MADISON CAWTHORN AND TOM BRADY

The facial resemblance is uncanny.

Remarkable really.

Two very handsome fellows.

I’m afraid that’s the beginning, middle and end of it.

Emphasis on end.

Madison Cawthorn, who was paralyzed from the waist down as a passenger in a 2014 Florida car accident, seemingly has made a life’s work of being a lightning rod.

‘Light-ning Rod’:

noun British

– “a metal rod or wire fixed to an exposed part of a building or other tall structure to divert lightning harmlessly into the ground.”

– “a person or thing that attracts a lot of criticism, especially in order to divert attention from more serious issues or to allow a more important public figure to appear blameless.”

Not even Donald Trump could save Madison Cawthorn.

In cahoots?

Certainly appears so.

Under fire among Republicans, the scandal-plagued far-right 26-year-old rep recently lost his primary race to state Senator Chuck Edwards.

Though Cawthorn won North Carolina’s district general election by more than 12 points in 2020, staying on the Republican ticket in 2022 became a struggle.

Too many problems.

Too much controversy.

Thom Tillis, North Carolina’s junior senator, began pushing to depose Cawthorn in March.

It seems that spouting off on a podcast didn’t do the freshman lawmaker any favors.

Cawthorn, the youngest member of the House, claimed that he had witnessed the “sexual perversion that goes on in Washington.”

He elaborated.

Fellow lawmakers apparently had invited him to an orgy.

And he had seen prominent political leaders use cocaine in front of him.

His other scandalous dalliances, if not full-blown episodes?

Bringing a loaded firearm into an airport;

Participating in a leaked video which shows a nude Cawthorn humping a “friend”;

And insider trading allegations related to his involvement in a right-wing cryptocurrency, which he has denied.

Responding to the release of the video by the American Muckrakers PAC, he described it as “a new hit against me,” adding weakly that, “Years ago, in this video, I was being crass with a friend, trying to be funny.

We were acting foolish, and joking.

That’s it.”

Not exactly.

The American Muckrakers PAC has also filed an ethics complaint accusing Cawthorn of breaking House rules, by partially financing the travel and living expenses of a second cousin, one of his congressional aides.

He’s a privileged kid who once described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky(y) as a “thug.”

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said Cawthorn was, “wrong.”

Cawthorn admitted to a propensity toward exaggeration.

Tom Brady is 44 years old, soon to be 45.

David Madison Cawthorn is 26.

Their respective records speak for themselves.

But they look a bit alike.

No big deal.

[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in June 2022.]