Even among the “worst of the worst” MAGA Republicans in congress, Representative Madison Cawthorn (R, NC) can always be counted on to hold his own. Last week Cawthorn made a speech on the House floor criticizing President Biden’s deployment of troops to Eastern Europe, referring to the President as an “inept, geriatric despot,” and accusing him of using U.S. troops to “feed the military industrial complex.” He went on to say “our greatness is forged in our resistance to interference. The war lobby has no ally in the America-first Republicans. We will preserve our strength through nationalism.”
Well, Madison has given us a lot to unpack, hasn’t he? Putting aside the ridiculous assertion that masks and vaccines constitute tyrannical government, let’s focus on the real issue at hand, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. I’ve spoken repeatedly of my revulsion at the Confederate “slave power” using poor whites as fodder to conduct a war in defense of slavery, and I continue to oppose today’s all-volunteer army and our “military class” being used to support what Cawthorn rightly calls the “war lobby.” There was even a time when I agreed with Trump’s opposition to deploying foreign troops in places like Syria and Afghanistan. But as it became increasingly obvious that Trump’s concern for the welfare of our soldiers was really nothing but a way to neutralize American power to Putin’s advantage, your humble spirit decided to stop fooling himself. (As for “America-first Republicans” preserving “strength through nationalism,” that just sounds like one more Nazi-inspired, white power dog whistle to me.)
“I was home schooled all the way through. I am proudly a college dropout.”
Madison Cawthorn
Cawthorn has also been doing a lot of cozying up with the former president lately: “Trump has become like a father to me,” he says. “I get to talk to him just about every single day. He’s incredible—such a genius.” (Good God, aren’t Eric, Donald Jr. and the latter’s fascist fiancé bad enough?) The fact that Cawthorn perceives a perpetual loser and lifelong failure like Trump to be a “genius” shows just how ignorant and delusional he is. He even claims—admitted, I should say—that Trump “instructs him on foreign policy.” Lest there be any question why Cawthorn opposes Biden standing up to Russia, now we know.
Back in mid-December at “Turning Points USA,” a political conference organized by the right-wing college campus organization of the same name, the college “flunk-out” (Cawthorn blames his failure on injuries from his auto accident) told the student audience that they should drop out of school: “I think you should homeschool. I was homeschooled all the way through. I am proudly a college dropout. Unless you are becoming a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer, I highly encourage you to drop out.”
Well now, there’s a great message for America’s youth: just follow Madison’s example and you, too, can be an ignorant, moronic embarrassment to the U.S. Congress and your constituents. Talk about a setback for the homeschooling movement and a strong argument on behalf of higher education! I’d be the first to say that college isn’t for everyone—and I firmly believe our education system needs to be overhauled from top to bottom if we’re going to start to reverse our growing economic inequality—but Cawthorn gives the term “anti-intellectual” a whole new meaning.