What did Stefanik know about Santos?
By Ken Tingley
It doesn’t happen all at once when you enter politics, but in degrees a little at a time.
We know now that when Rep. Elise Stefanik left her Washington, D.C. condo to live at her parents summer home in Willsboro to run for Congress in 2014, she traded in the little BMW she sported at Harvard for a more palatable North Country pickup truck.
Her friends say she toned down her views about a woman’s right to choose and same-sex marriage for more moderate stands.
We all change, evolve as we get older but she wasn’t even 30 yet.
When Stefanik was asked about her concerns about climate change, she informed us she was not a scientist.
She was crafting a persona to relate to the voters she did not know in a district in which she had only vacationed. She was learning the ropes, how to dodge, deflect and not be backed into a corner if it might cost you votes.
She shied away from the newspaper, television and radio reporters who were the lifeline to her North Country district for generations and had the trust of voters. She said it was to use this new tool called “social media” to reach more people even though big parts of her district had no internet access.
When the Glens Falls newspaper asked the candidates in the 2018 campaign not to lie, she went silent and ugly attack ads continued throughout the campaign.
Gradually town-hall meetings where residents were free to ask questions disappeared. There were no debates with her opponent during the last campaign.
Her campaign hired a teenager to do political espionage on her opponent in 2018 and paid him nearly $1,000. She said she saw nothing wrong with that.
Of course not, because everyone does it.
That’s how you justify bad behavior at the beginning, especially If that’s the world in which you reside. I can see her believing that. Your standards slip and gradually erode over time.
And when her future as a moderate congresswoman in a remote part of upstate was blocked by the emergence of Donald Trump as a political force, she did a right turn and stood next to him at Fort Drum and defended him in Washington.
It didn’t happen all at once, it was a little bit at a time, then all at once.
Stefanik has become a chameleon, adapting to the changing Washington winds with an insincerity voters should have seen by now. Some of her friends from high school and college say she is unrecognizable. They ask themselves what happened to her.
On Sunday, Stefanik characterized the president of the United States as “the Biden crime family.” Even in today’s political climate, comparing the president to John Gotti seems a bridge too far.
The voters have had multiple chances to hold her responsible for participation in the political fib-o-sphere, but they have let it go.
According to the new Speaker of the House, lies are not crimes nor misdemeanors, so when a politician like George Santos lies, it is the fault of the voters for not catching it.
Politics is rarely about policy choices anymore.
It is about the desperation to obtain or hold power no matter what.
So I see politicians through two lenses - those who lie and those who don’t. Those who will do anything for power and those who try to do the right thing.
Stefanik has done the former.
Two New York Democrats sent Rep. Stefanik a letter wanting to know why she has not condemned Rep. Santos and his Long Island Expressway full of whoppers.
The letter says "it is now almost certain" that Stefanik, a Santos supporter, "was aware of Mr. Santos’s web of lies long before the election." The letter goes on to say that a Stefanik aide helped find new staff after many quit when they learned of Santos’ lies.
It demands that she explain when she knew about Santos’ lies. So should her constituents.
The New York Times reported Friday there was “no shortage of suspicion” of Santos by Republican leadership. A campaign vendor warned a state party official about Santos’ business practices and the head of the main House Republican super PAC told lawmakers and donors his resume did not add up.
The Times Union wanted to know her reaction to that, but nobody called the newspaper back.
Instead of addressing it, Washington Republicans have looked the other way.
I love this observation by Joseph G. Cairo Jr., the Republican Party chairman in Nassau County about Santos:
“I guess, unfortunately, we rely on the person to be truthful to us.”
What a ridiculously old-fashioned notion. Yes, the sarcasm is intended. And it shows there is some morality left at the local level, some embarrassment and shame to lying to the people they are meant to serve.
Cairo called on Santos to resign.
“The reality is there’s no defense, it shouldn’t have happened,” Gerard Kassar, the chairman of the New York Conservative Party, told the New York Times. “It would be impossible and probably incorrect for me to say this could never happen again, but it won’t be from me not looking again.”
Rep. Paul Tonko, a Democrat representing a neighboring district here upstate, said it more clearly:
“The trust between the representative and the representative’s constituents is powerful and essential, and once that trust is eroded, I don’t think you can serve in an effective capacity.”
Trust is important.
Do you trust Rep. Stefanik?
Do you trust any politician anymore?
Will Rep. Stefanik agree not to lie now - ever?
Unfortunately, that sounds like something out of a fairy tale from a land far, far away.
Moreau next
I will be speaking about newspapers, journalism and my latest book “The Last American Newspaper” on Thursday at the Moreau Senior Center at 1 p.m.
Hope you can make it.
Well, I trust that Mike Parwana guy. He seems honest.
Anyway, George Santos makes me think of Preston Scagnelli, Stefanik’s spy. He was a product of Stefanik’s campaign machine. He wrote letters to the editor using a false address. He spied on Tedra Cobb and teens who were interested in politics at a private event. The media ate up one quote from the video he was asked by other teens at the event to not record. They didn’t dwell Scagnelli’s violation of everyone’s trust. Stefanik lied repeatedly about her campaign’s relationship with him but eventually the truth came out, that he was a paid spy. Scagnelli was actively spying for Stefanik last year when he attended an event for Matt Putorti at my office under a false name and false pretenses. Stefanik teaches her young volunteers to be bad people. There is no pettiness too low. They place lawn signs on each side of an opponent’s sign on the side of the road. They have high school kids write letters to the paper and get them published under other people’s names. Last fall a young couple with a child attended a Dem picnic event in Queensbury declaring their interest in getting involved. Turns out they were GOP infiltrators lying about their identities. I’ve had North Country Deplorables trying to disrupt open political events at my place. At least they didn’t try to lie about who they were which is a step up in honor above what Stefanik’s staff is apparently teaching young people. So Santos’ lying, cheating, using false names, it all seems pretty familiar to me.
There is a huge flaw in the reasoning of the founders of this nation. They believed that people lacking basic honor would be few, rare exceptions to the norm of leaders motivated by principle. They had the quaint notion that taking an oath would bind, that shame would prevent overstepping of bounds. We see that from top to bottom there is no shame among leaders of the Republican Party. They have no honor - except for a very small number of rare exceptions, people like Kinzinger, and Liz Cheney who most of the GOP deride as traitors.
Who among our local GOP have openly declared their opposition to the lies, to the treachery, to the insurrection of January 6th? At the opening of the Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting in 2021 our local leaders failed to support a resolution decrying the events of January 6th. They are complicit and that is an indication of the sway Stefanik holds on their souls.
Stefanik's constituents don't care if she lies. They use the excuse that "everyone does it" for any behavior similar to the 16 year old's with underdeveloped brains. They actually do trust her. They trust her to lie and cheat and do whatever it takes to get what the Republicans "think" that they want. They think they want these folks in power until it impacts their lives in a negative way. If they notice right away that is. Few take the high road in politics any more. It is a lonely road and a bit treacherous these days.