# Madison Cawthorn, controversial Republican Congressman from North Carolina, has lost the primary election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 18, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616 "2022-05-18T14:55:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/281 "2022-12-03T17:42:33Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Totally surreal to see this guy or something like Tucker Carlson having opinions about masculinity. I get a laugh out of a guy with such nice hair complaining about “metrosexuals”. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/282 "2022-12-03T18:02:11Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > He, like all of us, suffered some blows in life. In his case, they scared him in ways that make him cynical and self-serving. More worthy of pity than anything else. While I pity Cawthorn (R-NC, still, just barely) to some extent for his disabling accident and consequent trauma, like ParallelLines, mostly I’m saving my pity for those who have “suffered some blows in life” and not reacted by exploiting their (substantial) remaining privilege and power to engage in a whole bunch of illegal, abusive, and just generally assholish behavior. I mean, hell, Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) lost both legs and sustained other serious injuries while deployed in Iraq. Since then, she’s been serving her constituents and country in the administration and in Congress and working for veterans’ rights among many other worthwhile causes, besides being a wife and mother, and managing to do all that without - illegally trying to bring guns on planes - illegally driving with an invalid license - sexually harassing fellow students - slandering and aggressively insulting colleagues and other politicians - misusing funds and cavalierly neglecting and ignoring official duties This is perhaps not unrelated to general societal tendencies to assume that women who get hit with catastrophic physical suffering must suck it up and continue getting shit done for other people’s sake, while men who get hit with catastrophic physical suffering are tragic victims of circumstance whose trauma requires understanding and empathy irrespective of whatever horrible things they do. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/283 "2022-12-03T18:07:33Z")
At this point the only thing I expect from Cawthorne is points on my Deathpool list when he finally flames out. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/284 "2022-12-03T19:41:28Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > More worthy of pity than anything else. > [@ParallelLines](#): > > When they then take it and spread the damage of their own selfish nature over _others_ sympathy is the wrong choice. > [@Kimstu](#): > > men who get hit with catastrophic physical suffering are tragic victims of circumstance whose trauma requires understanding and empathy irrespective of whatever horrible things they do. I don’t think of “pity” the same as “sympathy”, “understanding”, or “empathy”. Odd how you both changed the words to rebut what strikes me as a reasonable summation: Madison Cawthorne is pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/285 "2022-12-03T19:49:06Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Madison Cawthorne is pathetic. Subtle difference, ISTM. Nowadays, to dismiss somebody as “pathetic” is colloquially regarded as an insult. “Pathetic” in this usage carries a meaning more like “contemptible”, “disdained”, “loser”, rather than its original sense of “arousing pity, sorrow or grief”. But to me at least, to say that somebody is “worthy of pity” is pretty much exactly the same as saying that they “deserve compassion”, i.e., a merciful and sympathetic refusal to be judgemental or condemnatory. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/286 "2022-12-03T19:50:20Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > “Pathetic” in this usage carries a meaning more like “contemptible”, “disdained”, “loser”, rather than its original sense of “arousing pity, sorrow or grief”. Either way works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/287 "2022-12-03T19:56:42Z")
Eh, he’ll be dead by 30. Whatever appellation to apply (in retrospect, I should have went with “pitiful” instead of “pathetic”), I doubt the world will have to deal with him much longer. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/288 "2022-12-03T19:56:45Z")
I agree that insults to Madison Cawthorn are fully acceptable, but I at least, and likely @Kimstu were replying in that manner because of PwiS’s last line: > [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > More worthy of pity than anything else. A clear reading of that says we shouldn’t be judging or condemning him, just pity. Or, at least, should excuse him for his pitiful past more than judging him for his current actions. Thus, we’re more concerned with those who would excuse his actions in light of his past. And I don’t mind taking that into account along with everything else that or any other person said or does, but I see zero efforts from this particular individual to do more than spread lies, hate, and horrible hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/289 "2022-12-04T01:23:08Z")
And the kind who lie in bed, naked, with their cousin, and briefly marry a woman who is probably a closeted lesbian. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/290 "2022-12-04T01:26:39Z")
I hate to say this, but you are probably right. Spinal-cord injuries do lead to drastically shortened lifespans, and his case, I half expect to hear that he will be found dead in some place where former Congresspeople don’t normally go, like, for instance, a homeless shelter, as a client. (This is not in any way a degradation of people who have had to do this; that’s what the shelters are there for, but you can only buck the system for so long before you get bucked OUT of the system.) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/291 "2022-12-07T08:24:37Z")
Cawthorn has been ordered by the House Ethics Committee to give $15,000 to charity for creating a conflict of interest by promoting a “Let’s Go Brandon” cryptocoin. > **[Ethics panel directs Madison Cawthorn to donate $15K for improperly promoting...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/madison-cawthorn-fined-improperly-promoting-cryptocurrency-rcna60424)** > > The House Ethics Committee report said the North Carolina Republican touted a cryptocurrency in which he had a financial interest. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/292 "2022-12-07T15:47:47Z")
I think someone is going to have to explain to him what “give $15,000 to charity” means, because these words are going to be awfully confusing to him. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/293 "2022-12-07T16:02:02Z")
Well, he could just donate it to himself, since he’s a soon-to-be-unemployable person with disabilities. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/294 "2022-12-07T16:04:04Z")
Or he could just start [a foundation](https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/donald-j-trump-pays-court-ordered-2-million-illegally-using-trump-foundation) designed to syphon off donations to himself. That always works well. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/295 "2022-12-07T19:18:51Z")
Most likely he’ll just give the Ethics Committee the finger — once he’s left office they have no authority over him. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/296 "2022-12-07T22:57:24Z")
So for the time being he’s quiet quitting? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/297 "2024-04-16T20:34:35Z")
Bumping this thread because I didn’t feel like starting a new one: Yesterday, he was tailgating a police car, and rear-ended it. Thankfully, there were no major injuries. > **[Ex-Congressman Madison Cawthorn reportedly in car wreck with Florida state...](https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2024-04-16/ex-congressman-madison-cawthorn-reportedly-in-car-wreck-with-florida-state-trooper)** > > Former North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn hasn’t spoken publicly about allegations that he was involved in a car crash with a state trooper. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/298 "2024-04-16T20:37:15Z")
That’s one fast wheelchair! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/299 "2024-04-16T23:22:22Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Yesterday, he was tailgating a police car, and rear-ended it. Who, in their right mind, tailgates a cop? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616/300 "2024-04-17T00:11:19Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Who, in their right mind Objection! Assumes facts not in evidence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-cawthorn-controversial-republican-congressman-from-north-carolina-has-lost-the-primary-election/964616.md?page=16)