(Updated) Three-Point Shots, Vol. 1, No. 32: Friday, December 1, 2023
The mythical George Santos, my conversation with Henry Kissinger, and what I read to make sense of it all.
BREAKING: The House of Representatives expelled George Santos by a 311-114 vote this morning. Chris Cillizza has an interesting take on the intraparty dynamics behind the expulsion here.
CORRECTION: An early version of this newsletter neglected to include Suzanne Bellsnyder’s Texas Rural Reporter among the Texas-themed newsletters I faithfully read. I regret the omission.
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Friday, December 1, 2023, 11:00 p.m.
You Might Have George Santos to Kick Around Some More
(George Santos is all his burgundy glory. Photo: Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images)
The House of Representatives will decide today whether to expel Three-Time Olympian, Nobel Prize Winner and Serial Fabulist George Santos. Although his 23-count federal indictment (for a fraudulent political contribution solicitation scheme, an unemployment insurance fraud scheme, filing false financial disclosure statements with the House, filing fraudulent fundraising reports and charging donors’ credit cards without permission) did not put them off their feed when it was announced las summer, the scathing House Ethics Committee report issued November 16, covering essentially the same things, was a bridge too far.
After a spirited floor debate yesterday, the House is scheduled to vote this morning. Observers think they have the two-thirds majority necessary to give him the boot.
But it seems unlikely that Santos will go gently into that good night. Although he’s said he will not run again in 2024, there’s nothing to prevent his candidacy in the future, for any office. And because he is such juicy clickbait, expect to see him given a platform on right-wing media like Fox News or One American News Network.
My take: If expelled, Santos would be the first congressperson kicked out before he’d been convicted of a crime. There is something to be said for presuming innocence and waiting until the system acts. But Santos’s mischief has been so outrageous and so well-documented that House members feel compelled to act.
Henry Kissinger and Me
(Henry Kissinger. Photo: Stephen Voss/Redux)
Henry Kissinger, one of the more consequential Americans in the foreign policy arena during the latter half of the 20th Century, died Wednesday at the age of 100. He was larger than life, both a heroand a villain, and his passing is both mourned and celebrated around the world.
(To learn more about him, check out The Atlantic’s mash-up of its reporting on him over the last half century.)
I had one memorable encounter with him. In 2001, I was working for then-state Sen. Rodney Ellis as his chief of staff. Rodney had decided he wanted to be a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the preeminent foreign policy think tank and publisher on foreign affairs. I was tasked with getting him on it.
One did not often speak of Rodney Ellis and American foreign policy in the same breath. He’d been a congressional staffer 20 years before but had spent the 1980s as a Houston city councilman and the 1990s as a state senator. In 2001, he was at the peak of his influence at the state level, with the coveted chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee. Nevertheless, he was extremely well informed about foreign affairs, particularly in Africa where he had business interests. But how to translate that into a membership on the CFR?
The application process involved putting together a biographical package, including Rodney’s curriculum vitae and a statement of his reasons for wanting to join the CFR. It also required at least three recommendations from current CFR members before he could be considered.
The first two were easy: Ambassadors Bill Richardson and Andrew Young knew Rodney well and were happy to oblige. The third one was a challenge. Rodney’s typically fearless idea: Ask Henry Kissinger, who, as far as I could tell, Rodney had never met.
We wrote Kissinger a letter, explaining Rodney’s interest and highlighting some of what we thought would pass as “foreign affairs” expertise. Then we waited.
A couple weeks later, we received a phone call from Henry Kissinger’s office. Senator Ellis was unavailable, so I took the call. I assumed it was some junior staffer with questions about Rodney’s application. But when I said hello, I was greeted by Kissinger’s world-famous baritone.
“Zis is Henry Kissinger.”
“Doctor Kissinger, thank you for calling. Senator Ellis is not here right now. My name is Deece Eckstein, and I helped the Senator with the letter he sent you. What can I do for you?”
“Vell, I just vant Senator Ellis to know I am happy to be able to write a letter recommending him. I think he would an excellent addition to the Council.”
“Ambassador, he will be very happy to hear that. Is there any way I can help, by preparing a draft letter or assembling some talking points?”
“Zat is not necessary. Tell the Senator I look forward to seeing him at a Council conference soon.”
“Mr. Secretary[i], thank you again, and I will pass on your message.”
A few days letter, we got a copy of a warm and gracious letter Kissinger had written to the CFR, endorsing the candidacy of his friend, the well-respected senator Rodney Ellis, to be a member of the CFR.
Thus did I get to speak with Henry Kissinger, and Rodney get his membership in the Council on Foreign Relations.
What I Read, Part 1: Substack sites
I am honored to share my thoughts and opinions with you, Dear Readers. I value your takes on the issues I discuss as well, so I thought I’d tell you some of the sources of information I use.
Over the last couple years, I have used the Substack platform as an aggregator and the starting point for my reading, If you do not have the app on your devices, I encourage you to download it.
Here are some of the Substacks I routinely read: The Bulwark, Chris Cillizza’s So What?, The Border Chronicle, by Melissa Del Bosque et al., Slack Tide, by Matt Labash, Wonkette, Boiling Frogs, by The Dispatch’s Nick Catoggio, Lucid, by pro-democracy author Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and The Warning, by Steve Schmidt.
More specifically to Texas, I always read Texas To The World, by Jim Moore; Suzanne Bellsnyder’s Texas Rural Reporter; On Texas Nature, by Misti Little; and Lone Star Left, by Michelle Davis.
My take: Next week, I will discuss other, more legacy news organizations, that are part of my daily news digest. Your suggestions for additional sources are recommended.
Your weekend ahead:
… you may have forgotten about them, but the Lege is still in session, until next Thursday. Nothing is happening because the House’s rejection of education savings accounts (aka vouchers) was so definitive. So the members convene, adjourn and do it all over again the next day. Abbott’s staff is mum on when he will call another special session, holding out the prospect the Lege will be in session through the Christmas/New Year period. As Quorum Report editor Scott Braddock suggests, “some members might consider it a gift if Abbott would just move on to campaigning against them rather than keeping lawmakers in Austin, standing at ease and doing nothing.” In the meantime, though, you can go to the Capitol and see the “tiny” Christmas trees.
[i] I was very conscious during our brief conversation that I did not know the correct salutation to use with him, and so called him by different titles. I felt like a fool. I think “Secretary” was finally right, as that was his highest role in government.
Well, Deece, your brush with greatness with Henry Kissinger is certainly impressive. It beats mine all to hell. My brush with greatness was standing in line behind Sandra Bullock at Whole Foods. My hat’s off to you, Sir.
DC does drama well, sometimes. Glad the burgundy clown exits!