The strange case of George Santos

[Mav]

Trump opened the door for con men to make their mark in US politics. He kept fact checkers busy with a firehose of lies in the run up to taking the Presidency, during it and even afterwards. He has also been a con man who has various prosecutors on his trail. But at least there was some truth in his stories. He may or may not be a billionaire, but he’s pretty wealthy. His wealth may be mostly inherited rather than him being a self-made business genius, but at least he did run a business. He may not have been a star pupil at Wharton Business School but at least there’s no doubt he went there. But George Santos won a seat in the US House of Representatives with a string of lies that had no basis in fact whatsoever. It makes you wonder how his opponent failed to prove this during the election campaign.

Here’s a probably partial list of his lies:  Things George Santos Is Accused Of Lying About (That We Know Of So Far), HuffPost.

When a guy lies about his own name, you know something’s off.

Of course the Republicans won’t chuck him out of Congress as their majority in The House of Representatives is too thin. McCarthy even put him on 2 Committees, 1 to do with science and the other with business. Certain scientists welcomed his appointment, saying they finally have a celebrated Astronaut and Nobel Prize winner on the Science & Space Committee  ;D

[DJC]

The weird thing is that Santos hasn’t broken any US laws.

It will be interesting if the Brazilian authorities decide to extradite him.

You have to feel sorry for the folk he’s supposed to represent … but if more of them got off their butts and bothered to vote, Santos wouldn’t be in Congress.

[madbluboy]

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/ge...can/48325/

[Lods]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQLExNOaNy0

[Baggers]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQLExNOaNy0

I watched it last night! Quite a fan of Bill's work.

[Baggers]

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/ge...can/48325/

Trump has paved the way for those cut from the same cloth - liars and grifters.

[madbluboy]

Trump has paved the way for those cut from the same cloth - liars and grifters.

You don't believe that.

[PaulP]

I think it largely depends on how one thinks about lying. Most, if not all politicians lie, and it becomes IMO a matter of opinion as to whether Trump is simply the most extreme example of standard politician behaviour, or whether he stands apart as a new and distinct breed. My personal view is that he tends towards the latter.

[Mav]

I can’t speak on Baggers’ behalf, but I believe it.

There used to be a time where politicians would be ashamed when they were caught out in lies and their parties would cut ties with them if those lies were big enough. But Trump showed you don’t even need to apologise for your lies: instead double down and boast about annoying those on the other side of politics.

Trump ended up pushing the stop the steal lie and made it a loyalty test. He ran Republicans who wouldn’t push the lie out of Congress. And he made it the centrepiece of his re-election campaign while refusing to reveal any policies other than saying he’d make America great again again. How could you not draw a line from Trump to Santos?

[LP]

I think it largely depends on how one thinks about lying. Most, if not all politicians lie, and it becomes IMO a matter of opinion as to whether Trump is simply the most extreme example of standard politician behaviour, or whether he stands apart as a new and distinct breed. My personal view is that he tends towards the latter.

Trump stands apart because when he gets caught out lying he doubles down, historically politicians would resign when caught out lying!

Once Trump realised he could get away with it, he became an order of magnitude worse, now he doesn't even try to conceal that the stuff he says is false, Trump has almost become a parody, like he is campaigning to be the next Presidential Clown!

We could refer to him as Trumpo the Clown, but I suspect that is exactly what he wants so he can play the victim to his fan base and claim that everyone's lack of respect for him is proof he is victimised.

When in reality everyone's disrespect is proof Trump has been caught out lying!

I just do not get the US population, a large portion of them seem willing to be defrauded, it's like they want it to happen so they can blame their circumstance on somebody else, like "My crap life was because of my circumstance and out of my control!" Maybe some are so dumb they think "If I vote for Trump he may reward me with a pocket full of cash!", when in reality at his hotels Trump will replace higher paid local staff with low wage Sth American or Mexican imports.

But Trump is not alone, we have seen this behaviour in celebrities as well, they know they have a loyal fan base that will forgive pretty much everything.

Trump's biggest weakness is his hubris, give him enough rope and he'll hang himself, in the process he'll drag down his fellow citizens trying to save his sorry ass!