George Santos: The latest -- and lamest -- product of the normalization of lying

[dalton99a]

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/3804268-george-santos-the-latest-and-lamest-product-of-the-normalization-of-lying/

George Santos: The latest — and lamest — product of the normalization of lying
by Glenn C. Altschuler, opinion contributor - 01/08/23 9:00 AM ET

These days, lying by MAGA politicians has become normalized. The new normal emerged in January 2017, when President Trump reportedly directed Sean Spicer, then White House Press Secretary, to tell reporters that the crowd witnessing the inauguration, which had been estimated at a comparatively sparse 200,000 people, was the largest in American history, period. Spicer added that “attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong.” ...

George Santos (R-N.Y.), the newly elected representative of New York’s 3rd Congressional district, is the latest — and lamest — product of this normalization of lying. Ironically, however, Santos, an election denier who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, has not fully implemented key components of the Trump World’s playbook.

The scale and scope of Santos’s falsehoods is stunning. Here is a short list: Santos claimed he attended the prestigious Horace Mann High School, received an undergraduate degree from Baruch College and studied finance and economics at NYU; was employed by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup; took the stage “at the largest private equity conference in the world” and berated Goldman executives for their approach to renewable energy; managed a real-estate portfolio of 13 properties; founded an animal rescue charity that saved the lives of 2,500 dogs and cats; “lost four employees” at the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., in 2016; is a “proud American Jew,” who is a “descendant of survivors of the Holocaust.”

Santos has not explained how a person whose gross income was $55,000 in 2020, could lend $700,000 to his own campaign less than two years later. Or whether his campaign illegally paid $11,000 for rent on the apartment at which he lived. According to an election law expert, 800 reimbursement claims under $200 (30 at $199.99), the threshold at which receipts are required, would appear to provide “strong evidence that the violation of law was knowing and willful.” And Santos reportedly faces fraud charges in Brazil connected to a stolen checkbook.


(SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

[magicarpet]

1. The Fascists take Reality TV mainstream politics,...

... with their unending fabrications and outrageous lies.

[underpants]

2. Stolen Valor

Stolen Valor was a big thing in RW circles mostly during the height of the War on Iraq. I saw tons of facebook posts about it most confrontations at airports and in public places. Basically people were wearing military uniforms (typically BDU’s) and posed as if they were serving. There were also people claiming military awards they never received if they’d ever served before.

It stunk of RW nonsense to me but there have been two acts of Congress covering this. The first was struck down in court (SCOTUS I think) so another act was passed.

Here’s the thing, as much as they tend to wrap themselves in the flag RELW talking heads made defending the right to lie as standard content for a while. They were correct, lying is not illegal unless under oath or on certain documents. This was, to me, was cover for talk radio on Fox. Lying is essential to their product.