“Michelle (Obama) always says, ‘When they go low, we go high.’ No, no. When they go low, we kick them.” – former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder

If you ever feel the need to waste some of the short, precious time you are allotted on this planet, I would recommend tuning into a Congressional investigative hearing.

Congress has the power to call hearings and subpoena citizens to come to the Capitol and answer questions under oath on topics or events about which senators and representatives want to learn more. If used properly they can be informative for making laws.

More typically, particularly when one party is trying to draw attention to a topic that could benefit them politically, it turns into a Friars Club roast without any of the funny one-liners.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on former special prosecutor Jack Smith’s tactics during his investigation into President Donald Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol and Trump’s alleged mishandling or misuse of classified documents after his first term.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called Smith’s investigation “the most egregious abuse of power in the history of the Department of Justice;” Sen. John N. Kennedy, R-La., said Smith made “me want to throw up in my mouth;” and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., called Smith a “dirtbag.”

Ironically, Schmitt’s questioning turned the hearing into an embarrassment for Republicans when he accused Smith of being somewhere he was not. Alabama Sen. Katie Britt achieved social media glory for her incredulous expression when she realized in real time Schmitt had stepped into his own bear trap.

My problem with this hearing is not that Republicans called it in the first place. They actually had a good overall point. Smith had obtained telephone call logs, though not recordings, of many Republican senators as part of his investigation.

Allowing the Justice Department to collect information like that on a large group of senators can easily become a power that could be abused.

On the other hand, it is up to the Justice Department to investigate alleged crimes, and citizens would not desire to handcuff – no pun intended – the department’s ability to investigate criminal activity.

Hearings like this have the potential to create a real discussion about how to define the executive branch’s investigative powers more effectively. For public policy geeks, such as yours truly, it creates an opportunity to debate where the boundary lines of authority fall between the executive and legislative branches.

But, that was not the purpose of this hearing. It was meant to be a spectacle where senators could create sound bites scolding and mocking Smith on news programs or have their words printed in major online news outlets or be used as campaign propaganda by the senators themselves.

The problem is this type of self-serving rhetoric is the standard for American political figures and not the exception.

At a political rally in Ohio this past Saturday, Trump said, “… we’re gonna win big, and we’re gonna shove it up their a**.”

Illinois’ current Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton released a video advertisement for her U.S. Senate campaign that literally had several people – though, interestingly, not Stratton herself despite her appearance in the ad – saying, “F*** Trump. Vote Juliana.”

Congresswoman Susie Lee, D-Nev., used that same expletive four times on a social media post about Trump earlier this year. The post was soon deleted, but Lee did not apologize for posting it, according to Las Vegas television station KSNV.

Using this kind of language as a public figure will get you attention, and it will fire up people to get out and support you.

However, it will also grow the divide between opposing political groups and parties and will give license to everyday supporters to behave in the same way. Kicking your opponent when he or she hits below the belt only makes you the same as your opponent.

Maybe the most insidious part of politicians getting attention by working blue – in terms of language, not becoming liberal – is it offers them license to continue to do so instead of having them focus on fixing our problems.

You may have noticed there are a lot of grandstanders in Congress nowadays, but in the last few years Congress has also struggled at historic levels to pass any kind of worthwhile legislation. I do not believe these two developments are unrelated.

Let me put it to you in the strongest language possible. Vote for the gol-durn candidate who has the smartest, John Brown plan instead voting for the son of a gun with the smartest, flippin’ mouth.