Normally, I consider the day-by-day contempt of the Portland Press Herald for all persons and things conservative just part of its everyday journalistic routine and business as usual. Part of that bias is always selecting editorials and columns from The Washington Post to place on its editorial and op-ed pages, because it seems the Post hates President Trump and all things conservative even more than the Press Herald does.

However, I was absolutely stunned to see that this paper published a Post editorial last Saturday, essentially exonerating FBI agent Peter Strzok and claiming that bringing him before two House oversight committees “damaged our democracy’s health.”

I watched every minute of these hearings. Strzok was clearly shown to be a liar by the Republicans, despite Democrats interrupting them constantly to protect him. Strzok has a huge chip on his shoulder and a slew of text messages showing his hatred of Trump and huge admiration for Hillary Clinton.

It seems very clear – based on his texts as well as the timing of these texts and actions – that this FBI agent was actively trying to ensure Trump was not elected, and once Trump was elected, was then trying to remove him. Yet the Post has the unbridled audacity to claim these hearings were a “hyperpartisan farce,” and that Strzok putting his thoughts into text messages was just “poor judgment.”

Once again, the mainstream media have shown that no matter what the evidence is or how much of it there is in a potential serious criminal act, if it is being levied against a Washington politician – or, in this case, an FBI agent – who espouses approved liberal values and political viewpoints, then the charges are just partisan hyperbole, taken out of context, so “let’s move on, there is nothing to see here.”

That, in fact, is really what is “damaging our democracy’s health.”

Dave Johnson

Kennebunk