George Santos cracks me up. I mean it. I’m not a fan of crooked, lying politicians, but I must say if you’re going to go that route, do it up. Have fun. Get a little weird with it. Santos is certainly as awful a politician as he is a bad liar. However, it is unclear if his lack of skill at lying is a primary cause. Especially considering how effective-truth-bending is foremost in the politician’s bag of tricks. Regardless, despite the fact he is surely one of the worst examples of a politician in my lifetime, I have to almost respect it a bit in a weird way.
If it were a movie, I would have already been complaining over how the suspension of disbelief had been stretched beyond recognition. Whether it’s claiming his mother died on 9/11 in the Twin Towers despite her death being listed in the 2000s, or the gutsy attempted save when he explained he was “Jew-ish” not “Jewish.” Who knows? Maybe Santos’ patented brand of fearless lies is just what we need to navigate these difficult and uncertain times. Now obviously that’s not true, but is it really much further off the mark than any other campaign promise that’ll be broken by early Feb. 2025, anyway? Sure, we could do better, but could we do worse? Doubtful!
Donald Trump is another great example. I must admit, I never trusted or liked him and certainly didn’t vote for him but he regularly cracked me up. Now Joe Biden could be funny. Honestly, he should be funny. He says the stupidest things. He’s one of the few people I’ve ever seen fall upstairs. For all intents and purposes, this is a guy who should have me belly laughing, but maybe it’s that confused look in his eye that’s almost certainly a sign of serious cognitive decline. Maybe it’s realizing that cognitive decline is a sign of exploitation and even a hair-sniffing segregationist deserves better.
Most of our politicians, whether ostensibly on the left or right, tend to serve the status quo and themselves more than the public they are supposedly charged with serving. There are politicians who can talk a good game, but the slicker their social media presentation and speaking skills (or social media despite lack of speaking skills, as in John Fetterman’s case), the more I’m inclined to not trust them.
I’m firmly of the opinion that if you actually look at the policies and not the rhetoric, Barack Obama was at least as bad a president as George W. Bush, for instance. That said, the main difference between the two is plain to see: George W. was funny. He was entertaining. Of course, at the time it was pretty worrisome seeing as he supposedly was leader of the Free World, but I’m a bit older and wiser now and realize presidents and other politicians are mostly spokesmen anyway. And hey, what could be funnier than a spokesman who can hardly speak?
Standard reporter Philip Fairbanks can be reached at (931) 473-2191.
