1y ago

CNN Fact-Checker Daniel Dale Takes On Biden Impeachment Point By Point: ‘None of This Evidence Has Appeared’

www.mediaite.com CNN Fact-Checker Daniel Dale Takes On Biden Impeachment Point By Point: ‘None of This Evidence Has Appeared’

CNN's Daniel Dale went through each of the claims made by McCarthy as reasons to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden — and found them lacking for evidence.

Not a big CNN fan, but this is a very well-done dissection.

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The strategy here is to be able to say Biden was impeached, just like Trump was, when it comes to 2024. Devalue the process. Neutralize Trump's impeachments. You say Biden's is illegitimate? So does trump about his.
It doesn't matter to this strategy if the claims have any value. It doesn't matter if they never get voted on, either. Just having an inquiry could be enough.
- Conservatives love this shit. Every time the left starts using a new term, after about a six month lag the right will start using it, but they're so goddamn stupid they don't know what it means so they just use it as a general insult.
  
  They know exactly what it is. But they want to water it down.
  The Trump administration took legitimate concern over fake news stories and changed the idea of "fake news" to be anything that wasn't actively supportive of one's position.
- It's Benghazzzzzzzziiii 2.0.
- The strategy here is to be able to say Biden was impeached, just like Trump was, when it comes to 2024. Devalue the process. Neutralize Trump’s impeachments.
  We as a society have a real problem, when one side loses the culture wars, and decides a pyrrhic victory is the way to go, what happens to all of us then.
- Yep, 100% delegitimizing impeachment that doesn’t include removal from office. Though, they did that with Clinton already.
- Absolutely, minimize the whole concept of impeachment AND if you get any new information, (like Hillary's email server being revealed during Benghazi hearings) that's a bonus.

Turns out that it's extremely difficult to provide damning evidence for imaginary crimes you've dreamed up.

So much emphasis on the FBI 1023 form by people who either have no idea what that form is, or people who intentionally misrepresent what it is:
https://socxfbi.org/SFSA/SFSA/Featured-Articles/Message-from-the-FBI-on-the-FD-1023-Request-from-Congress.aspx
"As many of you know, the FD-1023 is the form our special agents use to record raw, unverified reporting from confidential human sources (CHSs). FD-1023s merely document that information; they do not reflect the conclusions of investigators based on a fuller context or understanding. Recording this information does not validate it, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information known or developed by the FBI in our investigations."
Bolding mine.
It's literally the FBI equivalent of "Some-body once told me..."
- So you're saying McCarthy ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.
  
  He is looking kinda dumb...
  
  And it aint just McCarthy...

The claims against the Bidens haven't really evolved since Giuliani and Bobulinski made them in 2020.
Not sure what impact they expect these claims to have, again, more than 1 year before the next election. Whatever shot they are trying to take, it's going to be long forgotten by autumn 2024.
- They invested so much screentime into this, it's important to keep the flame alive. Same as with Clinthazi in 2016
  
  My mother just posted about Benghazi on Facebook this week again.
- His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
  "A psychological analysis of Adolph Hitler: His Life and Legend" - Walter C. Langer

I've been thinking that fact checking alone is not enough. Are there any projects focused on identifying the sources of false talking points?
- Waste of time. There's tens of millions of people out there willing to make stuff like this up.
  
  I don't think so. Much of it gets funneled or even created from the top.
  I was surprised in 2020 by how many "grassroots" election conspiracy theories became popular because they were promoted by the Trump team.

Is there a punishment to Impeaching without evidence?
- Voters could theoretically get upset at the waste of taxpayer dollars and the distraction from solving the many problems the country faces and vote them out.
  
  In other words, no, because the only thing that maters to the people who vote for them is the little R next to their name. The only way they risk being voted out is if another Republican runs against them.
  
  and vote them out
  That's kind of the flaw in our system that our Forefathers never considered, if the voters become ineffective in doing their job.
  
  ......... BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh you're serious
- Maybe not the impeachment but if any of the accusations are based on reports to police (or the FBI) then "making a false report" to police is a crime and that could be prosecuted.

Don’t give me hope that cnn is going to get some of their integrity back.
- sadly its just a breadcrumb, they'll be back to the Corporate two sides are equal bullshit in the next break
- Yeah, I was gunna say: this impeachment attempt is obvious political theater, but I'm not about to listen to anything CNN has to say about it.
  They're a major part of why politics are all a complete joke now.
  
  I think the downfall of legitimate news was inevitable. When CNN went 24 hours there was a lot of “how can they possibly find enough news to fill all that time?” And it was a legitimate question. The answer is that they can’t. So they manufacture things instead- opinion pieces that sound mysteriously like fact news, panels sitting around supposing what something could mean, interpreting events instead of factual explanations. It became a 24 gossipy talk show. And then even regular regional news followed suit. I don’t even bother to watch the news anymore, because it’s not news. It’s a bunch of jabbering assholes just making noises with their faces.
- Daniel Dale has always been pretty good.

I think Matt GratesOnMyNerves gave away the plot on Ari Melber's show. This is all political theater by McCarthy.

And in related news, duh.

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