2022 Midterm Election MEGATHREAD

[Jacob]

One assumes there'll be no consequences for the guy?

[The Larch]

Sloppy research on the opposition candidate by the Dems, if that's the case.

[Admiral Yi]

One assumes there'll be no consequences for the guy?

It appears NY does not have a recall law.

https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_recall_in_New_York

[Tonitrus]

One assumes there'll be no consequences for the guy?

Why would there be consequences for electing a lying dope?  Surely there are a few UK/Canadian/other democracie's MPs who fit that description as well.

[garbon]

One assumes there'll be no consequences for the guy?

Why would there be consequences for electing a lying dope?  Surely there are a few UK/Canadian/other democracie's MPs who fit that description as well.

If anything I want to know what all the opposition research/investigators were doing that he only got called out after the fact.

[mongers]

One assumes there'll be no consequences for the guy?

Why would there be consequences for electing a lying dope?  Surely there are a few UK/Canadian/other democracie's MPs who fit that description as well.

If anything I want to know what all the opposition research/investigators were doing that he only got called out after the fact.

I guess admidst the tirade of BS that spouts from these new Trumpist candidates, it's hard to not just tune it all out.

Besides, given Trump behaviour, it's hard not to think many voters love these lying, cheating scum and are more than happy to vote them in.

[Tonitrus]

Besides, given Trump behaviour, it's hard not to think many voters love these lying, cheating scum and are more than happy to vote them in.

No doubt.  There were a few articles on GOP voters in the Senate election in Georgie where the executive summary was "we know and don't care if Herschel Walker is crap...we need a Senate majority".

[Sheilbh]

Why would there be consequences for electing a lying dope?  Surely there are a few UK/Canadian/other democracie's MPs who fit that description as well.

I can't think of one quite like this just entirely fabricating their life story.

The nearest example I saw someone suggest was John Stonehouse, a Labour MP in the 70s. But all of his frauds were once he was an MP. He had various business interests that went wrong, he was also having an affair with his secretary. He faked his own death to move to Australia with his secretary but was arrested, extradited and charged with 21 charges of fraud, theft, forgery, conspiracy to defraud etc. But he was on bail for most of that time and never resigned as an MP - he didn't even get the whip withdrawn because Labour only had a majority of three. So he didn't resign until he was actually convicted.

He was later identified as spy for the Czechs (and one of only two cabinet ministers who were confirmed as a spy - the other, also for the Czechs, was a Tory MP and also a minister in the 60s) - although that only came out after the Cold War. Thatcher was made aware in 1980 (when he was in prison) and agreed to a cover up on the basis that while they knew he was a spy, they didn't have enough evidence to prosecute him. There's an upcoming TV show about him starring Matthew Macfadyen.

Other than that maybe Robert Maxwell who was a Labour MP for a while as well as a press baron. His background was incredibly opaque (and he may have also been a spy - although it's unclear if it was for the Brits, the Czechs, the Israelis or all three ). But it was a very different context. He was a Jew from the Czech army fleeing his way across the continent and eventually joining the British army who somehow then became a very successful publisher post-war and then invented a past in a Europe without many written records of who he'd been.

If anything I want to know what all the opposition research/investigators were doing that he only got called out after the fact.

I believe the NYT did a few stories which he just denied. So it feels odd because there were definitely signs there was smoke.

[Jacob]

Why would there be consequences for electing a lying dope?  Surely there are a few UK/Canadian/other democracie's MPs who fit that description as well.

In some democracies, lying like that about who you are as a candidate would typically lead to a resignation once it was discovered.

[Valmy]

One assumes there'll be no consequences for the guy?

Why would there be consequences for electing a lying dope?  Surely there are a few UK/Canadian/other democracie's MPs who fit that description as well.

If anything I want to know what all the opposition research/investigators were doing that he only got called out after the fact.

Yeah. A non-Jew pretending to be a Jew to win on Long Island and the Democrats let him get away with it in a very tight national House election. Well played Mr. Santos.

[celedhring]

It's so absurdly shameless though. "I didn't say I was jewish, I said that I was jew-ish" is the kind of thing I'd expect in a scene from The Office, not real life 

In Spain the most famous case I can think of is Luís Roldán, appointed general director of the Civil Guard in the 1990s with an entirely fabricated resumé - claimed to be an engineer and economist, with master degrees and shit (he never finished high school). Predictably, the dude stole hand over first and fled the country.

[Jacob]

Yeah. A non-Jew pretending to be a Jew to win on Long Island and the Democrats let him get away with it in a very tight national House election. Well played Mr. Santos.

One side acts unethically and the blame gets placed with the other side for not catching them, and congratulations are extended to the unethical actor rather than censure.

Sometimes the US seems very foreign to me, in spite of everything.

[Razgovory]

Is Mr. Santos apologizing to the Times for claiming they were out to get him.

[Sheilbh]

It's so absurdly shameless though. "I didn't say I was jewish, I said that I was jew-ish" is the kind of thing I'd expect in a scene from The Office, not real life 

I saw someone on Twitter say this may be the closest we get to if George Costanza was elected

In Spain the most famous case I can think of is Luís Roldán, appointed general director of the Civil Guard in the 1990s with an entirely fabricated resumé - claimed to be an engineer and economist, with master degrees and shit (he never finished high school). Predictably, the dude stole hand over first and fled the country.

Not political but on fabricated lives I read that Javier Cercas novel about Enric Marco which was extraordinary - both the novel and just the story. And an interesting read of what is behind this sort of thing.

[Tonitrus]

Why would there be consequences for electing a lying dope?  Surely there are a few UK/Canadian/other democracie's MPs who fit that description as well.

In some democracies, lying like that about who you are as a candidate would typically lead to a resignation once it was discovered.

This requires a sense of shame. A quality our political class as discarded rather abruptly in recent years.