Newly elected Republican Rep. George Santos is a liar and I denounce all lies. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, his peers in the GOP can do themselves and the country a favor and knock it off with the moral preening.
Elected officials and GOP leaders in Nassau County, New York, the area Santos represents, made a big show on Wednesday of hosting a press conference where one by one they took turns decrying Santos as a deceitful conman who should immediately resign from Congress. “He lied to my face,” declared one of the party’s drama queens. The party chairman lamented the “deceit, lies, and fabrication” that colored Santos’ campaign.
Yeah, he lied about his education, his work history, his philanthropy, and most neurotically, his ancestry. And not a single one of those things determines whether he’s going to vote for bills that benefit his constituents or hurt them. Not a single one of those things determines whether he’s going to support policies that help America or further ruin it.
All things being equal, I would prefer to elect a man who doesn’t lie about where he went to school, nor that he founded a charity for cute dogs. But if that man was open about his intent to vote in favor of taking more of my income, sending billions more to Ukraine, and, — for the love of all things holy — anything having to do with “equity,” well … Mr. Santos, who can I make this check out to and can I get you anything while I’m at the store?
That’s the choice. There haven’t been any major votes on legislation in the new GOP-controlled house, yet, so we don’t know if Santos will be a reliable supporter of the things that matter. But if it’s between finding out with him, or risking that his seat be filled with a Democrat — in a special election, it likely would be — who is sure to oppose them, the only thing for the rest of the Republican Party to do is shut up and make sure he pulls the right lever.
Democrats have figured this out. They know that power is temporary and the point of having it isn’t to keep it, but to use it while it’s there. Do you think House Democrats actually like looking at Rosa DeLauro every day? Of course they don’t. But the Connecticut representative is a reliable vote for their team. That’s what matters.
Santos is no different. He’s a creepy, lying pudge ball but he’s our creepy, lying pudge ball. At least for two years. Don’t waste those two years.
