Let’s Not Move On
The Politics of Lost Causes
It’s easy for whites to denounce racism. All they have to do is say, I’m not racist. Professional white liberal politicians for sure don’t see themselves that way. But DC Republicans, too, if asked. There isn’t a senator or congressman who would not say “No” when asked if they supported the white supremacists during Charlottesville or Black Lives Matter protests. There isn’t one who would not say “Yes, I denounce white supremacists,” if asked after the Storming of the Capitol. So let’s not ask.
Or maybe there is one who has shown us his answer directly. When Josh Hawley, the newly-minted Republican Senator, raised a fist when entering the Capitol to cast his vote against a fair election that was declared one of the most transparent, he gave his answer, Yes. His fist photo was seen by most people after the Storming of the Capitol took place. His ‘protest’ gesture was a direct signal to the Trump mob who took over the chamber he sat in just minutes before fleeing. It was an expression of solidarity that he refuses to renounce. He is with you, Confederate flag wavers walking the Capitol floor and MAGA Civil War t-shirt wearers.
Not since President Trump was pressured to denounce the support David Duke had given him, or Trump’s admittance of “good people” on both sides, have we witnessed such a symbol of solidarity with racist supremacists from an elected politician. (Of course, I’m leaving out a lot of instances you can probably recall, but you get the empathic point.)
Mr. Hawley’s grandstanding was standing on the wrong side of not just of history but of the recent race war that has raged in America since Trump made it the great silent elephant-in-the-room part of his platform. Mr. Hawley led the Seditious Seven, backed by elder sheriff of the outlaw posse Ted Cruz.
Together, they claimed their objection was to note the voting process may have been fraudulent according to some voter’s feelings. Hawley just wanted to express his deep concern for “the millions” of Missourians — without even taking a state poll — who had concerns about the integrity of the election. Oddly, he was elected and was able to object based on the problem with that same integrity, not even caring about the irony in the slightest. Nor interested to note that Trump received just over 1.7 Missourian million, so “millions” must have meant the democrats were as concerned of fraud as well along with all the Republicans. Do such details matter? Not at all, he believed in the problem in the integrity in swing states, not his own.
The key difference between Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz — which is like splitting hairs on a rabid dog impounded by the dog catchers — is that Mr. Cruz lamely tried to flip-flop a bit the next day, perhaps thinking he was showing signs of moral competence. Josh Hawley went squarely in the other direction, full-on Trump, in his response: “I will never apologize for giving voice to…” and we don’t need to really hear the rest.
Like Trump, he speaks by Freudian projection. That is, his criticism of others fits neatly into the description of himself: “This could not be more Orwellian.” He expressed this sentiment what actually described how most senators, Republican ones included, thought of Mr. Hawley who started the objection process in their chamber. We could easily put this in a thought bubble of Chuck Schumer on the senate floor as Hawley state his objection.
In typical double speak, Hawley described himself to a T when reacting to President-elect Biden’s comment of “the big lie”: “undignified, immature, and interpret behavior.” Again, one would have thought this quote was from Senator Mitt Romney describing his gaze upon Hawley who was objecting. And it was not Chuck Schumer or Tom Cotton who asked Hawley to “retract these sick comments”, rather those are Hawley’s word calling Biden to take back the “big lie” comment.
It is not possible to denounce racism now for Mr. Hawley. He showed what side he is on, and not with a dog whistle or nod to the base. With full on solidarity. His appropriation of the black power fist was reflected in the symbolism of the insurrectionist who went to plant the confederate flag in the Senate.
When you are with the Trump consolidated group of lost causes, there is no need to show acquiescence any longer to the status quo. The ‘brilliance’ of the movement is that the ‘core’ group thrives on the outrage of the defeated and rejected.
He doesn’t need his own party leaders support. Unlike Romney, minority Mitch’s stare is hardly one seen as truly rejecting racism and taking a moral stance. McConnell’s amorality has been strongly on display throughout the Trump term. Though Mitch, like Romney, the old guards, hardly understand the camaraderie of the lost causes, the defeat. These are old school country club upper-crusters who earned and inherited their way into the elite club, not entered on the rage of “the millions.”
Instead, Hawley got support from GOP fundraising PACs who recognize a dollar when they see one and know how to pull it out of a clench fist. They have yet to squeeze out the last cent from the stimulus checks the angry un- and under-employed rabble received. The hard scrabble riffraff of the Trump proud deplorables.
Thus, we don’t when and if Hawley will “pay the price”. Besides a possible censure from his colleagues (oh no, not a censure — I still don’t know what is — like a week ban from the Senate fine dining hall or tennis club?), he has little incentive to back down. Unless the donor dollars from the trailer park dry up, we can assume he will be the only valuable GOP asset in the upper chamber tapping into the real Trump resource they want, tens and twenties.
Alas, sadly, racism is not dead with Trump’s exit they same way many hoped it died with Obama’s entrance. But it is defined better now. It is not “merely” seen in the neck kneel on George Floyd or bullets in the back of Blake. These were cops who exercised the power of the political system, but not those who are in charge. The few police chiefs who were fired gave a tinge perhaps of satisfaction that some accountability had been taken. That the system had been recognized as inherently problematic, even if not ready change.
Clearly, on the official record, we see the politicians who objected, the aptly named Seditious Seven, congregating under the raised white fist. The politics of Lost Causes will unquestionably continue. This fraction of the GOP holds sway, wagging the dog. Without those triple finger supremacist hand signals of David Perdue and photo white supremacist op of Kelly Loeffler, the GOP will lose a sizable chunk of voters. They don’t want Georgia, like many states, staying blue or flipping back.
A small part of me wishes Hawley would have made the sign of Colin Fitzpatrick, peacefully protesting by kneeling in a nod to Martin Luther King’s pacifist tactics. Instead, Hawley brandished the raised fist of solidarity, like he was on the podium at the 1968 Olympics instead Tommie Smith and John Carlos listening to The Star-Spangled Banner with their appropriated medals around his neck. Because his white salute was a sign of the bullet, not that of the ballot. His message was clear: We are not moving on.
Hopefully, the liberal and moderate whites, like many blacks, may stand up with that same message of not moving on, and say, This time Joe, I don’t want to be healed into their group. I’m staying where I am.
