George Santos and Election Fraud

United States Representative George Santos of New York, a Republican who was elected in the November 2022 General Election and sworn into office earlier this month, has been accused of falsifying his background in several ways, among other possible scandalous behavior. Although he was sworn in assigned to committees, he was not assigned to any of the major ones. Santos has admitted to some of the allegations. In addition to calls for him to be investigated by the House Ethics Committee, there have been numerous calls for his resignation, including from GOP leaders in his district and some Republican members of the House. The basis for urging Santos to be investigated or resign is that he deceived the voters. Deception is the heart of fraud. As I have made the point on this blog and elsewhere, there is far more election fraud than many liberals and Democrats admit, which should be defined much more broadly than only certain criminal acts involving registering to vote or casting votes. One of the ways I have mentioned is deception. Republicans and conservatives rightly pointed out how President Barack Obama, a liberal Democrat, had deceived voters in 2012 by falsely claiming that the killing of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya was by Muslims protesting a video when it was actually the work of the Islamist al-Qaeda terrorists. Obama had been campaigning for reelection at the time by claiming that he had diminished the threat from al-Qaeda. Therefore, he had deceived the voters and was reelected through fraud. I have posted about how Donald Trump and his American and foreign supporters engaged in numerous deceptions for his nomination and election to the presidency, some of which he or his supporters have admitted or have been proven beyond dispute. Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign also benefited from deception. As I have noted, conservative and Republican claims of election fraud are undermined by the fraud that they deny, minimize or accept on their own side, as well as by making baseless allegations of fraud, instead of focusing on real examples. Just as it is obvious to most observers across the political spectrum that Santos should resign for election fraud and poor character, Republicans and conservatives should admit that Trump was a fraud and disavow him completely. Truth and consistency are essential principles and politically appealing when practiced, especially when they are difficult for a particular party.

Foreign Digest: Brazil, Iran and Yemen

Brazil: Supporters of the former far-right Brazilian President, who lost the election last month, took over the Brazilian capitol on January 8, occupying the legislature, high court and other main government buildings. It seemed to have been inspired by the takeover of the United States Capitol, two years and two years before, by supporters of Donald Trump, who baselessly refused to accept his defeat for reelection to the presidency. The supporters of the former Trumpist President of Brazil claim the election results were fraudulent, but there does not appear to be any significant basis for their claims. The new leftwing Brazilian President is justifiably prosecuting the perpetrators of the occupation government facilities, vandalism and assaults on law enforcement, but is making questionable or exaggerated claims. The rioters may have been attempting to engage in an insurrection, as the Government alleges, but more evidence would have to prove their intent, as the legislature was out of session and the President was not in the capitol, unlike in the American example, which many observers have compared it to, in which the Trump supporters attempted to thwart the counting and certification of the votes by Congress of the Electoral College on January 6. 2021. The Trump supporters, who falsely believed Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, succeeded in delaying the constitutional process, in which Trump’s successor was elected. Several hundred Trump-supporting insurrectionists have pleaded guilty or been convicted of crimes ranging from illegally entry of a federal building, destruction of federal property and violence against law enforcement to interference with the proceedings of the federal government and sedition. The role of the former Brazilian President in encouraging the storming of the capitol was less clear than in Trump’s case, as the former was in Florida for medical treatment and had not made inflammatory statements, unlike Trump. Some of his supporters had been blocking roads in Brazil for weeks after the election. The leftist Brazilian President’s claim that the occupiers of the federal capitol were “terrorists” is false. They were attacking government, not innocent civilians to intimidate them to give into their demands, which is the essential element of terrorism. Governments, especially authoritarian ones, dismiss all armed opposition as “terrorism,” thereby diluting the word for an especially evil war crime by equating anti-government militancy with the targeting of innocent civilians. Words like insurrection or sedition are better fits for the typical anti-government violence committed in free countries. Iran and Yemen: United States forces have been intercepting Iranian arms and materiel sent by the terrorist-sponsoring Islamic Republic of Iran to Houthi rebels in Yemen. Yemen has been enduring a civil war for several years with multiple factions fighting the government, the Iranian-backed Houthi, and Islamist terrorists, such as al-Qaeda. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Arab allies against the rebels. Islamist Iran foments revolution across the Islamic world, particularly among Shi’ites, but not limited to them. The U.S. recognizes Iran’s machinations in Yemen as destabilizing.

Unexpected Bipartisanship in Pennsylvania

There were two significant unexpected examples of bipartisanship as Pennsylvania transitions to a new Governor and Legislature. The Democrats had won a one-seat majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the November General Election, but Republicans had temporarily retained the majority control because of three vacancies of Democratic seats. The GOP is attempting to delay the special elections to fill the seats that are in heavily Democratic districts. But six Republicans voted for a Democrat for Speaker of the House in an unusual, although not unprecedented, act of bipartisanship in a leadership election, which was enough to elect him. Although generally a liberal Democrat, the new Speaker, in whose district I reside, pledged not to caucus with either party while serving in that capacity and he is pro-right to keep and bear arms and pro-business. The other act of bipartisanship was exhibited by the Democratic Governor-elect, who nominated Republican Al Schmidt to be the Secretary of State, among whose responsibilities is to oversee elections. Schmidt as Philadelphia City Commissioner, was responsible for overseeing elections in the City of Brotherly Love. The GOP election watchdog had issued a report that found voter fraud. As I have posted before, Schmidt insisted that Philadelphia’s election process in 2020 was conducted honestly, despite the false claims by Donald Trump and his supporters before, during and after the election, thus earning the Philadelphia Republican the tycoon’s ire and the death threats it always inspires. Those false election claims were rejected by every court and by Republicans in Congress. The Pennsylvania Senate, where Republicans retain the majority, votes to confirm cabinet nominations. They will have to choose whether to confirm an honest and well-qualified Republican who disproved their party leader, or force the Democratic Governor to nominate a liberal Democrat, whom they would surely find less preferable.

Foreign Digest: Brazil, Syria, Italy

Syria: Israel has been continuing to target militarily Iranian and Iranian-backed Islamists in Syria, with its latest strike taking out the Damascus airport. Syrian Baathist tyrant Bashar Assad’s regime is a conduit for Iran, the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism, for funds, arms and materiel to terrorists harbored by Syria. Syria has been in a civil war for twelve years that has killed several hundred thousand people and caused millions to flee — the most since the Second World War — as Assad has been putting down rebellions by various non-Islamists, Kurds, and Islamist terrorists, such as al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the Islamic State. Syria is backed by Iran and the Russian Federation. The United States and its allies or Turkey back various non-Islamist militias who act primarily against Islamist terrorists, whom the Americans and their allies have also intervened to target directly. Assad and Russia use indiscriminate bombing methods against civilian areas and the Syrian tyrant also uses chemical weapons of mass destruction. Brazil: the new leftwing Brazilian Government is made up of a large coalition of parties that includes two centrist parties with key cabinet positions. Italy: Italy reported last week an increase in various cyberattacks since the Russian aggression against Ukraine last year. The attacks, which target public institutions and critical infrastructure and industry, not only include the usual denial of service, phishing or malware, but also disinformation. Disinformation is a favored tactic of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union.

75th Anniversary of the Italian Constitution; New Government's Policies

Italians celebrated the 75th anniversary of their Constitution last week as the new rightwing coalition government obtained the passage of the budget by the statutory deadline, among other measures. Italy adopted its Constitution in 1947, establishing a republic after a plebiscite in which Italians opted to eliminate the monarchy after its earlier tolerance of the Fascists until later, when the royal family broke with them and Italy sided with the Allies during the Second World War. The new coalition government is led by a party with its roots in a post-war party founded by Fascists that had set up a second fascist republic after having been popularly ousted from power, but the current Prime Minister has made clear condemnations of fascism, particularly of the anti-Semitic racial laws through which Italy’s Government participated in the Holocaust. She expresses her sympathy with center-right parties in the West and has provided strong support for Ukraine against Russian Federation aggression. Her coalition Government, which includes a center-right party and a Trumpist party, has been less accommodating to migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea by nongovernmental organizations, however, thereby sometimes putting them in danger. The rightwing executive has also undone most reasonable public health restrictions against the Coronavirus Pandemic, except last week introducing testing requirements for arrivals from Communist China, preferring voluntary guidelines instead. The Government enacted a crackdown on illegal raves, a culling of wild boars, and the regulation of motorized scooters, but its main accomplishment was to pass the budget. The measure includes welfare cuts for those who are fit to work and tax cuts for low- to middle income earners and the self-employed. Italy has completed all the reforms begun by the previous national unity government required for the European Union’s massive Covid relief fund.

Happy New Year 2023!

I wish you a Happy New Year! Although we are still in the midst of pandemic, war, and inflation, in addition to the political challenges and divisions of the last few years, we can gain confidence from having endured the worst of these crises, just as our earlier generations survived far greater challenges. Whatever earthly problems will happen in 2023, we shall able to survive. We especially should turn to our fundamental principles of equality, liberty and representative government. You can continue to rely on me in this new year to post about these principles from a Christian and optimistic perspective.