evidence: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy talks to reporters at the Capitol on September 14, 2023, about launching an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. J. Scott Applewhite/AP "Sentence first—verdict afterwards." So declared the Queen of Hearts during the trial of the Knave of Hearts (for allegedly stealing tarts) in Alice in Wonderland. This approach, which Lewis Carroll meant to symbolize the height of absurdism, seems an apt description of how the House Republicans are proceeding with an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. [...] Not to pick on the New York Times—but why not, since everyone does. When House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced on Tuesday that he was initiating an impeachment inquiry of Biden without a House vote, the Times covered his declaration on the front-page. The headline blared, "McCarthy Opens Inquiry of Biden, Appeasing Right." In the opening paragraphs, the article focused on the internal GOP politics, reporting that McCarthy was doing this to appease far-right lawmakers and "quell a brewing rebellion among ultraconservative critics."