Mr. Santos Goes to Washington

In Frank Capra’s classic movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Smith, an aw, shucks, salt of the earth kind of guy, played by the venerable Jimmy Stewart, gets appointed to fill a Senate seat with the help of the senior senator from his state who assumes he will be a pawn and do his bidding. Over time, the earnest Stewart, realizes his supposed mentor, is not on the up and up and ‘for the people,” and takes a stand against him; ultimately, he exposes his nefarious aims. Truth and justice prevail. Mr. Smith is an American hero standing up for the “little guy.”

In Mr. Santos goes to Washington, a man named George Santos, pretends to be somebody he isn’t, pledges to do whatever the scheming, spineless and power obsessed Kevin Mccarthy asks him to do-which amounts to the defenestration of the government-and is defended by McCarthy, despite pressure to get Santos to step down. In this movie lies and possible criminality prevail. (There is mounting evidence that Santos was involved in shady financial shenanigans) Mr. Santos is an American anti-hero. Well, actually, maybe not. Maybe Santos is the product of a Republican Party that has embraced disinformation and lies, the biggest, that the 2020 Election was stolen; maybe Santos is what spawns from The Don, the greatest fabricator of them all and an American hero to many,  

Rumor has it that Santos is monetizing his invented, false self by creating a comic book where people get to create any version of him they want. Pre-order sales are reported to be extraordinary. The comic book comes with a pamphlet titled: Be Anyone You Want to Be, Even if  it is Someone Else, Political consultants are predicting Santos will go from pariah to perhaps vice presidential pick of The Don, should he win the nomination. If he doesn’t win the primary rumor has it, he will create a new party called: The Truth Party.

When McCarthy, a man of great conviction, was pressed to take action against Santos, he retorted that lots of politicians make up stuff so no big deal. Santos wasn’t going anywhere. And why? Because there would be a special election in the district and this time a Democrat could win, narrowing his already slim majority. The fact that McCarthy continues to defend Santos is just another example of him having no shame. 

As days pass, more and more intel about Santos emerges and it seems like a number of high level Republican operatives were aware of the lies and invention. The research firm used to vet him found the following: multiple evictions; no I.R.S. registration for an animal charity he had claimed to have created; details about his involvement with Harbor City (Mr. Santos himself was not named in the Ponzi scheme allegations) and more recent suspicious business dealings; as well as apparent discrepancies in his financial disclosure forms that raised questions about the source of hundreds of thousands of dollars he had lent his campaign. Talk of getting foreign money for his campaign is also circulating. Russia? (Does that remind you of another guy accused of cavorting with Russia?) And the most recent allegation was lodged again by two New Jersey Veterans Two New Jersey who claim he promised to raise funds for lifesaving surgery for one of their dogs in 2016, then became elusive and took off with the $3,000. All you can do is just gasp at the immorality of the man. Perfect fit for the Republican party.

My favorite vote so far was the Republicans neutering the House Ethics Committee. If it wasn’t so scary it would be funny. McCarthy was particularly pleased with this one as now there are no more farmers to protect the hen house, just foxes. And what do you think George Santos thought of this one? Santos smiled and said: “It’s fantastic” And then actually said about the gutting of the committee: “I think it gives them more power.” Indeed, power to make sure he never gets investigated.

And one last thing. The Missouri State Republican controlled legislature decided to change the women’s dress code. Now women must wear jackets defined as both blazers and knit blazers because as one female lawmaker said “it is essential to always maintain a formal and professional atmosphere.” Next up: All women must wear their hair in a bun because long flowing hair is too much of a distraction for the men.

And in Arkansas, the newly elected Gov. Hucsksterbee Sanders’ made good on her promise to prevent the “indoctrination” of schoolchildren, with an executive order that targets the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT), and instructs the Secretary of the Department of Education to identify and remove any materials found to encourage the teaching of CRT. 

The order characterizes CRT as “antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality and fairness,” as it “emphasizes skin color as a person’s primary characteristic, thereby resurrecting segregationist values, which America has fought so hard to reject.” Yes, Sarah you are so right! White Americans needed to be protected from being segregated. Hucksterism at its best: