I usually don’t get political on anything that has my name on it. But these are unusual circumstances, and those who remain silent remain complicit.
But first, how about a story? I have four modest publications to my name. But I also have 30 rejections from publishers, 3 by agents. Once, I had signed a contract with a small publisher to publish my short story with some of their other authors. There was, in the fine print, laid out that if there should be a change in the marketability of the work, they could pull out. Well, the supernatural genre died out after Twilight and it’s fanbase moved on, and I was told that they decided to pass. And do you know what I did? I thanked them for ever being given the opportunity in the first place, spoke no ill of them, and moved on with my life to get all four of my current publications. Now, why do I bring this up you ask? Or you may well know. Either way, let me inform you.
Senator Josh Hawley recently lost his book deal with Simon & Shuster. His tweet contained an image and a caption that read, “My statement on the woke mob at Simon & Shuster.” The image of which, I’ll include below:
Now, here the Senator is displaying the same inability to contend with the consequences of his own actions as the man he supported in the Senate last night. He’s also displaying what I call rich white boy entitlement. Thank guys I went to school with for the moniker’s creation. Those who have had no barriers to contend with and sit in high offices with everything at their feet lose complete control over their emotions like toddlers at the first thing they are denied and blame it on those they disagree with. Ironic that these same men often accuse women of being too emotional, but I digress.
My reply on Twitter was as follows: You are not entitled to a book deal. A private company can deny you at any time. Welcome to what common people face when trying to get published. Now pick up your big boy pants and move on instead of whining on Twitter.
Because he is a Senator, he was offered a book deal. People of high social status have doors opened to them that regular people do not, and therefore take them for granted — just as he has done here. The adult thing to do would be to keep this in private emails and correspondence instead of trying to bully those you wish to have a working relationship with. The childish thing to do is what was done.
I dare you to look at any PUBLISHED author and tell me one time that they pulled this. Just once. Now I dare you to look at any ASPIRING authors, and tell me when they pulled this sort of venom because they were denied. If you find one, perhaps tell the Senator so his bruised ego can find some misery that wants company.
Now, onto the other content of his tweet. Senator, I am not mad at you for objecting in the House and raising concerns of voting security. Hear me out, everyone.
Senator, I’m not. What I am morally outraged at is the fact of what happened AFTER you and yours announced such an action. See, before your announcement, scores of courts had rejected these same claims as lacking evidence — even judged appointed by President Trump himself and part of the Republican party. At every turn, these claims were false.
And you walked up to the Capitol that day, raised a fist that we’ll say you didn’t know meant white power — but we’ll all wink when your back is turned and know the truth — and emboldened these ‘supporters’ of President Trump.
It is what happened next that is the reason for the effect you are protesting so loudly, probably louder than you protested when the video of George Floyd was released.
You want to talk about a woke mob? How about we talk about an actual one. One that sent you and your friends in the Senate and House scurrying to safety as police officers and security guards fought to buy you all time to hide.
Let’s talk about the security guard fighting off angry white supremacists with little more than a thin baton while they were armed, chasing him up flights of stairs even when he was clearly out of their way. Let’s talk about the bombs found, the guns brought. Let’s talk about the shattered windows. Let’s talk about the reports that these people literally smeared their own feces on the walls of the Capitol. Let’s talk about the cop that they beat so badly that he DIED today. Let’s talk about the three others who died, and about the final one who died.
Her death is on your hands. She believed the lies that you so willingly fed to her so much so that she broke the law. She broke into the Capitol building. She mobbed them. And she was shot and killed. Because of you.
And these are the people who were the real mob.
The Confederate flag, the symbol of white supremacy. The symbol of traitors who we fought an entire WAR to defeat. The symbol of the people who shot President Abraham Lincoln in the HEAD. The symbol of the people who ran Andersonville Prison for the Union soldiers, and did this to them:
And who did this to their slaves:
I know these aren’t pretty, and I’m sorry to disturb. But we need to be disturbed and stop with this idealistic view of our past.
And I know that the Confederate Flag is held as this Southern Antebellum charm of a thing. But THESE are what it was. This is what they did. This is what that flag represents. And it was in our Capitol — BECAUSE OF YOU.
They defaced a statue of President Zachary Taylor, as pictured below:
President Zachary Taylor may not be a household name. But do you know what he did? Pre-Civil War, even though he “owned” slaves himself, he opposed the spread of slavery into the new territories acquired from Mexico — something the South desperately wanted.
This is about more than President Donald Trump and his attempted coup. This is about more than MAGA. This is about the resurgence of our worst demons instead of our better angels. This is about the issue of equal rights that we labored for so long this summer in BLM, which you and yours condemned I’m sure.
Five people are dead. That cannot be taken back. This bell cannot be un-rung. And you and yours stoked the flames of hatred and division. Five people are dead — and that is why you lost a profit from a book deal, which evidently is the only thing you care about since you could not be persuaded to change your mind before the tallying proceeded. The marketability of your book changed, so they dropped you. And it changed because the death of FIVE PEOPLE did nothing to sway your conscience.
I rest my case.
