The Distinguished Gentleman...From New York
Well, it looks like Herschel Walker can rest easy.
Georgia’s most famous running back no longer bears the title, or shame, of being the most prolific liar in the Republican Party. When historians write the story of the 2022 midterms, few will recall Herschel Walker’s lying about being a member of law enforcement, owning nonexistent businesses, or bragging about unearned college degrees. All thanks to George Santos.
Indeed, Santos, the recently seated Republican from Nassau County, New York, has taken dishonesty to a level that makes Walker’s brand of deceit seem almost quaint. So much so that to list every untruth, every outright lie is pointless, as new falsities surface almost daily.
Virtually nothing about Santos — not his religion or career history, not his education — is the truth. At least in Walker’s case, voters knew what they were getting on the front end. Santos’s dishonesty and deception have drawn comparisons to Matt Damon’s character in The Talented Mr. Ripley or Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation.
To be sure, Santos, Devolder, or whatever his name is, has all the sociopathy of Ripley, all the unapologetic manipulation of Smith’s fabulist in Six Degrees. But another film comes closer to the world-class con that the freshman congressmen perpetrated on his voters and, by extension, the American people.
The Distinguished Gentleman, a 1992 political comedy, might be Eddie Murphy’s most underrated film, especially given today’s climate of lying and cheating politicians. Unlike Coming to America and Trading Places, you won’t find this Murphy gem on any popular streaming services.
The film, a box office flop by Eddie Murphy standards, tells the story of Thomas Jefferson Johnson, a conman who discovers the similarity of his name to that of Jefferson Davis Johnson, a recently deceased congressman.
Johnson shortens his name to “Jeff” and gets elected to the vacant seat based solely on name recognition. The plot is so similar to Santos’s story one wonders if The Distinguished Gentleman was his inspiration.
The whole affair is so puzzling because his lies were hardly a necessity. Does anyone honestly believe Santos’s actual background — that of a check-stealing, malingering con man — would’ve disqualified him?
It’s not as though the truth would’ve been a deal-killer for Republicans, especially since several in the party suspected something was off with Santos before the midterms and looked the other way.
In a party that accommodates antisemitism, white nationalism, and all manner of grifting, had Santos just told the truth about himself, odds are he still could’ve won his election.
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Sadly my Congressman. I spoke with him at a campaign event and asked him if Joe Biden is the legitimately elected President of US. I am a pretty conservative Republican but will not vote or support a Trump acolyte or election denier. I wanted a reason to not write in or vote third party. He answered that Biden was the legitimately elected President of US. So he received my vote. I would sure like that one back. As an aside in Governor race I wrote in name of Tom Suozzi whose seat this delusional fellow captured. I could not vote for Trump hugger Zeldin.