Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz have become poster boys for cynical, amoral politicians. They are just as sociopathic in their lust for power as Donald Trump.

They have demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have no business in Congress.

Both Senators are complicit bookends of a coordinated, deadly attack on our nation’s Capitol.  

The attack saw Hawley directly inciting the violence with a close-fist salute to the mob as it descended on the Capitol.

Cruz is complicit for willfully peddling the “big lie,” the claim that the election was fraudulent against overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

They persisted with an attack on the election–the heart of our Democracy–even after more than 60 lawsuits failed for lack of evidence, and the Supreme Court rebuffed legal challenges.

The results were certified, recertified and approved by the states in keeping with the Constitution.

Yet Hawley and Cruz were prominent among 147 representatives and senators who backed the late-night effort on Wednesday, to make one last, dying gasp to overturn the election.

Other Republicans backed off their planned objections after the Capitol violence. But Hawley and Cruz continued pursuing Trump’s false narrative.

Cruz and Hawley have frequently touted the fact that they are graduates of Harvard and Yale law schools, respectively. They had to know they were on the wrong side of the law and the Constitution.

It should come as no surprise that more than 5,000 law school alumni and students have signed a petition calling for their disbarment.

Their effort clearly emboldened the mob to do their part and storm the Capitol as Trump had exhorted them to do. Even, after the riot, they continued to push “the big lie.”

The reasons were evident. They were throwing all reason, logic and judgment aside to throw in with Trump’s mob.

The cynical ploy was designed to curry favor with the president’s hard-right base to bolster their own political ambitions in the 2024 presidential election.

Blatant, self-serving sycophants like Hawley and Cruz have sent us far down the dark rabbit hole of sedition. The nation will never recover as long as they remain in office.  

Cruz’s feeble and dissembling attempts to justify his actions have been pathetic. Hawley has doubled down on his insurrection, refusing to apologize for his actions.

They showed utter disregard for the country–fraught by a crisis ginned up by the president’s repeated fabrications.

Now, Congress is moving forward with impeaching the president for his disastrous role in fomenting a riot.

It’s the Congressional equivalent of “Stand back and stand by.” It’s as clear as Hawley’s fascistic, black glove, clenched-fist salute.

Wednesday’s treasonous acts by our pathetic excuse for a president and thousands of his deplorable supporters didn’t come as a surprise.  

It was evident well before the election. Trump repeatedly said the election would be fraudulent if he did not win months before the election, setting the stage for his bogus challenge.

The administration even went so far as to disrupt the U.S. Postal Service, with the sole intention of hampering his own citizens from voting.

That should have been a screaming red siren of what was to come.  

After Trump lost six key swing states–and the election– he went into overdrive in an effort to overturn the election. His efforts clearly violated the law.

He even went so far as to invite State officials to the White House. He follow up that cajolery with direct threats.

The president was caught red-handed attempting to blackmail/bribe Georgia officials into committing a felony (with a little help from Lindsay Graham).

Trump was clearly trying to perpetrate the greatest scam in the nation’s political history. But he couldn’t do it alone.

He needed co-conspirators like Rudy Giuliani, his family members and most damning of all a willing coterie of Congressional sycophants to pull it off.

Hawley and Cruz were joined by Sen. Roy Blunt, also a Republican from Missouri, who was callous, cowardly and epically obtuse in the wake of the tragedy.

He compared the violence that occurred in the Nation’s Capital and struck at the very heart of our Democracy, including the deaths of five people, to “touching a hot stove.”

This was not only one of the most insensitive and apathetic statements ever to come out of the mouth of a United States Senator, it was a dog whistle to white supremacists and seditionists everywhere.

What unfolded was a months-long attack on our Democracy, culminating in a siege on the U.S. Capitol and the murder of a Capitol police officer, all orchestrated by the president, himself.  

After witnessing four years of a president who seized every opportunity to obliterate every line drawn in front of him, to hear a Senator say “he won’t do it again” has to be the all-time heavyweight champ of ignorance ever displayed by an elected official.

As the smoke has cleared on the Capitol riot, it’s become increasingly evidence that they attack was planned well in advance by individuals who hoped to take hostages and possibly execute lawmakers in an extended siege.

Republicans, including Cruz, are urging Democrats to put the incident behind us to foster “unity.” But there can be no unity until those responsible or complicit in the attack are held accountable.

The fact only a tiny handful of Republicans have spoken out in favor of immediate action against this president shows they are still, inexplicably, behind him and his reprehensible agenda.  

 But the time for “thoughts and prayers” is long gone.

It’s clear the Trump mob has been emboldened by their actions and are vowing to up-end the inauguration and the Biden administration with more acts of violence.

This was an attack on the heart of our Democracy coordinated by the president of the United States, along with the full support of many in our Congress, as well as possibly others inside the government.

 Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is one of a number of lawmakers who have called for Cruz and Hawley’s “immediate resignations.”

He said what is plain to see. They had “betrayed their oaths of office and abetted a violent insurrection on our democracy”.

“If they do not resign,” he added, “the Senate must expel them.”

On Saturday, Jan. 9, hundreds of protesters assembled in Downtown St. Louis in front of the Old Courthouse to demand Hawley’s resignation

On Sunday, (Jan. 10), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told CNN: “Whether they should resign or not, I don’t know [but] how they can live with themselves knowing that people have died because of their words and actions?”

The actions by our Congress, in the coming days will either end this chapter, or start a new one.  

If our Congress doesn’t hold its members accountable, they will allow these anti-American actions to continue to smolder and fester.

It will send a message, not only to domestic terrorists, but to terrorist nations around the world, that our government is too weak to act in the face of a clear and present danger.

If that happens, the nation will be surrendering to mob rule and inviting more violent attacks. We may not be so lucky next time.