Expelled, By George!

The national joke everyone stopped laughing at long ago that is George Santos ended yesterday when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to expel the New York State congressman and fashion-plate horror for . . . well, any attempt to chronicle all of Santos' lies and illegal activities would likely take up too much bandwidth on this blogging service, though he hasn't been convicted of anything yet.  Suffice to say, however, that the House finally got him out on the third vote to do so.  The third time really was the charm here. 

Santos may be gone, but his ethos remains in the Republican House majority.  Republicans in the House keep trying to gaslight and hoodwink their constituents and make every available effort to consolidate and exercise their power to enforce their cruel agenda on the country.  And for that they need every vote possible in an almost evenly divided House.  Small wonder that Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republican leader Steve Scalise were among the 114 House members who voted to keep Santos.  The irony of Speaker Johnson announcing the vote for expulsion was monumental.

Santos had every reason to believe he would be able to ride the storm out.  A party that has tolerated his money fraud, his spending of campaign funds on personal possessions and services, and his lies about 9/11 has also embraced another money-grubbing carnival known for his lies about 9/11 - Donald J. Trump.

Santos' expulsion treated a symptom in the House of Representatives.  The disease goes merrily on.     

Liz

I have one thing to say about Liz Cheney.

I like her.

Oh, sure, she's a right-wing nut, but I like her.  Anyone who stands up to Trump and vows to make sure he doesn't pull a Grover Cleveland and return to the White House in January 2025 gets my vote - or would, if I lived in Wyoming.  She's all right with me.

Why not?  She knows Trump lied about winning the 2020 presidential election and having it stolen from him, and she knows he's going to keep lying about it and get his supporters to remain faithful to him to the point where Republican officeholders will do his bidding.  He is eager and ready to get back into the White House, trash the system all over again, turn the Democratic Party into a permanent minority opposition, and turn Congress into a rubber-stamp legislature to allow him to run roughshod over the Constitution.  And from there it will be one simple step to some form of apartheid to keep people of color - soon to be the majority of Americans - in line.  All while Trump uses his power to enrich himself further and bend the law to his favor.

And I don't know how Liz Cheney is going to stop all that by continuing to speak out against Trump after having been expelled for her House Republican leadership position yesterday.  But I'll sure be happy to see her try.