It was more than a year ago that a mob of frustrated American voters overran the U.S. Capitol, not because they disagreed with the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, but because they believed it had been seriously compromised. They distrusted the outcome of that election because of last-minute, unconstitutional changes to long-standing election laws made by Democrat politicians and judges. Many of them earnestly believed they had to reclaim the integrity of our election process, and had no other recourse but to delay the certification of votes, allowing for an in-depth investigation of the election.

Whether or not their assumptions were right and their actions justified, they handed the Democrat Party a goldmine. With help from the news media, Democrats managed to brand the episode an “armed insurrection,” an organized attempt to overthrow the U.S. government, led by President Trump, himself. This, despite the fact that that an FBI investigation concluded there was no coordinated assault, and the fact that the only person shot and killed that day was an unarmed protester. Virtually all Democrats, and many independents now blindly accept the “insurrection” label, giving the Democrat Party a valuable commodity, something it values even more than integrity. It’s given them a cudgel, a club they could use against their political opponents for years to come.

Now, a year and a half later, just before the midterm elections, Democrats have decided it might be a good time to wield that club. The somber procession of committee members into the hearing room and the solemn atmosphere might have been appropriate for an investigation into a failed government coup. But without a coup, the hearings are nothing more than a circus, and millions of rational Americans see them as such.

Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee, launched the hearings by harkening back to America’s racist past, comparing people who justified the actions of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, and lynching to those who would justify the actions of the so-called insurrectionists. And why not? As long as Democrats are tarnishing American citizens with false accusations, the term, “racist traitor” sounds even more monstrous than “insurrectionist.”

But conservatives and most reasonable people understand that the occurrence on January 6th 2021 was no coup attempt, and they know it had absolutely nothing to do with racism. They also know that the hearings are nothing but elaborate performances with two primary goals – to disqualify Trump from ever again holding public office, and to distract attention from the catastrophes we’re experiencing under Democrat policies – soaring prices, rising crime, increasing drug use, and open borders.

They know that if the committee had been established to uncover the truth, it wouldn’t be composed entirely of fervent Trump critics. And it would be looking into other issues surrounding that event, including:

1. The disproportionate prosecution of those involved on January 6th vs. the BLM rioters during the preceding summer.

2. Why some participants, clearly seen agitating the crowd on January 6th, were never prosecuted. And what role government undercover agents might have played in the event.

3. Why the Capitol Police were not better prepared, given the intelligence available to them.

4. Why only one police officer, out of the hundreds on the scene, decided it was appropriate to use lethal force against an unarmed woman.

Those who participated in that incident were not alone. Polls confirm that as many as 35 percent of Americans have questioned the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s election. That’s not just a miniscule number of Right-wing fanatics. But Democrats in power have never addressed, nor even acknowledged the concerns of those estimated 100 million Americans. Their response to allegations of election fraud is simple and defiant. Criticize and mock those who complain, weaponize the DOJ against them, and organize farcical investigations like those of the January 6th Committee.

Of course, Joe Biden has joined in the hype. He called the protest at the Capitol “…one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history — a brutal assault on our democracy, a brutal attack on law enforcement.”

Darkest chapters in our history? Does he really equate that incident with the Civil War, two world wars, the Kennedy assassination, and the 9/11 attacks?

A brutal attack on law enforcement? He must have forgotten that his party introduced the anti-police hysteria and the “defund the police” movement.

In fact, Biden and the Democrats are guilty of far more brutal assaults on our democracy.

When a U.S. President arbitrarily defies immigration and other laws that he swore to uphold – that’s an attack on our democracy and a breach of our national security.

When the party in power weaponizes the criminal justice system against political opponents – that’s an attack on our democracy.

And when the party in power obstinately refuses to listen to legitimate concerns voiced by one third of America’s citizens – that’s an egregious attack on our democracy, and a threat to future stability.

All Americans want to trust the people we elect to public office. But the sitting members of the January 6th Committee have betrayed that trust and turned the hearings into a three-ring circus.

It may not be the greatest show on earth, but after all, the midterm elections are fast approaching, and the performers are under a lot of stress.