Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz are hoping you're dumb

In the aftermath of the riot at the US capitol, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-TX) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are working overtime to try and distance their behavior from the actions of pro-Trump supporters. Hawley has spent the past few weeks, in a move surely meant to bolster his national profile, making himself the face of the election opposition. On December 30, 2020, Hawley announced he would object to the certification of electoral college votes. On the day of the riot, a photo circulated of Josh Hawley waving support to pro-Trump supporters outside the capitol. Hours later, he would be in protective custody as those same supporters stormed the capitol building.

Ted Cruz, not to be outdone, also said he would object to the vote certification unless an electoral college commission was created to study voter fraud. Cruz decided the best course of action was to model the Compromise of 1877. Electoral votes were all over the place and congress could not decide who would be president. In the end a deal was made and Rutherford B. Hayes became the 19th president of the United States.

Now Hawley and Cruz are both ivy league trained lawyers, having attended Yale Law School (although attending an elitist school is bad when it works for their narrative). So they are both erudite and clever so they know what they are doing. They know widespread fraud has not been proven, they know evidence does not exist, and they knew their efforts in congress would fail. But, they were hoping the American public does not know. They were hoping the public would remember their heroism and courage when the 2024 election season came around and they cast their lot for the presidency.

Hawley knows the right for congress to object to electors would created for actual issues like an elected official is unable to take office or states tried to put someone else in place instead of the elected person. It was not created so the federal government can choose who they want as president regardless of what the people say. He knows elections are a states rights issue and as such needs to be handled at that level. But his aspirations hope the American people are too dumb to know that.

Cruz knows the same things Hawley knows. He also knows the Compromise of 1887 is widely deadpanned. As a constitutional lawyer, he knows the compromise allowed reconstruction of the south the end and led to the infamous Jim Crow laws. He is hoping the American public is too dumb to know or just will not care. After the riot, Cruz insisted that nothing he did had anything to do with the events at the capitol. He thinks the American people cannot connect the dots to his behavior.

Unfortunately for Hawley and Cruz, the people are paying attention. Not withstanding the criticism both faced before the certification opposition and the riot, they are receiving withering criticism in the aftermath. Fellow politicians, including republicans are angry at both men and are freely expressing themselves. The Kansas City Star, a local newspaper that endorsed Hawley called for his resignation and his mentor, former Sen. Danforth, called his support of Hawley a mistake.

The political aspirations of the two senators may have clouded the brain and had them believe the American people were too dumb to see what was going on. But as events over the past couple of days have proven, the American people are not dumb, and it is Hawley and Cruz that should ultimately bear the brunt of criticisms for their folly.