Jan. 11, 2023, Marisa Kabas,
Voters might owe George Santos a ‘thank you’ — for airing local GOP dirty laundry
Santos’ election has provided a valuable service for his district by exposing something deeper than a fraudulent résumé: the dirty laundry of a local GOP.
Jan. 11, 2023, Marisa Kabas,
By Marisa Kabas, MSNBC Opinion Columnist
George Santos won his election on Nov. 3 against Democrat Robert Zimmerman in New York’s wealthiest district, and one of the wealthiest in the country. But as we know now, the person for whom the majority of voters cast their ballots was an imposter created to appeal to the district’s Wall Street types with big checkbooks and politics that have reddened in the Trump years. Suddenly this Brazilian, Jewish, immigrant, gay, CUNY Baruch graduate and Goldman Sachs alum was possibly none of those things.
Still, Santos’ election has provided a valuable service for his district by exposing something deeper than a fraudulent résumé: the dirty laundry of a local Republican Party with big ambitions but a weak leadership pipeline. And ultimately, that’s a good thing — for Democrats, as well as for the Republicans whom Santos deceived during his campaign.It’s been equal parts fascinating and horrifying to see the area of Long Island where I grew up making national headlines. …
… Santos had run in 2020 with little money or fanfare and lost handily to Suozzi. But he’d hitched his wagon to Trump, having attended the Mar-a-Lago New Year’s party last year, and suddenly his star in the local party was rising. And come Election Day 2022, the district was crawling with Santos signs, with barely a trace of his opponent, Zimmerman.
Now, as much as Long Island Republicans try to say Santos isn’t representative of who they are, if they’re really honest with themselves, he is the very embodiment of their values. And the more people who know that, the better off everyone is. …
It feels to me like politics has imploded, facade was always important, but now days its become all most people care about. The most unqualified are trusted with tasks that require knowledge, training, pride in job, concern for those we are responsible for. But nothing professional about many Republicans these days, one sociopathic wing nut after another. People without the slightest shred self-double let alone introspection, utterly incapable of facing up to mistakes, accepting consequences, learning from experience. Opportunism and denial is all they know.
I know it’s not everyone, there are decent politicans, the biggest problem is so few citizens care to take the on the responsibility to do the things needed to make government Of the People, By the People, For the People function. You know, Democracy requires an Informed and Engaged electorate and all that. Strong grassroots that believes in their leaders - leaders that understand the point of their job is to also doing the people’s bidding. People should believe but verify, push your representatives to do the right thing, etc., etc…
No grand secrets, just people who care, who believe in community, this in turn makes some moral demands such as doing your part when and how you can. Yada, yada, yada.