There have been expressions of angst in Washington, DC this week, as House Republicans have handed out committee assignments to freshman Congressman George Santos of New York -- a newly-elected member and pathological liar whose serial fabrications came to light after his November victory. I've already said my piece about Santos, and it was quite critical, but the story keeps evolving. Santos lied incessantly to voters about matters big and small, but I must admit that some of the lies are at least somewhat entertaining.
For instance, the specificity of his lies about his made-up championship volleyball exploits at a college he didn't actually attend are really quite something (language warning on Portnoy's framing, as he's obviously also amused):
I fucking love George Santos. My man never just lies. He goes ALL THE WAY. I mean him claiming he had double knee replacement surgery from his full scholarship volleyball days at Baruch college is next level. What an outstanding lie 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/uNMnKNEXSR
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) January 15, 2023
Note that this interview was conducted in October of 2020, just prior to Santos' narrow, near-miss defeat in his first run for the seat that he eventually won two years later. Democrats had two cycles' worth of chances to uncover any of his many lies, then likely collapsing the house of cards, by tugging at a single thread. It seems they never got around too it because they were too convinced their generic Trump/abortion playbook would be enough. Oops. Given the decisiveness with which local Long Island Republican officials have come out against Santos, I'd say it's likely that he's probably cooked in 2024, and may not survive the GOP primary. We'll see. If he goes down, he will have done it to himself -- especially if horrible, potentially criminal, allegations like this are true. But if the party were more accommodating of his endless torrent of embellishments and fabrications, perhaps he could look to another politician for inspiration. After all, this man lied, exaggerated, and plagiarized his way to the presidency of these United States. For a Santos-like figure, Joe Biden might serve as a veritable model for advancement:
the new Congressman from Long Island should really shoot for the stars https://t.co/n2foF6HqIx
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 15, 2023
Relatedly, out in the deep blue Pacific Northwest, radio host Jason Rantz reports on a freshly-elected Democratic legislator who eked out a win over a Republican incumbent after being exposed as a fraud in his own right:
Clyde Shavers lied about his military service. Washington Democrats rewarded him with a seat on a veterans committee in the House. Shavers, a Democrat representing the 10th legislative district, narrowly defeated the Republican incumbent state senator after news broke that he fabricated his military history. On his campaign website, Shavers claimed to have served “for more than eight years, he served as a nuclear submarine officer and public affairs officer with tours in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.” But he didn’t serve eight minutes on a nuclear submarine. The Democrat’s father, who outed the deceit in a public letter, said his son only passed one of three courses required to qualify as a nuclear submarine officer. After completing the first course, he transitioned to a public affairs role. But the lie was outed too late in the campaign, allowing the first-time candidate to eke out a victory...Through the controversy, craven Washington State Democrats backed Shavers. They wanted the seat. And now they’re trolling voters by seating him on the House Innovation, Community & Economic Development, & Veterans Committee. Shavers should have turned this down, but when you lie about your service, you have no shame. Democrat leadership made this appointment to say they can get away with anything in Washington; they have that much power. Unfortunately, they’re right.
If House Republicans wanted to follow this lead, they could appoint Santos as the conference's designated Truth Czar (a title Santos already earned at a prestigious secret society he founded while paying his way through Harvard Law School by moonlighting as a Pan Am pilot). A local newspaper rescinded its endorsement over the Democrat's proven dishonesty, which wasn't limited to the military service-related lie:
The editorial board of the Everett Herald newspaper rescinded the endorsement of a state legislative candidate after the paper said it found “serious misrepresentations” in the candidate’s work history. On Tuesday, the board changed the paper’s endorsement from Democratic candidate Clyde Shavers, to current Rep. Greg Gilday, a Republican...The board said it determined in campaign filings Shavers claimed he worked as an attorney, despite never passing the state’s bar exam. The Herald also questioned postings on Shavers’ campaign website, citing an earlier claim that he served as a Naval Submarine Officer. The paper found Shavers did not complete the training to serve on a submarine...[Shavers' father] said [his letter] was the “most difficult” thing he’d ever written, said he wanted to correct his son’s record “factually and personally” as a “matter of integrity.” “Clyde was never a submarine officer, not even for a day,” Brett Shavers wrote, adding his son only has “disdain for the military.”
So he was a submarine officer who never served as a submarine officer, and he was a lawyer who never passed the bar exam. If he was willing to invent these things about his biography, who knows what else he's lied about. Look out George, you may have competition. Of course, this particular scandal blew up before the election, and Washington's left-wing electorate voted for the proven liar anyway, which is a different sequence from Santos' win. Lying about military service is one of the most dishonorable categories of lies imaginable -- arguably even more so than cynically using an ethnic fairy tale to advance one's career -- so this disgrace could help guarantee that Shavers will one day become a United States Senator. After all, Washington is at least as blue as Connecticut, isn't it?