Who Shot JR?

The TV drama “Dallas” commanded a popular following in the late 1970s. But its fan base rocketed to the stratosphere when it ended a season with an unknown assailant shooting the villainous lead character, J.R. Ewing. “Who shot JR?” became not just a minor puzzle for gossip but instead captured the nation’s attention as if it were the assassination of a beloved political figure. Speculation about potential suspects and conspiracy theories filtered through millions of conversations. When the mystery was finally cleared up eight months later, some 83 million television viewers tuned in to watch.

President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign desperately needs a “Who Shot JR?” moment.

After Biden was inaugurated in 2021, millions of Americans waited patiently for the Department of Justice to move against Donald Trump and his henchmen for their involvement in the January 6 insurrection. Patience with the DOJ wore out eventually, and finally the House of Representatives appointed a select committee to investigate the January 6 uprising.

In a brilliant move, the committee hired an experienced TV executive to produce its televised hearings. Millions of viewers watched every moment of the hearings. When one hearing was mysteriously postponed for a day, it was almost as if a camera had focused on JR Ewing suddenly clutching his hand to a bullet wound just before the screen faded to black. Wait — what happened? Why did they postpone the hearing? Was it because something went wrong? Did someone behind the scenes sabotage the event? It turned out the…