Peggy Noonan's piece on the impeachment needle moving against President Trump is still drawing a lot of criticism for her claim that "of course" Trump will be impeached and public sentiment is turning against him.

I was a bit less angry about it than most, because, as I noted here, her forecast is highly conditional, premised on a very big "if" that the plan will work only if Democrats conduct impeachment in a fair manner, with open and honest proceedings.

They aren't. Thus far, fairness is a nonstarter, and as word of the sneaky and rigged one-party impeachment by leaks process gets out, some polls show that the negative public sentiment toward Trump is starting to dissipate. The needle is starting to move the other way.

Democrats don't have a case against Trump and never did, any more than they had a magic bullet against Trump with the Mueller investigation.

One thing leaps out, rabbit-like: the speed with which their impeachment hearing is being conducted. They don't have any real "crime" here, yet they're desperate to prove one anyway.

Axios yesterday had an excellent chart showing how quickly the impeachment process is moving against Trump compared to other presidents. I didn't have time to ask for permission to use the chart, so click on to their site to see how stunning the timelines are. They report:

For Richard Nixon, it was 599 days for the inquiry.

For Bill Clinton, it was 260 days.

For Trump, well, Trump got 11 days.

This firstly shows that embittered Democrats still fuming about 2016 have been like dry tinder, rushing to judgment in their quest to overturn the 2016 election.

But it's not just their rage fueling this micro-timeline, unconcerned with getting all the facts, either.

The Federalist had an excellent report out by David Marcus pointing out that they were proceeding at breakneck speed because of political concerns: they're terrified that a delayed impeachment trial will interfere with their Iowa caucus prospects. Take a look:

According to multiple news outlets on Monday, House Democrats have conceded that they are very unlikely to conclude their impeachment inquiry and vote on articles by Thanksgiving, their original preferred timeline. They cited scheduling difficulties and new evidence of potential wrong doing by the White House as main reasons for the delay. Democrats now say that they hope to be ready for a vote by Christmas, but waiting that long to resolve the matter in the House and send it over to the Senate is rife with problems, which was why Democrats wanted it to be wrapped up by Thanksgiving in the first place. If articles of impeachment were passed near Christmas, the Senate would be unable to begin a trial until inside of one month before the Iowa caucus on Feb, 3rd. With 5 of the top Democratic contenders serving currently in the Senate, an impeachment trial could badly gum up the works in the Democratic primary. According to the New York Times, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries addressed the delay by saying, "Just the facts, baby. If we tell that story with simplicity and repetition, the American people will understand why the president must be held accountable. If we don't then there is great uncertainty, and in that vacuum Donald Trump may find himself escaping accountability again."

So this explains the breakneck speed of the impeachment operation, which isn't bothering with niceties such as getting facts straight. They're holding the inquiry in secret, Soviet-style, and they're getting their "narrative" out by leaks and repetition, shutting off all fact-finding in favor of the demented but politically useful "narrative."

Is this a fair impeachment? Not one factor here suggests it is.