I'm sure someone's written on this, but it really is striking how the GOP has become a political proxy for like the ground rhinoceros horn male vitality supplements they sell at sketchy ass gas stations. I'm aware of Nichols' Trump piece today, but it's broader and more endemic.

It really is inescapable. From cucks. To this fixation with soy. To wearing a mask demonstrating weakness. To men who will die early from heart failure running around, gasping for breathe, armed to the teeth in camo. It permeates so much of the culture and discussion on the right

What's even weirder is the people who *choose* this comically childish framing of masculinity enmeshed with politics. Like, you understand that we can see you, right? You could lie about being honest, paying your bills, being a loving husband and father, etc. and we wouldn't know

But, like, we know you're not banging twenty year olds, you're not cranking out bench press records, and you're not competing in triathlons. You have high blood pressure, you drink too much, and you haven't run a mile since middle school. Why, exactly, are you focusing on that?

The whole thing is just so fucking bizarre and this shit with masks takes it to an entirely different level. These people feel compelled to strap themselves to all of this idiocy because they've coupled their view and measure of their own masculinity to their political beliefs