Lessons from Rep. Madison Cawthorn's North Carolina GOP Primary loss

The Hump Day Hot Topics!

U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R), a first-term congressman from North Carolina, lost yesterday in his Republican Primary battle against Chuck Edwards, this despite Cawthon having the STRONG backing of former President Donald Trump. 

Rep. Madison Cawthorn

That Cawthon lost the race comes as no surprise—he has behaved like a buffoon while in office and, to the chagrin of many alleged "Born Again Christian" conservatives in Congress, recently described wild drunken sexual orgies taking place inside the Capital Beltway among the supposed party of piety. 

In a post on his Truth Social network, Mr. Trump said: “When Madison was first elected to Congress, he did a great job. Recently, he made some foolish mistakes, which I don’t believe he’ll make again…let’s give Madison a second chance!”

Well, the Republican voters in his District rejected Trump's endorsement and will bring Cawthorn back home to reflect upon his short tenure. 

Then President Donald Trump with Rep. Cawthorn

There's a lesson in Cawthorn's meteoric rise—he was 25-years-old when first elected—and rapid fall from grace (and office) in that perhaps, just maybe, there are some Republicans in his District who strive to live better than so many Grand Ol’ Party leaders who talk about Christ, family values, and respect for the rule of law, but act like devils with little morality (and even less concern about adhering to the very laws and rules that they purport to uphold). 

Now, to be clear, no one expects political leaders, especially younger ones, to be completely abstemious from wine, women (or men), and song, but as my father said time and again in my youth, "discretion is the better part of valor." Cawthorn, clearly, didn't get that memo from his own elders and has shown lapses in judgment that a very judgmental GOP will not so easily forgive. 

But Cawthorn is also a poster-child for the anti-intellectualism that is ripe on the right. These days, the more foolish or angry a Republican sounds or acts, the greater the fame he or she receives within the party's hierarchy. Whether it's Republican leaders refusing to wear masks, or others who compare mask wearing to American slavery or the Holocaust, the dumber or angrier the sound-byte, the louder it gets amplified on Fox, right-wing talk radio, and conservative news sites and social media outlets. 

During his brief tenure, Cawthorn has spent some time in the village idiot's chair, including his calling the Ukrainian government “evil” and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a “thug.” Yes, the same Ukraine that's drawn worldwide sympathy due to Russia's full-scale invasion, and the same Zelensky who has become a modern hero due to his defiant resistance of Russian aggression!

There was a time, mind you, when politics was serious business—and most politicians were thinkers who delved deeply into the serious issues of their age, even when their thinking led to deplorable outcomes like slavery, Manifest Destiny, and Jim Crow. Back then, they often got substantive matters wrong, but with the exceptions of the times when South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks nearly caned Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner to death on the Senate floor in 1856 due to remarks that Sumner had made about South Carolina Sen. Andrew Butler (Brooks first cousin), and times in the 1950's and 60's when the Dixiecrats mocked Black civil rights efforts, most political discourse in America has been conducted with some measure of respect.  

Well, today, the reality show aspect of politics is fueled, in part, by a 24/7 media apparatus that looks to fill its content with characters who will say something "catchy" to draw clicks and likes. In 2016, Donald Trump was among the least experienced candidates in the crowded Republican Primary field, but he was able to fuse realpolitik one-liners with a knack for comedic timing and, before long, even supposedly liberal networks like CNN and MSNBC were giving him access that he didn't have to pay for because his very presence kept eyes on their programs. 

Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush during a 2015 GOP debate…

Today, the proverbial genie is out of the bottle as would-be conservative leaders each try to be irate, combative, and petty on the political stage. Such is why Rep. Cawthorn's loss is surprising, because conventional wisdom holds that Mr. Trump's endorsements are typically golden but, in this case, it did not save a young man who, time and again, proved that he was unfit to serve. 

Happy Birthday Terri Alexander

Remembering my friend and Taurus Sister, Terri "Sista Shay" Alexander, on what would have been her "Golden" 50th birthday. 

Now, I know that many of the "Saints" believe astrology to be pagan mumbo jumbo, but the late "Sista Shay" arrived on Earth 48 hours earlier than I did in 1972 and I assure you that our personalities and thoughts were eerily similar in just about every facet of life save one—her quite vocal support for the sports teams of her undergrad and law school alma mater, Florida State University 😆.

Two things that I will never forget: 1.The last time that I saw Shay, less than a year before her untimely passing in 2020, was when we ran into each other in the Atlanta airport while waiting to catch connecting flights to L.A. and Phoenix, respectively. We were SO loud in our exuberant quick chat that folks were just staring—and we didn't e'en much care. 2. The last time that we would ever chat was on her podcast where, as we often did, we discussed social injustices and institutional racism in America. Little did I know that barely two weeks after speaking at length on-air with Shay that I would be speaking over her casket at her funeral in Tallahassee—a fact that reminds me to give family and friends their rhetorical or literal flowers when I can because it just may be the last time!

Ergo, I wish a Happy Heavenly Birthday to a dear friend whose wise counsel is still sorely missed; Rest well, my Sister!

Graduation Season is in!

I am so very proud to extend a very special congratulations to my nephew, Jaden Owens, on the occasion of his graduation from Westminster Academy in Atlanta!

Young Owens is the son of one of my very best friends in life, Victor Owens, his dear wife, Christa R. Owens, and the grandson of a proud Hobbservation Point supporter, Mrs. Shirley Baker Owens ❤.

Hobbs and Owens, two of the Morehouse Florida Boyz, outside of Graves Hall circa 2019

It seems like it was just yesterday when I watched Jaden's father, his Uncle Aljohn Scott, and the Lincoln High Class of ‘90 march across the graduation stage at the Tallahassee/Leon County Civic Center in similar green caps and gowns, before we all were off to begin our journeys as Men of Morehouse. And now, Jaden is en route to great success in whatever field of endeavor he chooses; Uncle Hobbs will be watching it all unfold with great interest!!!