Don2 (Don1 Revised)
Contributor
You are minimizing. Not all politicians lie as frequently as this guy did. Just admit it. Even the NY Post is calling him out. Surely, you are not more partisan than biased conservative media??
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Merged NY Rep Santos (merged from GOP elected that guy in WW84 and GOP are liars)
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You are minimizing. Not all politicians lie as frequently as this guy did. Just admit it. Even the NY Post is calling him out. Surely, you are not more partisan than biased conservative media??
Elixir
Made in America
Trump made lying great again. I forget how many lies people counted but it was way into five digits last time I recall. No consequences whatsoever came to him for lying, and he did use them to gain the presidency … why should anyone else breaking into electoral politics do any different, especially if Russians will lavish riches on you?
Now they’ve got Kevin McC on the hook, so no way they won’t seat this little fuck.
Now they’ve got Kevin McC on the hook, so no way they won’t seat this little fuck.
starwater
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Follow the money. Lying in itself is not a crime. But if he did it to get campaign funds - then the DA or DOJ can sink their teeth in it. There is no way he was able to get $700K for his campaign from some luxury item brokering business.
TomC
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I still find this stunning.
The Party of Nixon and Reagan has morphed into the Party of Russian stooges!
How the hell did that happen?
Tom
Elixir
Made in America
Got me, bro. No clue. I mean yeah, I have been here watching it happen, but the whole amalgam of self- interest, opportunism and treasonous betrayal is beyond my comprehension.
Don2 (Don1 Revised)
Contributor
Um, Nixon and Reagan? Both were big liars who did crooked things behind the scenes.
bilby
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Sure, but even Nixon would, had he been offered money by the Russians to act in their interests, have had their contact arrested by the FBI as a spy, rather than taking the bribes.
The guy was a crook, but he wasn't a traitor.
Don2 (Don1 Revised)
Contributor
Russia today and back then are very different, ideologically. Nixon and Reagan were okay with financial shenanigans with right-wing regimes, though it's also true most often money went here to there, not there to here. So, I think the difference is much smaller than TomC alleges.
Swammerdami
Squadron Leader
I don't get the controversy. He seems to understand and embody Republican values very well. Is he being bandied as a replacement for Speaker McCarthy?SLD
Contributor
True, but if he’s convicted he’ll have to be expelled. Of course, any good lawyer could get that delayed for a long time.
Derec
Contributor
... no avocado?
Swammerdami
Squadron Leader
Two things:
(1) Republican politicians are now for sale to the highest bidder.* Putin pays well.
(2) Social media. (Do I "sound like a broken record"?) Millions of Americans will never learn about Santos; their newsfeeds will instead teach them that Covid vaccines have devices to turn their children into Hillary's sex slaves.
* - This was brought home when Jon Stewart interviewed a former SEC Commissioner. He said the biggest reason SEC is unable to prosecute Wall St. crooks is campaign donations by the crooks to Congressmen.
As they say on Facebook, it's complicated. It's the confluence of a lot of factors, but it all starts with the Republican realization they were a minority party and would remain so as long as working class white people identified with the Democratic party. After WW2, the Democratic Party took up the flag of civil rights. This had sort of been a Republican corner because of the "Lincoln freed the slaves" thing. Post Reconstruction governments in the Confederate States were all Democratic controlled and were responsible for the harshest Jim Crow laws.
It was Nixon who first exploited white working class fears following riots in various large cities. This led to a shift in the Republican demographic. Along with the white working class, came the white supremacist segment. This is not a large group, but after the fall of the Soviet Union, they found an affinity for the new autocratic regime, especially the anti-Semitic elements of the new Russian political order. This led to many "friend of a friend" contacts between Russian operatives and GOP backers. There was plenty of money to go around. Nothing gets a Republican's attention quite like a fat PAC and no one questions from where the money came.
It was not long before the GOP found itself in a bind. Those who depended on Russian support, were the most radical elements. Moderate Republicans found themselves getting squeezed in the middle and as the extreme right expanded, became branded as Republican in name only. It's never been difficult to make extreme politics palatable to middle of the road voters and it's much easier when the GOP is out of power. Modern campaigns are more expensive than ever because the internet has replaced television and radio as the prime medium for the message. This seemed counter intuitive, but effective campaigns need to be targeted to specific group or even a specific person. While the delivery is cheap, the research and sorting of data is very expensive.
This gave Russia even more influence over GOP politics as Russian moles, trolls, and bots, invaded the US internet, planting and sharing fake news(the genuine fake news). The GOP has become like an embezzler who works two jobs, stealing from one to cover his theft from the other. He can't quit either job and he can't quit stealing.
The problem faced by political extremists in the US is that when they gain power, they can't govern. So much of their political goals are based on distorted facts and often blatant falsehoods, when given the reigns, they can't accomplish anything of value. For example, trying to fight a pandemic after accepting antivaxxers as a valid science or building a border fence while the majority of undocumented immigrants arrive by plane.
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Cheerful Charlie
Contributor
Santos reminds me of the Dilbert character Topper. What a ridiculous little man.
The Republican party has been shifting into fascism for a long time. In the 60s my father made a hopeless run for office as a Republican, the objective being to make his opponent not be unopposed. (He was in a D+60 district. Losing by 50 points was actually a very good showing.) By the 80s he was voting straight Democrat--because the parties had changed, he hadn't.
I love this. The Stop Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker (or S.A.N.T.O.S) act is being introduced.
www.independent.co.uk
Democrat targets ‘lies’ of newly elected GOP congressman with SANTOS Act
Violations of the bill, if it were to become law, would include a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison
www.independent.co.uk
Ford
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I can't even think of someone that reminds me of him.
Back in the early 2000s, a co-worker swore up and down he could ride his motorcycle from Phoenix to Las Vegas in just over 45 minutes....a 5 hour drive on a good day. Yeah, Dave was full of shit, but we just nodded and smiled. Nobody ever thought of electing him to Congress.