Today is Tuesday, December 27, 2022. A growing story making the rounds here is the increasing level of condemnation now being faced by GOP Rep-Elect George Santos from House Democrats, who have called on him to step aside, and even some corners of the Republican Party, with at least one of his fellow incoming Republicans calling for him to face an ethics investigation. It looks like this story has grown some legs here. However, the majority of House Republicans have expressed nothing in the wake of these shocking revelations concerning the background of Mr. Santos. In an article in today’s Daily News, the extent of this newly minted representative’s allergic reaction to the truth takes on even more shocking dimensions.

The article is called “Congressman-elect fesses to fabulizing: But Santos insists media were not playing fair” and is written by Elizabeth Keogh. A strategy from the Dumpf playbook was used by this arrogant piece of shit after he apologized on WABC radio in an interview with John Catsimatidis the other day, which took the form of critiquing the “elitist” reporters at The New York Times for heralding negative headlines about him. He pooh-poohed the extent of lying on his resume, saying, “I’m not going to make excuses for this, but a lot of people overstate in their resumes or twist a little bit or ingratiate themselves. I’m not saying I’m not guilty of that. I’m just saying I did so much good work in my career.” No one knows what that exactly is, actually.

An alarming revelation concerning the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting made by Santos is very disturbing. He claimed that four of his employees died in the Florida massacre. However, The Times reported that the victims were never in business with Santos. On the WABC radio show, Santos backtracked on this admission, saying that the four victims had only been hired to work for the company that he worked for at the time. This, to me, is a crass appeal to the public’s sympathy that is not even true on the part of the Rep.-elect. Despite the exposure of Santos’s lying to the public, the Congressman-elect still expects to be sworn in next Tuesday.

An online CNN article on the growing condemnation of Santos by House Democrats appears today on my smartphone by Kate Sullivan and Melanie Zanona entitled “George Santos faces growing condemnation as House GOP leadership remains silent.” Thus many House Democrats are now calling for Santos to step aside, with at least one of his fellow incoming Republicans calling for him to face an ethics investigation. As expected, House GOP leadership remains quite silent over these disturbing revelations as reported originally in The New York Times concerning Santos’s biography that was revealed to be a total sham.

Santos has weakly admitted to fabricating sections of his resume – including his past work experience and education – and has apologized, but says he intends to serve in Congress anyway,

Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas and Ted Lieu of California were among those calling on Santos to resign and, if he refuses, asking the House to expel him. Castro called for Santos to be investigated by authorities and argued if the New York Republican is allowed to serve in Congress after lying about his resume, “There will be more who seek office up and down the ballot who will believe that they can completely fabricate credentials, personal features, and accomplishments to win office.” What then would prevent anyone to baldy lie in order to win office in the future? Nothing, I’m afraid, unless there are explicit repercussions for this.

Democratic Rep-elect Dan Goldman of New York, a former federal prosecutor, called Santos a “total fraud.” He strongly criticized House Republicans, saying, “Congress also has an obligation to hold George Santos accountable, but it is sadly clear that we cannot trust House Republicans to initiate an investigation in the House Ethics Committee.”

Santos was not just rebuked by House Democrats here. GOP Rep.-elect Nick LaLota said in a statement that marks the sharpest condemnation yet from a Republican coming to Congress or currently serving. He said, “New Yorkers deserve the truth and House Republicans deserve an opportunity to govern without this distraction.”

Sadly, it is unlikely that House repugnican leadership will refuse to seat Santos, who is scheduled to be sworn in with the rest of the new members of Congress next Tuesday. “The House has the power under the Constitution to expel any member with a two-thirds vote, but doing so is extremely rare and only five lawmakers have been expelled in U.S. history.” So there you have it: this new Congressman-elect will be most probably sworn in with a sweeping cloud over his head. How can he regain the trust of his constituents after so many revelations about his past have come to the fore?

Santos has no friend in the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) that weighed in on the controversy, in which the group came out with a statement saying the incoming congressman had “misrepresented his heritage” and “will not be welcome at any future RJC event.” RJC CEO Matt Brooks said, “He deceived us and misrepresented his heritage. In public comments and to us personally, he previously claimed to be Jewish. He has begun his tenure in Congress on a very wrong note.”

With this story, it appears that George Santos just epitomizes the worst of the Republican Party, which has given shelter to liars, insurrectionists, and con men. If nothing is done about this guy, it sends a terrible message to anyone who would feel emboldened to do the same thing, knowing that there would be no repercussions for doing exactly what Santos did to win a seat in Congress. The new message for those contemplating a run for political office would be, “Hear ye, hear ye! All liars are welcome here!”

It’s getting late here since Elliot and I watched a film on HBO Max tonight after I returned from my sojourn into Manhattan to browse the Barnes & Noble on Broadway and 82nd Street to buy a cat calendar for 2023.

I got to the West Side through a very circuitous manner since the E I boarded in Forest Hills was going on the F train route because of electrical repairs on the line, so I couldn’t get to Seventh Avenue to get an uptown train. So I got off on Lexington and 63rd Street and took a Q train to 72nd Street and emerged on Second Avenue. I began walking to the West Side, forgetting that I had to go through Central Park, which was surprisingly crowded considering the cold weather. When I emerged on Central Park West, I immediately saw a building that I faintly recognized. Of course, it was the iconic Dakota apartment building where Beatles John Lennon was fatally shot in front by a crazed madman way back in 1980. I walked to the side of the complex and introduced myself to a security guard standing there. We talked about 10 minutes about the incident and the history of the building. He mentioned that there was one employee still working there who experienced the shooting 42 years ago. The guard told me how large the building is and said the architectural style of the complex identifies it as being of the gothic type. As I was talking to this fellow, a young man holding a single rose came up with, possibly, his mother and asked the guard where he could place the flower in tribute to the slain Beatle. The guard told the man to go into the park to Strawberry Fields which is the memorial to the musician created after his death, between 71st and 74th Streets.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad that my train was rerouted since I got to see the Dakota and was able to get a little history about the building and of John Lennon. One thing the guard mentioned about Lennon was that he was supposedly warned by Paul McCartney to leave the States right before his death. Whether this is true or not, I couldn’t tell you.

Anyway, it’s very late here.

Stay safe and be well.

Here is the facade of the Dakota where John Lennon met his death in 1980 at the hand of Mark David Chapman.