Indicted Republican lawmaker George Santos expelled from U.S. House

250 years of country and 6 people expelled... that's why

But rest assured, if the process ever becomes a weapon of political war, I'll know which side is using it...

 

Have to disagree. This IS NOT a criminal process; it is supposed to be an ethical one, based on fitness and suitability for the position. It's much like getting fired because you conduct reflects poorly on the image of the company you work for. The standards of integrity for Congress need to be the highest in the nation- and while they are far from it, that IS the standard we need. When we start requiring it, refusing to settle for less- things will change, and the nation be on the path to restoring itself. Santos expulsion IS NOT a sign of that happening.

The catch is that dumping Santos is not an example of integrity and honor returning to Congress- it's an example of a cosmetic move to make it appear they have ethics, by dumping a freshman with few connections and power.

I think his expulsion is a small step in the right direction, but hardly for the right reasons.

 

As well, failure to expel would invite another Santos.

There can be a fine line, but Santos has obliterated it. The failure was in the vetting, as the people elected a false image of a candidate. Hopefully, this will be corrected by the parties and media, and hopefully anyone who had thoughts of a repeat are now reconsidering.

 

A key metric to remember is that the rules of ethics do not control the conduct of Congress; that is controlled by what you can get away with. Corruption of ethics is normal; it is the defacto game. The biggest crime is calling attention to it, making it obvious. Santos had no established power in Congress, and he was getting a lot of attention, all of it negative. That presents an opportunity to appear like they won't tolerate dishonesty. Right choice, wrong reasons in my opinion.

 

This is a good thing. Now let’s see if democrats have the same integrity and get rid of their Egyptian senator

 

And now, a word from the poor schmuck who lost to Santos. As there won't be a primary for the special election, I assume Zimmerman has a pretty good chance to be named as the D nominee

https://www.yahoo.com/news/real-call-action-robert-zimmerman-213405342.html

 

Wrong. Santos is the third successful expulsion since the end of the civil war. Overall, I think this is the 23rd expulsion in history.

Leading up to the civil war, the conflicts in Congress between north and south got intense. Representatives from the north had majority, and expelled 17 members of Congress from the south- because they supported the south, and the members from the north decided to end the argument by removing them from office. This was wrongful use of the power of expulsion, and that was using it as a weapon of political war. Do your homework, it's not hard to find.

 

Agreed, but George Santos crossed a line not crossed by others. This is more than simple dishonesty.

 

6 in the House, 15 in the Senate, so we were both wrong.... Seems homework needs to be done on both sides...

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/01/george-santos-expelled-congress-members-list

 

Addressed in Post #6. When Menendez's Ethics report comes out and it's as damning as Santos', I suspect it won't take long to have an expulsion vote.

Of course, they'll have to work out Murphy appointing a new Senator the same day, so the balance of power in the Senate isn't modified...

 

Here's a humorous take on the matter

https://www.yahoo.com/news/message-george-santos-ahead-house-090751118.html

 

Santos was a soft target for our entrenched corrupt bipartisan ruling political class. This expulsion establishes a clear useful precedent -- 'Elections Don't Matter' US Congress.

Time for common folk to sing The Blue Tailed Fly and crack corn. Let The Purges Begin!
https://doyouremember.com/117577/jimmy-crack-corn-song-meaning-dark

"Law - like the state - will wither away only in the highest phase of communism. ... Until then, however, there is necessity for general control, firm discipline in labor and in community life, and complete subordination of all the new society's work to a truly democratic state." Source: A.Y. Vyshinsky, ed., The Law of the Soviet State. Tr. H.W. Baab (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, Publishers, 1979), P. 51.

"Would that the Roman people had but one neck!", Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus [AKA Caligula] (31 August 12 – 24 January 41).,
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Caligula

 

It's ironic that you mention Caligula here, because he and George were roommates at Rome University....

 

They are still trying to locate the horse...

 

Honestly, I am somewhat surprised that he was expelled. The evidence was damning. His outburst is typical of a con man. And I think this was the right thing to do based on the evidence by the Ethics Commission and their recommendation.

 

I’m not sure how it works when a seat is vacated. Does there have to be an election or an appointed official? Does it very by state? I’m really not familiar with that process.

 

Caligula, reportedly, in effect, bisected from his shoulder to his waist by his Praetorian commander responded:

"'I live!' Allegedly his dying words. Vivo! (as reported by Roman historian Tacitus)."
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Caligula

Not for long.

Santos will probably have a slightly longer half-life, and if the jurors at his trial, who must all have contempt for him by now, nevertheless acquit him expect the Washington Beltway to be bounced out of its course rather like the Mississippi River after the New Madrid quake.

 

It's state by state, but NJ is a governor choice state with no restrictions

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-r...es-in-the-u-s-senate-it-depends-on-the-state/

Only 4 states require a special election. Personally, I'd only be for a special election if the seat was opened within the first 4 years of the term. In the last 2, I'd just let the governor appoint and wait for the next regular election for that seat. Cost benefit analysis....

 

Santos was not elected to work for a company or the House of Representatives. He was elected to represent the people of his district -- for just two years.

The pols who expelled Santos, IMO, are acting rather like all of the Bolsheviks, like Zinoviev, Bukharin, Radek ... (all far more thoughtful than our average politicians) who supported Stalin's purges. Smart men, but not smart enough to stop digging a hole and jumping into it after first giving the spade to their enemies to shovel the dirt pile onto them.
Whistling by their graveyard did not save them.

“We see now that infringement of freedom is necessary with regard to the opponents of the revolution. At a time of revolution we cannot allow freedom for the enemies of the people and of the revolution. That is a surely clear, irrefutable conclusion.” Nikolai Bukharin,
"Programme of the World Revolution”, Nikolai Bukharin. Chapter VII: "Freedom for the Working Class and the poorest Elements of the Peasantry; Restrictions for the Bourgeoisie", www.marxists.org. 1918.

"To overcome of our enemies we must have our own socialist militarism. We must carry along with us 90 million out of the 100 million of Soviet Russia's population. As for the rest, we have nothing to say to them. They must be annihilated." Grigory Zinoviev
https://www.executedtoday.com/2011/08/25/1936-grigory-zinoviev-and-lev-kamenev-old-bolsheviks/

 

Santos served NY's 3rd District. There will be a special election. $$$

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/20...-sets-competitive-special-election-rcna127236

 

Congress has the authority to expel members. They’ve very sparingly used that authority. Santos is a huge buttplug and deserved expulsion. The end.

 

All this handwringing about something that only the GOP would potentially misuse and abuse is wrongheaded. It requires a 2/3 majority vote, ferfucksake!

 

It just keeps getting better....

Jorge Santos is now threatening to file "ethics complaints" on 3 other R's, and 1 D....

https://www.yahoo.com/news/santos-threatens-former-colleagues-ethics-152013695.html

Can he actually do that? Don't you have to be IN Congress to get the Ethics committee involved??

This is what happens when you have ZERO internal filters...

 

I suspect only members can file ethics complaints. Otherwise, they would be flooded with complaints filed by numbnuts who have no idea what they’re doing.

 

Oh wait…