Herschel, You Need To Stop Embarrassing Yourself

When Senator Johnny Isackson resigned his senate seat due to health reasons, instead of leaving the seat open until the special election, Kemp decided to place Kelly Loeffler in as a placeholder until the special election believing she would easily win. She didn’t. She was defeated by Raphael Warnock, serving the last two years of Isackson’s term and now running for his own six-year term as Senator.

But, there is a problem. Warnock is a Democrat, and so is Jon Ossoff, who handily defeated David Purdue. Because Trump interfered in Georgia politics, it has two Democratic Senators. You would think Trump would leave Georgia politics alone, but no, enter Herschel Walker, Trump’s handpicked candidate to run against Warnock.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, let’s start with Walker’s explanation of climate change. Here is what Walker had to say:

 “since we don’t control the air, our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air, so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space. Then, now we got to clean that back up.”

When I saw the video clip with Walker spouting that nonsense, it was like, you have to be kidding me. I just couldn’t fathom what Walker was talking about, and the people of Georgia believe he is qualified to be a U.S. senator. So I started to run it down to see if I could make sense of what would be a disastrous choice for the good people of Georgia and the ending of democracy for the United States.

Herschel Walker is a former Heisman Trophy winner and outstanding running back for the University of Georgia. He left college in his junior year, played in the USFL, and when it folded after three years, depending on who you talk to, had a mediocre career in the NFL. During his years of playing football, he and Trump became friends, Walker seeing him as a sort of mentor.

When Walker retired, he sought out Trump for business advice. The way Walker talks about his business success and how he is running his Senatorial campaign, there is an eerie similarity in both their business and campaign methodology. Simply put, grandiosity, bald-faced lies, playing the people for rubes, with no sense of remorse or feeling for those he is scamming. Walker indeed has turned himself into a faithful Trump acolyte.

Like his mentor, Walker is billing himself as a man of the people and has what it takes to be their U.S. Senator. By telling them homespun tales about growing up with various farm animals and having their shit on his feet, believing that is a pathway of relating to them and a path, he believes Warnock doesn’t have. Let’s take a moment to consider how Herschel is portraying himself as someone who should be elected to represent Georgia. Like his friend Trump, he portrays himself as having successful businesses. Consider the following from WaPo columnist Paul Waldman who wrote:

“Which is why new reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is so potentially damaging. It reveals not only that Walker has been dishonest about what a terrific job-creator he is, but that he has had “a string of defaults, settlements and lawsuits alleging that Walker and his businesses owed millions of dollars in unpaid loans.”

No wonder he and Donald Trump share such a bond.

The details are quite something. First, it seems Walker has been using the Trump technique of claiming that his companies are extraordinarily successful when the truth is far different — what ordinary people call “lying.”

Interesting comparison between Walker and Trump in their business practices. So when Walker talks about crap on his feet, perhaps the voters of Georgia should focus more on the crap coming out of his mouth. For starters, reconsider his comments about climate change:’ our good air floating over to China.’ Jelani Cobb calls Walker’s speech “rambling disquisitions.” A professorial way of saying Walker is spouting bullshit, something Walker is clearly familiar with.  

In his bid to unseat Warnock, Walker is embarrassing himself. His lies about being an FBI agent, his success as a business owner, and his education. But most of all, his inference is that he will work for the people of Georgia in ways that would be far better than what Warnock has already accomplished for the short time he has been in office. But how will he do that, considering Walker has demonstrated he doesn’t know what he is talking about most of the time?

The white citizens of Georgia are facing a bit of a quandary. Do they vote to give Warnock a six-year term? Or replace him with Walker, who gave a speech in Ocilla, Georgia, without his rambling disquisitions, which for some would be enough justification for ousting Warnock. Sending a clear message. If we’re to have a Black senator, it will be the Negro of our choice. That will do what we want. The way we want it done. Just like in the good old days. When people like Walker and Warnock knew their place. Not some Democrat’s Negro with multiple degrees. Who thinks he knows more than we do and clearly doesn’t know his place in polite society. Herschel is our boy.

Buttressing up, Walker, who is clearly in over his head, is a modern-day example of what Hamilton was warning the country about when he wrote the following in Federalist 2:

“Ambition, avarice, personal animosity, party opposition, and many other motives not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as well upon those who support as those who oppose the right side of a question.”  

Republicans are putting forth a flawed candidate in Herschel Walker. He is not someone who will “operate on the right side of the question.” But someone who will be manipulated into supporting Republicans’ push toward authoritarianism and destroying our democratic form of governance.

Oh sure, Walker had an ok day in Ocilla, Georgia, and didn’t screw his lines up. Even a blind squirrel will find a nut from time to time. But remember, it was a small crowd where he managed to stay on script. However, the underlying question is whether he can remain focused when challenged by a skilled debater such as Warnock. Or asked a question from the audience or someone from the press. Remember Walker is a Trump acolyte and, like his mentor, used to freestyling because his ambition, avarice, and personal animosity will overtake him. The coaching and admonition he is getting from his new team will only last for so long, returning to his rambling disquisitions.