SEMO professor wrestles with impeachment hearings, weary of 'political theater'

Televised impeachment hearings, which begin today, will be more “political theater” than a fact-finding effort into alleged actions of President Donald Trump, a political science professor said Tuesday.

The hearings by the intelligence committee of the U.S. House of Representatives will focus mostly on grandstanding by its members rather than hearing from witnesses, said Jeremy Walling, political science professor at Southeast Missouri State University.

“I am already weary at the thought of having to listen to all of that,” he said.

No longer are people willing to have “a civil discussion, a civil debate,” Walling said.

“I think it is really kind of a testament to how this culture has changed in general,” he said.

“It seems like we are in this stage right now where your opponent is like a monster,” Walling said.

“I would say social media has a lot to do with this, the way we obtain information.” People today listen to the media with which they already agree, he said.

Americans who do watch the hearings, largely will see it through their political viewpoint, with no middle ground, according to Walling.

He predicted the hearings will be similar to last year’s emotionally charged hearings for then U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

“It is not really about the issue,” he said. “It is about whichever member of Congress is trying to score points with whichever groups they are signaling to.”

Three witnesses are scheduled to testify this week. The House committee previously heard from the same witnesses behind closed doors.

Democrats believe the hearings will reveal presidential misconduct amid allegations Trump put pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and Biden’s son as his administration temporarily withheld military aid to the Eastern European nation.

Republicans say it will demonstrate the lack of evidence for impeachment.

Walling said his students majoring and minoring in political science will be glued to the hearings. But most students and the general public won’t be focused on it, he said.

“It is going to be something that shows up in their Facebook feed and they will be exposed to it, but I don’t think they will really connect with it all that much,” he said.

Walling said he will watch the hearings much like people who enjoy professional wrestling, “but know that it is not real.”

Many Americans remain confused about impeachment, he said.

“I think so many people believe impeachment means you lose your job,” Walling said.

But impeachment (by the House) is “just the slap on the wrist part,” he said. “Then you still have to have this whole trial (in the Senate) to decide whether you lose your job.”

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