America’s most ridiculous senator

Obviously, this chart as a whole is not good news as the future of the republic, but can we at least marvel at the fact that Josh Hawley is substantially less popular among Republicans than Ted Cruz?

I suspect he still thinks he’s a credible candidate to be the nominee in 2024, and LOL to that. All that smarm and sedition for naught.

However, let us be clear that his continuing attempts to steal the election even after the seditious mob he attempted to incite had literally (rather than just metaphorically like Josh) smeared shit on the walls of the Capitol were acts of Deep Principle:

It is true that many Missourians believe Trump’s lies about the election. One reason is that people like Hawley keep lying to them. It was obvious from the beginning that the Republican strategy of refusing to contradict Trump’s claims that he actually won would lead his supporters to demand that Republicans follow through on this belief. Why, after all, would or should they accept a stolen election?

Hawley, however, does not draw any line between the belief and the actions it produced. Instead, in his narrative, a violent mob suddenly appears, out of nowhere:

Some wondered why I stuck with my objection following the violence at the Capitol. The reason is simple: I will not bow to a lawless mob, or allow criminals to drown out the legitimate concerns of my constituents.

So this violent mob showed up for no apparent reason. And since the mob had no goal, or at least no goal Hawley wishes to discuss here, Hawley decides its goal must have been to stop Josh Hawley.

But Hawley won’t let them! He defies the mob by continuing his efforts to delegitimize Biden’s election on behalf of Trump’s autogolpe. This is in fact the exact course of action the mob wanted Hawley and his colleagues to take, but no matter. The essence of Hawley is that anything he does is always a brave act of defiance against powerful forces. If he finds himself supporting powerful forces he cannot justify to his audience — a position Hawley often occupies — he will simply pretend that the powerful forces he’s serving are his enemies.

Also amazing how Hawley has no problem refusing to represent his constituents on questions like “should poor people have access to healthcare” or “do rich people and corporations need yet another round of tax cuts?” But if they believe Hawley’s own lies about stolen elections, we must stand on top of five dead bodies and let their voices be heard!