GLR July-August 2022

youngest member upon his elec tion in 2020. Cawthorn is a Trump Republican who looks like a mati nee idol from the ’50s and gets around in a wheelchair. He spews homophobic rhetoric with the best of them but lives with a staff member named Stephen Smith who’s clearly his lover. Report edly there’s a ton of incriminating evidence in the form of photos, videos, and screenshots of inti mate scenes. This and other reve

BTW

Let the Sun Shine In Invent a new problem, and right away you’ve created an opportunity: you can be the guy with the so lution! Such is the formula that Tucker Carlson has perfected on his Fox News show. For example, Carlson has promulgated the meme that male testosterone levels are declining worldwide— part of the right-wing narrative that masculinity is on the ropes. He recently brought on a guest named Andrew McGovern who had an explanation for the decline: men just aren’t letting their scrotums get enough sunlight these days. And the solution? It’s called “testicle tanning,” and it involves exposing the boys to what McGovern calls “full body red light therapy.” But go back: Does he mean to imply that at one time men’s scrotums did receive enough sunlight? When was that? Then, too, if peo ple are covering up more these days, it’s because we now un derstand the dangers of ultraviolet light. Making a point of exposing one’s reproductive organs to UV rays makes about as much sense as not getting vaccinated for Covid. Are these guys actively trying to kill their viewers? Dark MAGA The brief saga of Madison Cawthorn has come to an end (for now) with his defeat in the Pennsylvania pri mary. His meteoric rise to the U.S. Congress made him its

lations—including complaints of sexual harassment by other staffers—caused a panicky Cawthorn to marry his girlfriend before the 2020 election. But guess who accompanied them on their honeymoon to Dubai: Stephen Smith! After Cawthorn took office, the panic shifted to Congressional Republicans, who launched an investigation into his “inappropriate rela tionship.” His next move was to tell the media that Republi cans in Congress had invited him to sex orgies and offered him cocaine—which is when his Party support collapsed al together. In defeat, the never charming Cawthorn vowed re venge on his enemies, declaring that “It’s time for dark MAGA to take command.” That sounds scary, but it’s something we should probably know about. God Hates Inflation Right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk likes to blame transgender people for various social ills, including—wait

The G & LR

10