The end has come for that putz from Long Island, George Santos. The New York congressman lied-lied his way to the US House of Representatives, denied-denied doing so, then enjoyed the protection of a future speaker of the House once he got there. Ultimately, though, his sins found him out.

Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Wednesday outlining 13 counts of fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes committed before and after he took office. From the Post:

“Santos stands accused of defrauding prospective donors to his campaign and the state of New York, as well as making false statements to the House Committee on Ethics. He faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of lying to the House of Representatives.”

New York Congressman George Santos is probably the weakest figure on Capitol Hill. No one respects him, not even his fellow Republicans. No one fears him, especially not his fellow Republicans. No one cares for him. He’s an empty vessel. There’s no there there. His lies are more valuable than he is.

Will he resign? That’s the question for now. Odds are he won’t. He was a putz. He is a putz. Why would a putz like Santos concede now? (As I was writing this, the AP reported that Santos pleaded not guilty and refused to resign, calling the indictment against him “a witch hunt.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is not calling for his resignation.)

The other question is why Santos is getting nailed for these relatively minor crimes when Donald Trump hasn’t been nailed for crimes of far greater magnitude? The answer is self-evident. (Santos is weak. Trump is strong.) And that we keep asking is part of the problem. 

Most of us don’t know that the law has never been equal because most of us never see the law being applied unequally. We don’t see it being applied unequally, because those who suffer from unequal treatment are typically on the distant outskirts of respectable society. 

“No one is above the law” has never been true.

What’s always been true?

The weaker you are, the more unequal you are treated.

Santos and Trump illustrate my point. 

Santos is probably the weakest figure on Capitol Hill. No one respects him, not even his fellow Republicans. No one fears him, especially not his fellow Republicans. No one cares for him. He’s an empty vessel. There’s no there there. His lies are more valuable than he is. He’s been in the public eye less than a year. Nailing him was an easy decision. 

Meanwhile, Trump remains the most powerful Republican in the country. George Santos represents no one. Trump represents scores of millions of Americans. They include the very obscenely rich who are worried about workers getting uppity. They include the revanchists who see unequal treatment as part of the natural order of things.

Trump has been in the public eye his entire life, but nailing him is – well, not as easy as nailing that putz from Long Island. 

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Ditto for other weaklings.

Enrique Tarrio wasn’t even at the Capitol during the J6 insurrection. Yet the former leader of the Proud Boys, a paramilitary group close to Trump, was convicted last week of seditious conspiracy. 

“It was Donald Trump’s words,” his attorney said. “It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your beautiful and amazing city. It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power.”

The weaker you are, the more unequal you are treated.

We love telling ourselves that no one is above the law. We hate admitting that it’s never been true. We hate it so much that we refuse to see it – unless it involves a certain criminal former president. 

Seeing Trump getting away with crimes is painful. More painful is that getting away with crimes shatters our ideal of America. Shattered ideals can be so painful, many of us cling to the ideal rather than face reality.

The country isn’t what it isn’t, though.

The law, meanwhile, can be unjust. The state of Florida is censoring teachers. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to defend the rule of law when it’s used to silence the enemies of rightwing politics.

Drop “no one is above the law.”

Demand justice instead. 

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