Everyone loves a good story. And one of the most popular is the fall from grace. The great athlete who holds on too long and ends his career in mediocrity. The visionary artist who reaches the height of influence only to lose it all with incomprehensible and reprehensible public rantings. Or the politician who soars to success on an uplifting narrative — promising a share of the American Dream he has created for himself to those who follow him — only to be revealed as an apparent fraud and serial liar. Schadenfreude can provide real pleasure.
By any measure, the New York Times broke a doozy of a story last month with its reporting of the fabrications and predations of George Santos, the Republican from Long Island who won election to Congress in a reliably Democratic district. A man who supposedly was the son of immigrants and rose through Baruch College and NYU to jobs with Wall Street titans Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. A man reportedly with a family-run $80 million asset management firm and real estate empire. A man whose pet rescue organization was said to have saved thousands of dogs and cats. And according to a widening web of reporting from the Times and other outlets — and now even by his own admission — a man who apparently fabricated much — if not all — of his life’s story.
Why did it take so long for the truth to come out? Surely, various parties had an interest in knowing the truth before election day: voters in New…
