The George Santos “scandal” Is Far Bigger Than A Fight Over A Congressional Seat.
The Left’s march to end the Constitution and the Rule of Law continues.
By now, you have likely heard about a newly elected New York Republican Congressman named George Santos. If you have not, you can learn more about him here. Essentially, he embellished both his resume and personal background during his winning campaign for Congress. One wonders how Democrats did not unearth these apparent falsehoods during the campaign, but, now that they have come to light, the chorus from those on the Left (and some one the “Right”) for him to resign can be heard daily and incessantly. Were this the end of the tale, one could be forgiven for believing this is politics as usual. Unfortunately, as ever more is the case in the Trump Era, it is not the end; no even close.
Soon after the story of his supposed falsehoods broke, influencers on the Left started calling for an “investigation” of Mr. Santos by prosecutors. To be sure, if he had committed actual crimes, this would not be an unusual request. However, the cries for an investigation sprung not from allegations of criminal activity, but from angst over the fact that a politician had lied in an effort to win an election. You can see evidence of these requests here and here:
Regardless of your opinion of whether a politician lying about his or her resume and personal background is proper, or even unusual, the fact that the debate so swiftly turned to talk of an investigation is alarming. Among the reasons for alarm is the fact that the Federal government and every State government is limited in its ability to prosecute its citizens for speech by the First Amendment. While perhaps no one would support someone lying to obtain political office, plainly a majority of Americans (albeit a diminishing one), would agree that lying is protected by the First Amendment. Indeed, lying to obtain political office is among the most protected speech there is since the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that political speech enjoys the highest protection the Constitution provides. This fact partially explains why no one bothered to attempt to criminal charge Elizabeth Warren or then 1988 presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden for their lies during campaigns.
In light of the First Amendment and the fact that this plainly is political speech, calls for an investigation are ridiculous. That being the case, one would have expected for chorus to subside quickly and the news media to pick up the next bit of narrative to generate clicks. Unfortunately for our Constitutional Republic, that is not what happened.
Instead, reports soon surfaced that “investigations” for criminal misconduct by Mr. Santos have been opened in Nassau County in New York and by the Biden Administration. In the Trump era, Blue State governments, along with the Federal government, either riding roughshod over or outright ignoring the Constitution is not that unusual, but what we are witnessing now is the cancerous cultural narrative of elected officials doing as they wish spreading from Trump or Trump related persons out into every facet of American life. It is difficult to imagine how this ends, other than with what Democrats espouse regularly—a “democracy.” “Democracy” meaning that elected officials may do whatever they please once “elected,” especially if it harms Republicans and benefits Democrats.
Democracy understood in this way is something quite apart from what this Country has been for most of its history, a Constitutional Republic. Of course, the Left has never believed in the idea of a Constitution or a Republic. Setting that aside, historically this type of system has proven to be unworkable and the death of nation after nation as the Elite class squanders the wealth and prosperity of its citizens in a never ending wealth transfer from a nation’s citizens to its political class. It is unbearable to think of America in this light, but the recent George Santos “scandal” reveals we may well be on that path.
Time will tell if that is the case. In the meantime, keep in mind that this George Santos debate is about much more than a Congressional seat.