In yesterday’s New York Times, columnist Michelle Cottle picked “George Santos”, said by some to be a Congressman-elect, as political con man of 2022:
As always, Cottle wrote, at every step [in 2022] there were political players and events that stood out from the general chaos in ways good, bad and bizarre. It is once again time to recognize these special few. . . .
Top Con Man
George Santos — if that’s even his real name.
Pick a campaign claim by the representative-elect from New York’s Third Congressional District, and chances are it was false.
Veteran of Citigroup and Goldman Sachs? Nope.
Beleaguered landlord with 13 properties? Nope.
College grad? Nope.
Lost four employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting? Nope.
Mysteries remain. There is an ongoing debate about his claiming to be Jewish — or was it Jew-ish? And it’s still unclear how, with a long trail of unpaid debts, he was in a position to loan his campaign $700,000. Even in a Republican Party trained to embrace ‘alternative facts,’ this guy is testing the limits. . . .”
All true enough. But in the case of “Santos,” the adage “What’s past is prologue” also seems more than apt. While 2023 is still damp from pecking its way out of the shell, “Santos” and his 2022 baggage are likely to prove to have been just a warm-up act. Glance ahead and take your pick:
— investigations, inside & outside the House;
— an international “incident” with Brazil;
— a swarming political media, desperate to deflect attention from their monumental incompetence in missing the obvious evidence of Santos’s fakery strewn across their own New York backyard; and not least—
— a big warm bucket of slop in the lap of incoming GOP House Speaker—
—Um, whoever the incoming GOP House Speaker turns out to be.
Yes, Mr. “Santos” was certainly a breakout late entry in the crowded political con man (er, person) contest last year. But I’m getting ready for an even more grotesquely absorbing second act this year.
Just gotta go find me a new stash of popcorn.
And make sure it’s kosher-ish.
Maybe they have some at Goldman Sachs . . . .
