Nothing illustrates our nation’s division better than the recent primetime January 6th hearing. The mainstream media uniformly promoted the show and then gave it lavish praise. The “never Trump” old Republican establishment joined in approval. How you view the presentation tells what side of the country’s divide you reside.

Like many Americans, I was horrified as people broke into the Capitol. The first thing that crossed my mind was where is the president, and why isn’t he addressing the situation? There is no question Trump’s failure to act immediately was abominable. We all saw his dereliction. The house looking at his actions or lack thereof impeached him.

Not satisfied by the impeachment’s failure, the house set up a select committee to look into the happenings of January 6th. With all the unanswered questions, this is reasonable. If the FBI knew the possibility of violence, why weren’t measures taken? Shouldn’t there have been a significant police presence with a vast crowd? What was everybody doing from the president on down? 

Most significant events involve a broader context. We knew who was responsible for Pearl Harbor, but did all our battleships need to be huddled in the harbor every weekend? What was the intelligence? We have historians and archaeologists to explore the bigger picture. 

Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi has a narrow agenda for the committee. Establish Trump’s quilt and condemn his “Maga Crowd.” support. Of course, Republicans on the committee were bound to expand the inquiry and might offer some defense of Trump. Opposing minority leader Mcarthy’s committee selections, Pelosi took the unheard action of appointing compliant Republican members. Disrespecting, the elected minority leader transformed the committee into a partisan rump. 

A Democratic show Trial is the last thing any Republican hoping to have a political future is about to support. Vice-chair Liz Cheney, standing in tandem with Adam Schiff to condemn fellow Republicans, is a political death wish. Republicans associate Schiff with the long-running Russian collusion hoax. He’s the one who claimed he saw the evidence. This claim is false. Republicans will never forget his lies. The other docile Republican on the committee, Adam Kinzinger, is already leaving elective office. It’s hard to imagine an action further dividing the parties than Pelosi’s selections.

What mystifies me is what the Democrats hope to accomplish with these hearings. Preventing Trump from running again, legally or by destroying him in the public’s eyes, would leave the Democrats without their best chance of winning in ’24. 

The aging and increasing incoherent ex-president is the most accessible candidate to defeat. Biden won because he wasn’t Trump. In 2020, I warned Trump’s actions were undermining his campaign. He then laid the groundwork to lose two Georgia senate seats. An older man who lost his fastball. Even before 1/6, his judgment was highly questionable.

If I were a Democrat, I would desire to run against an older man, especially after the country has suffered from the present septuagenarian’s failure. Further, Trump always rubbed a big part of the country the wrong way. 

A younger Republican able to harness the anger of Trump voters and the nation’s desire to distance from Biden’s disasters would be much harder to face than Trump. The only Republicans to lose out in this scenario are those on record supporting these flawed hearings. From the Lincoln Project, the Dispatch, and numerous self-styled right-of-center pundits who buttressed this partisan committee will remain on the outside looking in.

Maybe in the face of the Biden administration’s failures, the Democrats feel they have to change the subject. Not talking directly about our numerous present problems by fixating on the past will only alienate the public. Putting the hearings on the front page while burying an attempted supreme court justice assassination on page 20 only exposes you as out-of-touch. These hearings will prove to be another Democratic mistake among many.