“Democracy dies in Darkness” is the motto utilized by the Washington Post meant to signify that without an informed populace, democracy will die at the hand of tyrants; democracy does die in darkness, but I propose it also dies in deafening silence.
The 2022 election reflected a sad state of affairs for the Republican Party, beginning with a disastrous primary season that was one grand contest to see which contender would kowtow the lowest at the alter of Trump. Across the nation, promoters of Trump’s big lie won in their respective primaries with the support of the former president; many fell at the hands of democratic challengers in margins varying in scale while others went on to win their general elections; now a week out from the swearing-in of the 118th congress these candidates promise to wreak havoc upon the legislative organ and with recent events that promise has reaffirmed itself greatly. In particular, one congressman-elect, George Santos of New York, is embroiled in conflict over the fact that he fabricated his entire resume.
Mr. Santos, a congressman elected for the third congressional district of NY, has admitted to fabricating the entirety of his resume in various interviews, such as the one given to the New York Post, claims of which include working for both Citigroup and Goldman Sachs but instead working with them, graduating from Bachrach College and NYU when he didn’t graduate from college at all, claiming to have Jewish ancestry that survived the holocaust when in fact turned out not to be the case, claiming to be the first “openly gay” republican when he failed to disclose he previous divorce of a women, claiming to have never said to be Jewish but rather being a staunch catholic-only claiming to be “Jew-ish.” Mr. Santos now claims not to be a criminal, which begs the question; What crimes did he commit? Furthermore, is his name even George Santos?
This entangled web of lies and half-truths constructed by the congressman-elect represents the disturbing modern trend of the Republican Party, denying the truth in exchange for “embellishment” (a term coined by Mr.Santos in a bid to change the definition of lying) and “alternative facts.” This trend has corrupted the party’s moral fibers and chipped away at the once strong foundations built upon its founding; it has become a carcass, a twisted, deformed convolution of the bastion it once used to represent. It is a cult of personality without a modicum of care for morals or truth, all in the pursuit of pleasing one man sitting atop his high chair, now facing the wrath of the justice system. This has been put on full display as now that Mr. Santos’s lies have been exposed, republican leadership stays silent, morality and decency be damned. Where these virtues should be in their hearts, it has been replaced by sickening opportunism, viewing the matter as simply another number to pad their small majority and that once the speaker has been voted in Republican, they dispose of him and speak as if he never existed. Has the once great party of Lincoln and Reagan stopped so low? Has the party been corrupted to such a degree? Has the party forged all moral responsibility to please one small man and his ego? The answer is a wholehearted yes.
Now is the time for the bridge of wills to construct itself and for the ranks of the Republican leadership to step up and speak out against the brazen dough-faced leech that is George Santos and expunge him as like excrete.
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