannity,” “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” “The Ingraham Angle” and “The Five” made up 19 of the top 40 cable telecasts in total viewers.

POLL DU JOUR

• 65% of Americans have a positive view of capitalism.

• 24% of this group think capitalism “promotes individual opportunity,” 22% call it generally positive for the nation, 20% say it is essential to America and founding values, and 14% say capitalism is a good system but not perfect.

• 33% of Americans have a negative view of capitalism.

• 23% of this group say it benefits only a few or promotes unequal distribution of wealth, 20% say it is “exploitative” or corrupt, 11% have a “general” negative feeling about it, 8% say it undermines the democratic process, 4% say capitalism “can work” but needs better regulation.

Source: A Pew Research Center poll of 10,170 U.S. adults conducted from April 29 to May 13 and released Tuesday.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.