Matt FickeThis story about a newly-elected Republican house member lying about basically every detail of his background is bonkers. Probably would have been a good idea for the Times to look into this before the election, though? https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/nyregion/george-santos-ny-republicans.html
Jo / Jojo 
@mattficke wow
f*cking b*tch club@mattficke
Dating myself here, but isn’t that what used to be called “vetting” a candidate?
Dating myself here, but isn’t that what used to be called “vetting” a candidate?
Randy Hall@mattficke such is the state of candidate vetting in the digital age. They figure out that nobody bothers to check, and then build on that foundation of sand a fantasy CV full of accomplishment.
JanArz
Will@JanArz @mattficke Agreed. So disappointed in the lack of effort by Dems in this instance.
BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
Abby Normal@mattficke An incredible story, meticulously reported. It’s why I subscribe to both the @washingtonpost and The NY Times.
Jarvis Slacks@mattficke This is insane. No one checked this guy out before the election!
Barry Schwartz 🫖@mattficke "You don't understand how journalism works......", they proceed to answer.
KristyC@mattficke It's supposed to be Congress, not con-gress. He may have confused the two.
Susanna the Artist 🌻@mattficke Absolutely wild story. Nothing in his résumé checks out, from the college he attended to the address where he’s registered to vote! Now I wonder, is his name really George? Is he actually gay? Is he truly from planet earth, or has he been playing us all along?
@mattficke So I was kidding about “Is he actually gay?” But…
https://www.thedailybeast.com/openly-gay-rep-elect-george-santos-didnt-disclose-divorce-with-woman
https://www.thedailybeast.com/openly-gay-rep-elect-george-santos-didnt-disclose-divorce-with-woman
Linda Bailey-McWeeney@mattficke Aside: At some point years ago, I read that there was a return to lying on your cv. So it's pretty much a general problem since incentives are not correctly aligned. That said (and tangential, I realize, to your point), given the barriers to earning a college degree, why do so many companies ask for college degrees when the jobs really don't need someone with a college degree. I am totally for higher education but there are lots of barriers. e.g. 14% of CUNY students are homeless.
@LBM I agree! I don’t have a college degree and got lucky by stumbling into one of the few professional fields where that isn’t a problem (software engineering), but it was pretty much my only option.
@mattficke I think it's quite amazing that there has been this opportunity for people. (I"m currently learning R outside the formal education system). I think people are realizing that there are many smart people who couldn't, can't afford to go to college or stopped for lack of funding, but have been learning on their own. Seeing a bunch of alternative to college pathways programs. So hopefully, employers will give people a chance who don't have the formal box checks!
Adrianne L. Watson@mattficke too little too late now
@mattficke … sigh is not a big enough word …
fulanigirl has moved@mattficke Exactly what I thought as I was reading this crap. The NYT has no credibility whatsoever. In the old days they would have investigated EVERY candidate after the person announced they were running. Yeah...they can keep that paywall.
Gregg Fowler@mattficke My first impression upon reading this is that he is a money launderer for a cartel.
Kelli Blue 📸@mattficke seems as though The NY Times would have figured this stuff out before the election instead of just pushing that false “red wave” narrative.
Anyone still actually buying their paper?
Anyone still actually buying their paper?
Bits and gubbins@mattficke yeah, like maybe the previous time he ran for national office?
@mattficke
We've gotten to the point where it doesn't matter what the real credentials are. It only matters what they say you are (to a surprisingly large amount of the voting population). We have Senators for states they don't even live in. We're past any sort of enforcement of rules.
We've gotten to the point where it doesn't matter what the real credentials are. It only matters what they say you are (to a surprisingly large amount of the voting population). We have Senators for states they don't even live in. We're past any sort of enforcement of rules.
MrSaver@mattficke I’ve become aware that this is strangely common amongst congress people.
Leigh Honeywell@mattficke the times or also the opposing candidate, tbh!
Flaming Cheeto@mattficke
" He also declined to be interviewed, and neither his lawyer nor Big Dog Strategies, a Republican-oriented political consulting group that handles crisis management, responded to a detailed list of questions."
Big. Dog. Strategies.
That should be grounds for expulsion alone
Debby Ryan@mattficke This is exactly why I no longer trust big news media! They are not a news service or they would have informed their readers before he was elected!
Twitterless@dooordah @mattficke Why are u blaming the NYTs instead of the Republicans Party who backed this fraude?
@Jetfan @mattficke because NYT went from fair and balanced REPORTING to MELODRAMATIC BS
@dooordah @mattficke Why doesn’t Santos dispute any of the NYTs claims of fraude? Since u probably won’t answer, I’ll tell why.
BC the NYT is credible & Santo’s is lying about everything! Why didn’t Rs do a better job off vetting this Russian asset?
BC the NYT is credible & Santo’s is lying about everything! Why didn’t Rs do a better job off vetting this Russian asset?
Seabrooke@mattficke will voters ever learn that Republican politicians usually lie? His district flipped from red to blue. I bet his voters regret it now.
@mattficke Is it The NY Times job to look into backgrounds? Why not ask the same question to the Political Parties?