A Moment of Pride in American Democracy
All Americans should watch the video of Nassau County GOP officials demanding that Rep. George Santos resign over his egregious lies
Like most people, I read summaries of political events like yesterday’s press conference of Nassau County Republicans calling on George Santos to resign. This headline from yesterday seems like small news compared to domestic issues such as the overall dysfunctions of the House of Representatives and the progress of various prosecutions to hold Trump accountable for his crimes against the Constitution.
However, something remarkable happened in the nation yesterday, and it only hit me as I watched the full 15-minute video of the press conference.
The short speeches by twelve Republican leaders are salutary, even if slow, medicine in a fast and distracted world for many reasons. One is that they remind us that Santos’ multitude of lies engineered to help him advance in politics and win elections are ethical violations of the highest order for which he should be removed from office with dispatch—or else yet another democratic norm that holds the republic together will be corrupted.
Read about Santos’ lies in the New York Times piece The Lying Congressman
Another value of the press conference is that it reveals to hyperpartisan Democrats how honest and honorable so many Republicans are, fostering unity of spirit, even if only for a moment, about our common mission of truth-telling in politics.
Finally, the press conference sparks the imagination. Throughout the fifteen minutes, I envisioned leaders of the Republican Party across the country organizing similar press conferences—dozens of them leading to hundreds and then thousands—to demand that Trump withdraw from the 2024 presidential election for the same reason of egregious lies plus the incitement of an insurrection and, more recently, his public call for the “termination” of those articles of the Constitution that stand in the way of his immediate restoration to the power of the Oval Office.
It was a bittersweet fantasy for me, but the press conference nevertheless inspires tremendous hope about what American democracy can be. It inspires hope about what citizens and leaders can accomplish when they unite around core democratic values like truth-telling.
I recommend the video to all Americans. I recommend all teachers, college professors, and parents show it to young people so they see and hear what democracy is really all about. It’s about standing up for codes of values we believe in.
Democracy is centered on the principle of the will of the people, sure. But it is about so much more. It’s about decency, respect, compassion, moral courage, self-examination, and truth-telling.
Here are some of the things said at the press conference:
He is not welcome here at Republican headquarters for meetings or at any of our events.
We do not consider him one of our congresspeople.
I am offended and disgusted at his deceit.
The extensive nature of those lies has done violence to the public trust.
Here’s the video in case you want to watch and hear more: