This Is Not 50 Years Ago
Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the infamous break in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington. Those of us of a certain age recall the following summer, 1973, when daytime television was dominated by the Watergate hearings…actual hearings that just happened to be televised.
They stand in stark contrast with the sham made-for-TV proceedings carried by national networks last night. They were not compelling television. They were not interesting. They were also not “ready for prime time”…both in terms of content and production value.
They did not get their money’s worth from hiring a former network TV executive to produce the show. And really, that’s the biggest problem with the whole thing…they opted to put on a show, instead of hold a hearing or report to the nation. Given all the build up, I don’t know how it could have delivered…and predictably, it didn’t.
And if this was part one in a series, as we’ve been told…no doubt the ratings will drop off going forward, just like when you watch the first episode of a new program that had a lot of build up but fell short of the mark.
Keep in mind most of the folks you hear talk about this today…on both sides of the political aisle…had their talking points ready well before the cameras were turned on. Fully predictable, and not helpful in any way.
It also reminds me of another widely televised hearing, one we told you about in the “Iowa Almanac” yesterday. It was this week in 1954 that Iowa native Joseph Welch turned to Sen. Joseph McCarthy and uttered the now famous words, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last…have you left no sense of decency.”
For those who remain focused on January 6, 2021 instead of crippling inflation, rampant crime, and open borders…the answer obviously and sadly is, they do not.
