If you pay unusually close attention to debates about the American political economy, you will have seen people on the political left saying nice things about Josh Hawley. The Missouri Republican senator is… interesting, is usually the word.

The reason is that he acknowledges that the free market isn’t perfect and argues that his party needs to do more for the working classes. He especially hates Big Tech. He’s even writing a book to be called The Tyranny of Big Tech that’ll be published next year, not by one of those kook-houses like Regnery but venerable old Simon & Schuster itself.

He seems, on those matters, sincere, more or less. But his deeper sincerity rests in his devout pursuit to get his nose farther up Donald Trump’s posterior than any other Republican senator. Hence his pledge, over Mitch McConnell’s protests, to object to the Electoral College vote in Congress on Jan. 6. How do we square these two things? Simple. Ambition.