We Deserve Better
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the first election that I ever voted in. It was the election where I was introduced to Lena Guerrero. She had a promising political career for awhile. She served in the Texas Legislature and had been on the Texas Railroad Commission. She was now running to be the head of the Texas Railroad Commission. It’s not an insignificant position. It involves a whole lot more than just trains. She was a Democrat and therefore seemed destined to get my vote.
Unfortunately for her, the news dropped before the election. She said she had a honors degree from the University of Texas. In fact, she had no degree at all. It would be the only race where I explicitly voted against a Democrat. The funny thing is that this is still true to this day. I don’t know what makes people do these things. It’s not like she simply said she had a degree. She could have listed any institution or none at all. She could have simply said she had a degree and left the rest of the details purposefully vague. Nope. She had to say it was a degree and a degree with honors from the University of Texas.
As everyone knows, George Santos is the latest to get caught up in a web of lies. Of course, to call it a web would likely be generous. His lies haven’t even been all that coordinated. The explanations haven’t been that coordinated either. He didn’t get a degree when he said he did. His background in terms of ethnicity and religion has been either falsified out of thin air or tremendously exaggerated. His work history was also falsified. Even the details of his personal life are a work of fiction. His mother died twice. As works of fiction go, his lies have been whoppers.
I mention Guerrero for what should be obvious reasons. She was a Democrat. She lied about her education. She had attended UT. She just didn’t graduate. She not only lost the election, but she never participated in politics again. It is easy to make the point that one party lies more than the other. Maybe that’s even true, but that’s not the point of this particular screed.
The people that represent us in city hall, county court, the state legislature, state offices, and in Washington should be the best among us. They should be made from the finest parts of our national character. It isn’t necessarily about degrees, past positions, or anything else. We should be able to trust that whatever is on that resume is something you’ve actually done. We should be able to trust that what you say you know and what you say you are good at you are actually good at.
George Santos perpetuated a fraud on the people of his district. Nothing substantive that he has told the voters about himself has turned out to be true. Now, maybe he still wins. We know full well that most voters pull the lever (figuratively) for the party and not the individual. Yet, occasionally something so shameful occurs that people don’t. I didn’t vote for Lena Guerrero and I still wouldn’t.
It isn’t simple enough to simply redo the election. Sure, voters probably would vote differently now that they know the truth, but that sets up a dangerous precedent. When exactly do we know that a fraud has occurred and that it is so egregious that another election should be held? Who decides that? Sure, Kevin McCarthy and the GOP shouldn’t seat him. Yet, they have a very narrow majority and losing even one seat is a bitter pill to swallow. I don’t know the answer for them. I know the status quo is untenable. Maybe they simply don’t give him any committee assignments. The likely result is they just hope we forget. I’ve never forgotten Lena Guerrero. I’m not likely to forget George Santos anytime soon.
Lots of hoopla and heavy breathing about Santos, but nary a word about Scott Des Jarlais. Geography counts.
Also, too, why is no Democrat demanding that Santos release his tax returns before taking his oath of office? And asking McCarthy why he isn’t demanding that.
All circus, no seriousness.
1Isn’t it to our advantage to let McCarthy go ahead and set this clown where he can spend the next two years further degrading what little credibility the Republicans have?
2Wow, that name was a blast from the past! I was so angry and disappointed when all that happened, couldn’t believe she had been so stupid. She was only a bit older than me and I saw her as the future in Texas. Reflecting on it this morning fills me with what might have been. Yet back then who could have imagined, much less foreseen, the enormous proportions to which chicanery and lying would grow to in the current state of politics in this country? Not to mention the exhausting amount of righteous outrage against it we have to carry. It’s depressing. Especially when you know that at least back then the liars were exposed and kicked out. Now they get elected and seated.
3Trying hard to keep focused on the good ones like Lina Hildago.
My question: Will Santos be given a Security Clearance on fake information? Santos is a total fraud.
Harry Eagar @ 1, releasing his tax returns should be mandatory.
Years ago, I had to submit forms for a security clearance to marry my late husband. I remember it was multiple pages long and took 3 months to process. I had to prove I my citizenship, account for every address that I had ever lived at, every school I had ever attended, every job I ever had, my family members, my friends etc. with documentation.
4Since Democrats actually believe in good government, we expect more from the people we vote for. You can’t say any of that about the Rethugs.
I actually met Lena Guerrero at the Young Democrats Convention in Nashville in 1979. I was the Treasurer of the DC Young Democrats and Guerrero was head of the Women’s Caucus of the national YD, IIRC. She seemed madly talented and forceful. I next heard about her when this whole thing blew up and got national attention. Such a damn shame.
5Also, Miss JJ Herownself knows a thing or three about Guerrero, too. I hope she’ll enlighten us here.
6Ted Cruz actually did go to Princeton and Harvard and he’s a BIG liar too. Are we in a time of whataboutism for lying?
7Well, let me tell you — this is a person’s description of what they did (as shown on LinkedIn):
“Led the Portfolio Management Office responsible for creating and delivering automation solutions for outsourcing clients. The PMO managed a portfolio of 30 projects with a combined budget of $100M. (2007-2012)”
What he actually did: Administered the weekly project mgmt mtgs (booked room, wrote agenda, kept minutes, etc.). He had no votes on anything, supervised nobody, and had no budget. (Hell, I didn’t even know we had a PMO until I saw his resume!!) His job, as I saw it, could have been done by a senior administrative asst.
I don’t believe anyone’s resume.
8This is right up there with the candidates who run under the flag of one political party and then post-election change their affiliation.
I refer to the Candidate for Colorado; elected as Dem, switched to Rethug post-election. A First-Nation, if I remember correctly.
9For some reason, I just remembered the old movie “The Great Imposter” starring Tony Curtis. It sure seems like the Santos story would be a great remake.
10Kept trying to remember about another politician named Santos. Memory is shot.
Time to pay to watch West Wing again.
11There ought to be a law.
12You could call it the Santos Clause