Prediction: The J6 Committee Hearings Won't Move the Needle

Let us concede that the Watergate hearings of 1973 were a tactical masterstroke. They got rid of the monster populist Richard Nixon and all who sailed with him.

And then Democrats won the 1976 election, which would be a normal change election after two presidential terms with the other party in the White House.

Then the Democrats lost it in 1980 because stagflation (and actually probably because, a day late and a dollar short, the Fed was finally starting to fight inflation).

Stagflation. Gosh, that sounds familiar. I wonder why.

So tactically, the Dems won one in 1973. Strategically, it was a wash. And I would like to suggest that, maybe, if there hadn't been a Watergate hearings then Ronald Reagan would not have won in 1980. Just sayin'.

So, what exactly is the J6 Committee hearing all about? To blacken the Republican Party? To "get Trump?" To flush out all the lizards of the Trump administration? To stop the Proud Boys in their tracks? To win the next presidential election?

See, it would be one thing if Trump were still in office, and presiding over double-digit inflation, and, in the opinion of all right-thinking people, had completely messed up the COVID response. But you chaps got rid of him, by fair means or 2000 Mules foul, back in November 2020. So your Dem partisans got the red meat they wanted already. And GOP partisans are all energized by the Big Lie -- you know, the one about the 2020 election begin completely above board, nothing to see here and if you object you are an armed insurrectionist.

Oh, and this just in from The New York Times. "Fox News Doesn't Plan to Carry Jan. 6 Hearings Live." Waat? How Dare They!

And that's another thing to consider, Dem partisans. Back in 1973, all good people were shocked, shocked by the Watergate break in and coverup. And there was only one narrative available, on CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS. Today, GOP voters don't believe a word they hear from MSNBC and CNN and The New York Times. And with the advent of cable and streaming, people just aren't watching the three networks any more. Not like they used to. They have important streaming series to binge on.

Thse other thing, which I am sure you strategic geniuses have all thought about, is that if you "get Trump" with the J6 Committee then you have cleared the path for Ron DeSantis in 2024. Are you really sure you want that, in preference to having DeSantis and Trump duke it out? Frankly, I'd say that you don't want DeSantis to be the GOP nominee in 2024. That guy seem to have a tactical and strategic sense that even Bismarck would respect.

And there is this. When gas prices have doubled in a year, I dare say that the average "punter" -- as the Brits say -- isn't that excercised about armed insurrectionists burning down the Capitol. He's worried about the cost of filling up his F-150 truck.

And I'd say that beating up the oppostion is not good politics. Not in the long term.

See.you in November, old chap.