I have watched more than 16 hours of the Jan. 6 committee hearings and plan to watch the rest. I have learned some things, though not many. And I grant that the hearings might have been more effective if some aggressive Republicans—one imagines Rep. Jim Jordan scowling in his shirt sleeves—were present to cross-examine the witnesses. But then I have my own motive for watching. I hope they will sweep Donald Trump out of public life and return American politics to their old, calm, yes even dull days.

The hearings have revealed that Mr. Trump clearly enjoyed the violence visited on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021—and that he inspired it. He has yet to renounce that violence or denounce the groups that participated in it. A bully, a narcissist and a sociopath, Mr. Trump has been called many names, but he is above all shameless, which isn’t the first quality one looks for in a president.