As they say in the mountains, "Something just ain't right about that boy."
Who else could I be talking about but Madison Cawthorn, the youngest member of Congress and our perennial embarrassment machine.
While our beleaguered congressman likes to imagine he's being unfairly and relentlessly attacked by the "woke" liberal meanies on the left, the truth is he just keeps inflicting a thousand little cuts on himself. Most recently, he apparently slipped up yet again with a handgun at an airport, this time a loaded one.
Cawthorn faces amisdemeanor charge after police say he had a loaded gun at a checkpoint at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. For those keeping score, Cawthorn also got stopped in 2021 at Asheville Regional Airport with an unloaded pistol.
He's also carried knives into schools on multiple occasions, been busted repeatedly for speeding and for driving on a revoked license -- in a car he apparently didn't realize was registered to his dad. He's also claimedthat Republicans in power have offered him "key bumps" of cocaine and invited him to orgies, but I digress.
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Cawthorn capped off last week by being implicated in an insider trading scheme. U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, also a Republican, has called for a House Ethics Committee investigation into Cawthorn over allegations of insider trading related to an online currency.
And I'm not even going into detail on the photos released of Cawthorn wearing women's lingerie in his younger days, supposedly while on a cruise. While the hypocrisy of this hyper-masculine gun-loving man-child who wants mothers to raise "monsters" and decries liberals for pandering to LGBTQ people is astounding, a lot of folks did goofy cross-dressing stuff in their younger years.
For the record, I did not, but I definitely saw plenty of it. It's not uncommon, and not particularly noteworthy regarding the service Cawthorn can provide his constituents.
That's at the heart of all this, though, as Cawthorn has done little to nothing for Western North Carolina, other than say he was switching districts to run in the bigger media market of Charlotte. We could have been rid of him then, but he rescinded that pledge when the district lines changed, so now he's back running in our primary, in a crowded field of Republicans.
Clearly, he has no real commitment to the people of the mountains. He's committed only to himself, and his naked ambition.
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I realize diehard Cawthorn supporters are going to support him no matter what he does, or doesn't do, and he could well win the May 17 primary, or at least make it to arunoff election scheduled for July 26 (if needed).
But you've got to wonder, can't Republicans do better than this? Don't they want a representative who doesn't behave like a spoiled child? Don't they want to be represented by an adult who abides by the law, likeeveryone else has to?
Bringing a loaded gun to an airport checkpoint, after you've already been busted for bringing an unloaded firearm into another airport, is well, remarkably stupid. For a minute I thought Cawthorn might just be sending a dog whistle to his ardent Second Amendment supporters, but why subject yourself, twice, to the massive fines, lawyer's fees and legal headaches this transgression involves?
(Don't get me started on the preferential treatment I think Cawthorn has received on many of theseoffenses...)
With all of the driving offenses, the lies about getting into the Naval Academy, the allegations of sexual misconduct with women, his marriage not even lasting a year, his apparent respect for Adolf Hitler, and his spotty attendance record while he promotes his national image, one must wonder: Is something wrong with Cawthorn's brain?
I don't say this to be mean, but this is not rational behavior. Cawthorn was in a terrible car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, and he has said he has ongoing health struggles.
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His consistently poor judgment and blatant misconduct goes beyond a mere sense of entitlement and narcissism. It's a pattern that's deeply troubling.
I asked Western Carolina political science professor Chris Cooper about Cawthorn's latest woes, and he agrees that Cawthorn isn't attempting to bring a loaded firearm onto a plane to signalto his base about gun rights.
"I don’t buy he did it on purpose," Cooper said. "I think he is reckless and immature and this is just one more piece of evidence of that."
Cawthorn has mentioned several times that he has a concealed carry permit. I have one myself, and part of that responsibility is knowing what the rules are regarding where you can and cannot carry.
It's safe to say at this point in American history, we're all aware you cannot carry a loaded or unloaded gun onto a plane. I've got to think Republicans would not find this cute and simply give him a pass.
Cooper agreed with that assessment, in part because the GOP bills itself as the "law and order" party.
"This I don’t think is going to play to his base well," Cooper said. "Yes they like guns, but every gun owner I know takes pride in being a responsible gun owner. This is not good for the gun movement. It's not about flying the flag for the gun movement; it’s reckless and begging to get caught."
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I suggested Cawthorn may intentionally be behaving in a self-destructive manner. I don't know — maybe he wants to lose. Cooper wouldn't go that far.
"But at the very least he's not taking steps to plan for a future political career," Cooper said.
Cawthorn has a compelling personal story, overcoming the paralysis from the car wreck. But he's a train wreck of a human being.
That's what I don't get about his supporters. While Cawthorn's support has dropped in recent weeks, according to a recent poll, he's still leading the pack of eight Republicans in the primary.
Several of these candidates are rock solid conservatives, including State Sen. Chuck Edwards, of Henderson County. I've recommended Republicans and unaffiliated voters vote for Edwards, mostly because you can get all the conservative stances you want without all the embarrassments Cawthorn brings to the table.
Several other Republican candidates have solid bona fides, too, and don't come with all these distractions. It seems to me that plain old stubbornness, and a willingness to stick with a candidate no matter what, is driving the support for Cawthorn.
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Edwards or another Republican candidate will give you a staunch anti-abortion stance, strong support of gun rights, a very conservative fiscal outlook —and a willingness to bash liberals whenever possible. It's the full conservative package, without the arrests, the embarrassing photos, theself-entitlement Cawthorn has put on display the past year and a half. At this point, it's crystal clear he's a troubled young man who needs to sort his life out, and he doesn't need to do that in the U.S. House of Representatives while supposedly representing us.
Republicans can do better, and they should, if they truly care about America.
Early voting has already begun. Cawthorn has had plenty of time to prove himself worthy of our votes, and he's failed miserably.
Simply put, he's not up to the job. It's time to vote him out.
This is the opinion of John Boyle. Contact him at 828-232-5847, or at jboyle@citizentimes.com
