We are often asked, are you watching the Jan. 6 hearings? Our answer is always the same: “If you don’t want to watch clowns perform, don’t go to the circus.” Those few naive Americans who are watching the so-called hearings along with the leftist ideologues who will watch anything derogatory about former President Donald Trump are seeing just that: a choreographed, scripted, controlled circus starring a cast of handpicked leftist minions chosen by the queen of distortion, deception and political theater, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

We’ve also been asked, “What is wrong with the hearings?” Wrong question. A better question would be, “Is there anything right with the hearings?” Our answer to the latter question is a stern, uncompromising “No!”

Let’s begin with the purpose of the misnamed hearings. The purpose of a Congressional hearing is to gather information from a variety of different sources — sources that might bring differing opinions, facts and perspectives to the table. Those sitting on the hearing committee are responsible for recognizing and ignoring rumor and innuendo, disallowing hearsay, and verifying second- and third-hand input. In this way, the members of the hearing committee are supposed to determine the facts and assemble them into a coherent package to serve a positive purpose.

The Jan. 6 hearings have one goal and one goal only: to put Trump in prison or, barring that, to damage his ability to run for the presidency. Leftist ideologues like Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer fear a Trump presidency more than they fear their own mortality. This is why Pelosi took the unprecedented and unethical step of hand-picking the members of her committee. She planned to brook no dissent, while encouraging rumors, inviting hearsay, and soliciting second and third-hand input from members and witnesses. Pelosi’s committee members were given a script and told to stick to it. The best Broadway dance routine ever staged was not as tightly choreographed as the Jan. 6 hearings.

Is it any wonder, then, the American people have been underwhelmed by the hearings and shown so little interest in them? While Pelosi, Schumer and their crowd have been frantically trying to convince the American people democracy is at risk because of the Jan. 6 riot, the American people have been asking, “When will there be hearings on the price of gasoline, inflation, food shortages and empty shelves where baby formula should be?”

So far, the so-called major revelations coming from the Jan. 6 hearings have shown Trump to be a leader of high expectations, a man who does not like to lose, and a task master who can be hard on his staff. We already knew about the snarky, late-night tweets. Gen. George Patton was a tough man to work for during World War II, but he got the job done — just ask Hitler and his minions. Trump also got the job done when he was in office — just ask Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Trump entered the presidency at a time when only a Washington outsider could have turned things around, and he did just that. He ran for president of the United States, not Mr. Congeniality.

In our book “Tragic Consequences: The Price America Is Paying for Rejecting God and How to Reclaim Our Culture for Christ,” we warn of the destructive methods of leftist ideologues in Chapter 14, “Gutter Politics.” The Jan. 6 hearings are an egregious example of that nefarious phenomenon.

Immediately following the midterm elections in November, conservative Republicans and right-minded independents will have much to do. First on the list should be to toss out the illicit Jan. 6 hearing findings and initiate real hearings on issues of concern to everyday Americans.

COPYRIGHT 2022 OLIVER L. NORTH AND DAVID GOETSCH