Some things are simply unavoidable

[Caliman73]

24. I agree for the most part.

I think, as you said, for the average person, who doesn't know who their own district representative is and who knows more about who is winning at the latest reality show or their fantasy football league etc... the public hearings will definitely push politics in front of their faces.

A difference from the Watergate Era to now is the large presence of a right wing propaganda ecosystem. Obviously, I cannot say with certainty, but I think that had this same ecosystem existed back then, Nixon may not have had to resign. His own people saw the writing on the wall and told him it was time to go, once the tapes came out. If you think about it, Trump was dead to rights, and if no right wing echo chamber existed and we were only watching ABC, NBC, and CBS, or our local non-affiliated stations, Trump would have also been told, "You're done (sir), you need to leave." Instead, buoyed by knowledge that their popularity would not dip below a certain point and they could still steal close elections, most Republicans circled the wagons around Trump. That was a result of the media environment.

I do hope that you are correct and that the public hearings will engage the "fence sitters" (more like those who would rather watch Housewives of Pacoima than have a clear eyed say about who represents them in government). We need a massive increase in vote participation. People need to hear how complicit Republicans have been in the plan to destroy governance by consent of the governed, and democracy.