Joseph Sabino Mistick: Sen. Josh Hawley no profile in courage

In the “Hall of Fame of Political Ignominy,” there is now a special place for Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley. He is the politician who strode confidently into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while showing a raised fist to the crowd of gathered demonstrators, urging them on, showing them his solidarity with their cause.

Hawley was safe then, protected from the gathering crowd by the Capitol police force that would later be beaten by these invading insurrectionists. Now, thanks to the Jan. 6 congressional committee, Hawley’s lack of character is part of the nation’s official record.

In a video shown by the committee at its most recent hearing, Hawley is in full sprint, running from the mob as they assault the police while invading the Capitol. Many in the crowd were heavily armed and chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” Hawley was hiding, like Dr. Frankenstein in fear of the monster he had created.

As Sen. Mitt Romney said, the video of a fleeing Hawley as the mob assaulted the Capitol “was not his greatest moment.” Romney has known about Hawley for some time now. On Jan. 6, as the senators were sheltering from the mob, Romney reportedly shouted at Hawley, “You have caused this!”

Hawley’s home state newspapers know him, too. The Kansas City Star said that Hawley had “blood on his hands” for promoting the Big Lie of a stolen election that led to the assault on the Capitol. After the nation saw the video of a running Hawley, the Star said, “he hotfooted it away from ‘his’ people to the protection of the security forces charged with protecting him. Where’s that fist in the air now?”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board called for Hawley’s resignation after the insurrectionists’ attack. Then, after the release of the video, they wrote that Hawley’s run “encapsulated his core cowardice.”

And if you are reading this next part over breakfast, swallow your coffee first. Hawley is writing a book on manhood. The title: “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues Americans Need.” You can’t make this stuff up.

As the keynote speaker at the National Conservatism Conference last fall, Hawley blamed the political left. “They want to define the traditional masculine virtues — things like courage and independence and assertiveness — as a danger to society,” he said.

Meanwhile, when we need examples of “courage and independence and assertiveness,” we can find them in Liz Cheney and Nancy Pelosi.

We knew guys like Hawley back in the neighborhood — tough talkers who never stepped up, the bullies and big mouths who were never in a real fight. They said they stood toe-to-toe with actual tough guys and never lost. They were lying phonies.

In real life and real politics, character is what matters. We have too many politicians who are willing to play-act roles they could never measure up to in real life, politicians who pretend that they have simple answers to our complex problems. We don’t need that now.

To paraphrase President Andrew Shepherd’s final speech in the 1995 movie “The American President,” we’ve got serious problems and we need serious people, Josh, and your 15 minutes are up.