[cyncooper]

That's interesting, but the dem/media referred to "hauling" witnesses before the grand jury to convey that they were being unfairly summoned by an out of control Starr and that's what I was saying.

Here are some examples:

The Players Pro-Clinton

excerpt:

Sydney Blumenthal
Journalist-turned-White House-communications specialist, Blumenthal was hauled before Starr's grand jury when the independent counsel suspected Blumenthal's damage control might be tantamount to obstruction of justice.

~snip~

Inside Starr And His Operation

excerpt:

Starr's use of his subpoena powers also strikes some critics as overkill. The parade of witnesses that Starr hauled before a grand jury last week included sympathetic figures like Betty Currie, Clinton's personal secretary.

~snip~

There are more examples available. It was not the misuse of an arcane word, but a deliberate message that the grand jury was abusing its power.

[firebrand]

Oh sure. I knew what you meant. It was a misuse that they liked. It made more sense to them as "hauled." Or they preferred the misuse because of its propaganda value.

Unfortunately, the dictionaries have become so spineless that they now recognize "haul" as acceptable--a word that changes the meaning utterly and politically. So the writers and publishers can claim they are using the word "correctly." One of my biggest complaints about Merriam-Webster and the other dictionaries.