Bernie Sanders: TV networks have completely ignored this huge issue...

[Jim Lane]

6. This is a predictable result of the secrecy

TV news staffer to editor: I'd like to do a piece on the TPP.
Editor: What's in the agreement?
Staffer: We don't exactly know yet. There've been leaks of drafts but the actual text hasn't been officially confirmed.
Editor: Let's wait until we have something more solid.

I'm just guessing at the conversations that have occurred, but my guess is based on what we've seen from TPP apologists here on DU. Late-stage drafts that reflect more than four years of negotiation are dismissed on the basis that they might be completely changed by the time an agreement is finalized. Some posters' implication is that serious analysis and discussion can't begin until then.

Of course, once the agreement is finalized and released, the administration will hope to get it approved on fast-track. That means that there just won't be enough time for that process of analysis and discussion. The process should include the mobilization of public opinion, but, for the reason Sanders points out, many people currently haven't even heard of TPP.