Santos would never have gotten away with his massive shell game had we had viable and vibrant print journalism still in place. It was the local Long Island paper that kept trying to out Santos for his shenanigans, but the big media outlets were quite happy to believe the fake puppet show and helped get him elected. We need the old style political reporters digging into the background of candidates before they get elected and after to keep them honest. That type of reporting should be the standard, not the exception.
The mainstream American press, much owned by Oligarchs, is not doing a very good job of finding the news or analyzing the issues. Thank you ProPublica for taking on following the dark money. Of course the better funded IRS might be doing this too, and that isn't something they will make public, and then we know that there are probably more to come from the Justice Department. We need a lot more protections than we currently have, but I am glad that E Jean Carroll prevailed. Given the amount of money Trump has, 5 million does not seem like a prohibitive amount of money for him to pay. I am hoping that there are more women coming forward and they each get more money, so that in total it adds up to at least or 8 figures.
Not just that. His Democrat opponent in the election should have done the most basic due diligence during the campaign which would have easily uncovered many of his resume lies
I think often it’s about the lack of money and manpower. Those big war chests provided to Republicans often from suspicious sources vastly outweigh many Democratic candidates and the 2 party establishment system completely dominates the 3rd party candidates.
McConnell knew it was wrong, but the GOP has completely lost any ethics or allegiance to our democracy. It’s only about retaining power and getting rich off the government system. The corruption has even infected the Supreme Court.
And Mitch McConnell was knocked down from his own top position, Senate Majority Leader, for refusing to convict Trump.
He famously said that his lifelong ambition was to be Senate Majority Leader , Because It Was The Most Powerful Position In The United States Government.
For me, a) I continue to be amazed at the gullible public, many who STILL would support someone like Trump, inspire of all we know about him. b) Where are leaders with integrity & honor? America needs qualified people with good intent. If we could only get the money out of the political system which I think breeds corruption. 🤷🏼♀️
“America needs qualified people with good intent.”
Joe Biden. Elizabeth Warren. Cory Booker. Stacey Abrams. Wes Moore. Adam Kinzinger. Liz Cheney.
Unfortunately, the Republican Party is so thoroughly corrupt at all levels that it’s far harder than it should be for those of ability and honor to a) do their jobs and b) be recognized for it.
So many people that support him are either just like him or are victims of these oppressors in their own personal lives, so the pattern is familiar and comforting to them. Others just want to oppress anyone that doesn’t look or think like them.
We have many leaders with integrity and honor, unfortunately they all seem to be on the left. Those on the right are using every corruption at their disposal to destroy our system of checks and balances. Soon enough not even our vote will be able to counter their subterfuge.
I think that Trump looking at the photo of E.Jean Carroll was very telling. He mistook E.Jean for Marla and said the picture was blurry(which it was not). YET, he could identify Johnson. To me this showed that women were just objects to Trump, just to be used, and they are all alike. Of course he could identify Johnson because he needs to remember the important men that support him.
Could we add the name Tricia Cotham to the list of liars, please? The NC state rep who revealed her true identity as a Republican after having run as a pro choice Democrat? I believe we’d find a big stink if someone investigated.
You'd add Tricia Cotham to the list, yet leave Kyrsten Sinema off? She spent a year campaigning as a Democrat in Arizona, and not long after winning the seat, began the courtship with Republican donors, which culminated in her declaring herself "Independent." And she expects people to believe her switch came about because the Democrats were "mean" to her. Who knows what that means...
While it is true that the sexual abuse and battery verdict is a small victory, it comes with a lot of issues.
- What does a rape survivor have to do in this country to actually put a rapist behind bars?
- Carroll's life is still in danger from Trump's rabid base, as are the lives of the jurors and, likely, her legal team, and the judge.
- It's a civil case, so the rapist doesn't go to jail.
- Trump's lawyers already said he won't pay as long as the case is being appealed. And even if he does finally pay, five million is a drop in a bucket, considering he raised forty times as much with just his fake legal defense fund.
- While there is some hope that this will steer more female voters away from Trump, it's not guaranteed. I mean.... his sexual proclivities were known before the 2016 election - and women still voted for him.
As is, this victory comes at a very high cost to the survivor and very little cost to the perpetrator, and illustrates the absolutely twisted approach this country has to crimes in general and sex crimes specifically, when committed by famous, wealthy men.
I'm reading A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take over America and the Woman who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan. Highly recommended. It reminds us that this kind of abusive narcissist has always been with us. Egan focuses on D.C. Stephenson, a Grand Dragon of the KKK, who was a sexual predator, a drunk and a serial rapist who got away with his behavior for years because authorities and politicians looked the other way.
I keep thinking that you left out another extremely powerful grifter, one whose influence is far greater than Santos, and whose legacy may last longer than trump’s: Clarence Thomas.
I keep seeing Republicans, even very young people, say in interviews that they will still vote for Trump if he is the nominee. What about the Democratic platform do they despise so much they would vote him and his thugs back in? We know he will bring Miller and other Nazis back into his White House, maybe even Fuentes! Marjorie Taylor Green may well be his VP, and he will pardon Bannon and every Jan 6 prisoner. Imagine Enrique Tarrio as his FBI director! (If he doesn’t disband the FBI.). MUCH more needs to be done to call out these kooks and crooks and their bizarre conspiracy theories. I am truly scared for this country and its future. I spent last evening hitting my head against the wall with a man on FB who truly believes every conspiracy ... everyone is a Satanist or “Luciferian”, we are trying to confuse everyone about their gender in order to create chaos, and some other extremely weird and troubling crap. Nothing I said or posted for him would shake his beliefs because it’s all a “big worldwide conspiracy”. Another person joined in to help me, but he only doubled down and asked us if we ever considered that we were wrong and he is right. It wasn’t entirely a waste of time because it made me realize how deeply these people believe these whacko lies; seemingly the wackier the better.
I hope to see the government do a deep dive into these groups and the money backing them. They truly are terrorists or at least insurrectionists. In the meantime, I urge everyone to volunteer, donate, and vote to promote sane candidates. In my home state of Oklahoma we barely get voter turnout of 30%. Apathy will be our downfall.
My cynicism doesn't allow me to believe that knowing these matters in advance would have made a bit of difference. There was plenty in Trump's past that raised red flags for people with good values. Part of our population just doesn't care about ethics and see these attributes in these men as desirable and powerful.
True. Trump supports have personal told me that, “it’s all about winning and supporting the winner”. They view politics as a dirty sporting event and don’t care about fairness or democracy. It’s obvious that our educational system is severely lacking in some areas.
Since he was fraudulently elected, all his votes should be overturned. Maybe I’m wrong and it’s just on tv, but don’t police who are found criminally guilty, lose all their convictions? Shouldn’t at least that bar be held for our Congress people, who actually make the laws?
First, I'd like to ask a question. If tRump was found liable (guilty?) in a civil court, it means that a jury of his peers believe that he sexually assaulted Ms. Carroll. What's stopping the prosecutor from bringing charges in a criminal court for this?
And just a thought on being cautious about who we support politically: We do. We have. We care who we choose to represent us. When they act in ways that reflect poorly on them and us, we ask them to leave. Or they do voluntarily. Case in point: Senator Franken. In hindsight, he was railroaded (that woman who made accusations had her 15 minutes--where the hell is she now?), and STILL did the right thing. He should run again. The GQP dare not say a word about him! It's the GQP who doesn't care one bit about the people to whom they give the nomination, support, back, protect, enrich, encourage, etc, DESPITE their horrible, HORRIBLE behavior. They represent a vote, and that's enough for them.
Statute of limitations. The event described in Carroll's civil suit happened decades ago, well beyond the statute that has been in effect. However, given what that loud-mouthed, orange-faced idiot has stated in his so-called "town hall" aired on CNN to a national audience, she may well have grounds for suing him for defamation and slander AGAIN.
He's an arrogant dope who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
Thank you for your informative response. As a woman who has been sexually harassed and assaulted, I've never understood the 'statute of limitations' on such a horrible crime.
I have no doubt Congressman Zimmerman made numerous attempts to alert the press about Santos but it is apparent he didn’t do a good enough job communicating with the voters in the district. Having worked in the labor movement for 40 years I understand the most important component of any political campaign is getting the vote out. Apparently this happened a lot New York State which we now know contributed to republicans taking control of the House.
Thanks Jay—this is such great info to have all in one place at our fingertips!
I know things are busy, but are you planning on writing about some of the Georgia fake electors taking a plea bargain? Waiting with bated breath for your take!
The really distressing thing is Trump’s base doesn’t care what crimes he has committed. He said he could “ stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and he wouldn’t lose voters.” Unfortunately, he’s right! The particular scary thing to me is regular Republicans that I know not extremist in other areas of their life still think he was the best president, and would vote for him again! Crazy!
Insofar as the United States is land of second chances, I doubt we will ever how rid ourselves of the likes of Trump and Santos. But then, I'm an optimist — matters can only get worse.
Santos would never have gotten away with his massive shell game had we had viable and vibrant print journalism still in place. It was the local Long Island paper that kept trying to out Santos for his shenanigans, but the big media outlets were quite happy to believe the fake puppet show and helped get him elected. We need the old style political reporters digging into the background of candidates before they get elected and after to keep them honest. That type of reporting should be the standard, not the exception.
The mainstream American press, much owned by Oligarchs, is not doing a very good job of finding the news or analyzing the issues. Thank you ProPublica for taking on following the dark money. Of course the better funded IRS might be doing this too, and that isn't something they will make public, and then we know that there are probably more to come from the Justice Department. We need a lot more protections than we currently have, but I am glad that E Jean Carroll prevailed. Given the amount of money Trump has, 5 million does not seem like a prohibitive amount of money for him to pay. I am hoping that there are more women coming forward and they each get more money, so that in total it adds up to at least or 8 figures.
Not just that. His Democrat opponent in the election should have done the most basic due diligence during the campaign which would have easily uncovered many of his resume lies
I live on Long Island, although not in Santos’s district. His Democratic opponent *did* know about how sketchy he was, but no one listened to him.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/12/house-republicans-george-santos-democrats-ethics
Thank you Laura! So tired of the blame being put on the Dem in their race, CNN tried that garbage too!
This article just confirms my dismay at the DCCC--that’s who I have blamed & still do.
I think often it’s about the lack of money and manpower. Those big war chests provided to Republicans often from suspicious sources vastly outweigh many Democratic candidates and the 2 party establishment system completely dominates the 3rd party candidates.
Really? Blame the victim?
(And inaccurately, too, as his opponent DID sound the alarm.)
Robert Zimmerman is the one who brought it to the attention of the local newspaper!
Agreed. I was about to say the same thing.
The saddest thing is that Mitch McConnell could have ended trump once and for all.
McConnell knew it was wrong, but the GOP has completely lost any ethics or allegiance to our democracy. It’s only about retaining power and getting rich off the government system. The corruption has even infected the Supreme Court.
And Mitch McConnell was knocked down from his own top position, Senate Majority Leader, for refusing to convict Trump.
He famously said that his lifelong ambition was to be Senate Majority Leader , Because It Was The Most Powerful Position In The United States Government.
Totally agree!
For me, a) I continue to be amazed at the gullible public, many who STILL would support someone like Trump, inspire of all we know about him. b) Where are leaders with integrity & honor? America needs qualified people with good intent. If we could only get the money out of the political system which I think breeds corruption. 🤷🏼♀️
“America needs qualified people with good intent.”
Joe Biden. Elizabeth Warren. Cory Booker. Stacey Abrams. Wes Moore. Adam Kinzinger. Liz Cheney.
Unfortunately, the Republican Party is so thoroughly corrupt at all levels that it’s far harder than it should be for those of ability and honor to a) do their jobs and b) be recognized for it.
So many people that support him are either just like him or are victims of these oppressors in their own personal lives, so the pattern is familiar and comforting to them. Others just want to oppress anyone that doesn’t look or think like them.
We have many leaders with integrity and honor, unfortunately they all seem to be on the left. Those on the right are using every corruption at their disposal to destroy our system of checks and balances. Soon enough not even our vote will be able to counter their subterfuge.
I think that Trump looking at the photo of E.Jean Carroll was very telling. He mistook E.Jean for Marla and said the picture was blurry(which it was not). YET, he could identify Johnson. To me this showed that women were just objects to Trump, just to be used, and they are all alike. Of course he could identify Johnson because he needs to remember the important men that support him.
Exactly—interchangeable and a dime a dozen to him.
For men like Trump, women come in two categories, WILTF, and not my type.
Could we add the name Tricia Cotham to the list of liars, please? The NC state rep who revealed her true identity as a Republican after having run as a pro choice Democrat? I believe we’d find a big stink if someone investigated.
This really burns me up
Me, too. Things are going haywire here!
You'd add Tricia Cotham to the list, yet leave Kyrsten Sinema off? She spent a year campaigning as a Democrat in Arizona, and not long after winning the seat, began the courtship with Republican donors, which culminated in her declaring herself "Independent." And she expects people to believe her switch came about because the Democrats were "mean" to her. Who knows what that means...
Add them both to the list!
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article275216766.html
While it is true that the sexual abuse and battery verdict is a small victory, it comes with a lot of issues.
- What does a rape survivor have to do in this country to actually put a rapist behind bars?
- Carroll's life is still in danger from Trump's rabid base, as are the lives of the jurors and, likely, her legal team, and the judge.
- It's a civil case, so the rapist doesn't go to jail.
- Trump's lawyers already said he won't pay as long as the case is being appealed. And even if he does finally pay, five million is a drop in a bucket, considering he raised forty times as much with just his fake legal defense fund.
- While there is some hope that this will steer more female voters away from Trump, it's not guaranteed. I mean.... his sexual proclivities were known before the 2016 election - and women still voted for him.
As is, this victory comes at a very high cost to the survivor and very little cost to the perpetrator, and illustrates the absolutely twisted approach this country has to crimes in general and sex crimes specifically, when committed by famous, wealthy men.
🎯
I'm reading A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take over America and the Woman who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan. Highly recommended. It reminds us that this kind of abusive narcissist has always been with us. Egan focuses on D.C. Stephenson, a Grand Dragon of the KKK, who was a sexual predator, a drunk and a serial rapist who got away with his behavior for years because authorities and politicians looked the other way.
I keep thinking that you left out another extremely powerful grifter, one whose influence is far greater than Santos, and whose legacy may last longer than trump’s: Clarence Thomas.
Charges haven’t been filed against Thomas. Yet.
I keep seeing Republicans, even very young people, say in interviews that they will still vote for Trump if he is the nominee. What about the Democratic platform do they despise so much they would vote him and his thugs back in? We know he will bring Miller and other Nazis back into his White House, maybe even Fuentes! Marjorie Taylor Green may well be his VP, and he will pardon Bannon and every Jan 6 prisoner. Imagine Enrique Tarrio as his FBI director! (If he doesn’t disband the FBI.). MUCH more needs to be done to call out these kooks and crooks and their bizarre conspiracy theories. I am truly scared for this country and its future. I spent last evening hitting my head against the wall with a man on FB who truly believes every conspiracy ... everyone is a Satanist or “Luciferian”, we are trying to confuse everyone about their gender in order to create chaos, and some other extremely weird and troubling crap. Nothing I said or posted for him would shake his beliefs because it’s all a “big worldwide conspiracy”. Another person joined in to help me, but he only doubled down and asked us if we ever considered that we were wrong and he is right. It wasn’t entirely a waste of time because it made me realize how deeply these people believe these whacko lies; seemingly the wackier the better.
I hope to see the government do a deep dive into these groups and the money backing them. They truly are terrorists or at least insurrectionists. In the meantime, I urge everyone to volunteer, donate, and vote to promote sane candidates. In my home state of Oklahoma we barely get voter turnout of 30%. Apathy will be our downfall.
My cynicism doesn't allow me to believe that knowing these matters in advance would have made a bit of difference. There was plenty in Trump's past that raised red flags for people with good values. Part of our population just doesn't care about ethics and see these attributes in these men as desirable and powerful.
We can’t give in to cynicism. We have to believe we can learn from our mistakes.
True. Trump supports have personal told me that, “it’s all about winning and supporting the winner”. They view politics as a dirty sporting event and don’t care about fairness or democracy. It’s obvious that our educational system is severely lacking in some areas.
1. Only the best people.
2. Santos was the (I believe) deciding vote for the recent Rep. budget plan.
Since he was fraudulently elected, all his votes should be overturned. Maybe I’m wrong and it’s just on tv, but don’t police who are found criminally guilty, lose all their convictions? Shouldn’t at least that bar be held for our Congress people, who actually make the laws?
First, I'd like to ask a question. If tRump was found liable (guilty?) in a civil court, it means that a jury of his peers believe that he sexually assaulted Ms. Carroll. What's stopping the prosecutor from bringing charges in a criminal court for this?
And just a thought on being cautious about who we support politically: We do. We have. We care who we choose to represent us. When they act in ways that reflect poorly on them and us, we ask them to leave. Or they do voluntarily. Case in point: Senator Franken. In hindsight, he was railroaded (that woman who made accusations had her 15 minutes--where the hell is she now?), and STILL did the right thing. He should run again. The GQP dare not say a word about him! It's the GQP who doesn't care one bit about the people to whom they give the nomination, support, back, protect, enrich, encourage, etc, DESPITE their horrible, HORRIBLE behavior. They represent a vote, and that's enough for them.
Statute of limitations. The event described in Carroll's civil suit happened decades ago, well beyond the statute that has been in effect. However, given what that loud-mouthed, orange-faced idiot has stated in his so-called "town hall" aired on CNN to a national audience, she may well have grounds for suing him for defamation and slander AGAIN.
He's an arrogant dope who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
Thank you for your informative response. As a woman who has been sexually harassed and assaulted, I've never understood the 'statute of limitations' on such a horrible crime.
And I hope she sues his b***s off.
I have no doubt Congressman Zimmerman made numerous attempts to alert the press about Santos but it is apparent he didn’t do a good enough job communicating with the voters in the district. Having worked in the labor movement for 40 years I understand the most important component of any political campaign is getting the vote out. Apparently this happened a lot New York State which we now know contributed to republicans taking control of the House.
Thanks Jay—this is such great info to have all in one place at our fingertips!
I know things are busy, but are you planning on writing about some of the Georgia fake electors taking a plea bargain? Waiting with bated breath for your take!
The really distressing thing is Trump’s base doesn’t care what crimes he has committed. He said he could “ stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and he wouldn’t lose voters.” Unfortunately, he’s right! The particular scary thing to me is regular Republicans that I know not extremist in other areas of their life still think he was the best president, and would vote for him again! Crazy!
Right. He should amend his claim to say he could "stand in the dressing room at Bergdorf-Goodman and rape someone, and he wouldn't lose voters.
I'm hoping that as the cases mount up, women are going to step away from supporting him, regardless of their political affiliations.
Because gas was cheap and he was building a wall. (They probably heard it on Tucker's show).
Insofar as the United States is land of second chances, I doubt we will ever how rid ourselves of the likes of Trump and Santos. But then, I'm an optimist — matters can only get worse.