In an age of fake news and casual disinformation, it’s reassuring, in a sense, to know that we can still be surprised and/or amused by falsehoods. Enter freshman Congressman George Santos, a Long Island Republican who, it turns out, isn’t capable of being honest about even a single thing.
It seems Santos has lied about (or at least, thus far, been unwilling or unable to verify information about) his education, his Jewish background (including a family flight from the Holocaust), his finances, his relationships with multiple Pulse nightclub victims, his involvement with several jobs and charities, his marital status, and his mother’s death during the events of 9/11 (deeply confusing, since she also appears to have died in 2016). It’s good news that we’re still able to express collective outrage about this sort of thing; less good that there have yet to be any consequences other than some very public snickering. He certainly wouldn’t be the first American politician to get away with telling wild and easily disproven lies.
Still, this particular politician stands unmasked, at least for the moment, and that’s worth a brief moment of celebration—possibly by watching some movies that deal with compulsive liars who ply their lying trades for fun and profit.