Are we still surprised when a Republican politician is caught lying? I’m not, it’s so routine now.
I have a theory about why Republicans lie so much, that goes like this: They think they’re on a Mission From God to “save America” from liberal heathens (who behave like real followers of Jesus’ teachings when grandstanding Republican pols dump hapless migrants on their doorstep), and that means victory at any price, even if winning requires lying, cheating, and violence.
In other words, they’re doing it for God (spoiler: actually they’re not), and that makes it okay (but only in their minds).
This brings me to J. R. Majewski (showing off his front yard in photo below), who’s basically a blue-collar guy and Air Force veteran who’s trying to unseat a longtime Democratic incumbent in a congressional district straddling Ohio’s Lake Erie shoreline from Toledo to Cleveland (see map here).
Although he’s trailing by a few points in recent polling, it’s a competitive district, and he has a shot. Or did have.
Majewski, who calls himself a “businessman” (but worked for an electric utility), also calls himself an Afghanistan veteran, which he’s not. Among other things, he claims things were so tough in the field that he once went 40 days without a shower in Afghanistan, which he didn’t (in Afghanistan; it’s plausible he didn’t shower for 40 straight days, so I’m not questioning that, but if so it was somewhere else).
What Majewski’s trying to do here, of course, is give himself “war veteran” status that he didn’t earn. He’s not a combat veteran at all; military records obtained by the Associated Press “indicate Majewski never deployed to Afghanistan but instead completed a six-month stint helping to load planes at an air base in Qatar, a longtime U.S. ally that is a safe distance from the fighting (the Persian Gulf and Iran lie between Qatar and Afghanistan, see map here).
That’s not all that he’s lied about. Huffington Post says, “His post-military career has been defined by exaggerations, conspiracy theories, talk of violent action against the U.S. government and occasional financial duress” (see details here).
Huffington Post calls him “a vivid representation of a new breed of politicians who reject facts as they try to emulate Trump.” In other words, they lie a lot, and not just by parroting Trump’s election lies (which is required to get in his good graces, and obtain his endorsement).
Of course, Republicans in general have been fact-free for a long time, about a lot of things, such as climate denial, vaccine denial, calling Democrats “communists” (they’re actually capitalists), and so on. If you’re a rightwinger, you may believe their b.s. (or maybe you don’t, but vote for them anyway). If you’re an educated non-Republican who thinks for yourself, by now you’re probably taking a shortcut and simply disbelieving everything any Republican says about anything, instead of wasting time wading through the manure. (If you’re wondering why I do it here on Steve’s blog, I guess the best answer is it’s a hobby.)
Majewski did say one thing that’s almost certainly true: “I am proud to have served my country.” And I’ll be among the first to say, Thank you for your service, man. I’m a veteran myself (U.S. Army, Vietnam, no clean showers for 380 straight days; I used river water that gave me skin rashes, and that was our drinking water, too), and belong to veterans groups, and let me say that all veterans deserve our support and appreciation, whether they saw combat or not, including those who serve in peacetime.
Military service is a personal sacrifice for all who serve. Ask any combat vet and he’ll tell you the same thing, we’re a band of brothers (or were, until rightwing hatemongers sorted us into different camps of veterans based on ideological preferences).
But it’s not necessarily a qualification for public office, and I’d be leery as a voter of anyone who embellishes his military service, because it makes me wonder what else he’s lying to me about.
“Throughout his campaign Majewski has offered his Air Force service as a valuable credential,” Huffington Post says. “The tagline ‘veteran for Congress’ appears on campaign merchandise.” Which is okay, because that much is true.
But, “He ran a Facebook ad promoting himself as ‘combat veteran,'” which isn’t true. But hey, look man, you don’t have to pretend to a “combat veteran” when you’re not; as I explained above, it’s okay to just be a veteran, because we all served and serving is what counts, and that makes you an equal in we veterans’ eyes, including those of us who served in a shooting war and got shot at.
“And in a campaign video released this year, Majewski marauds through a vacant factory with a rifle while pledging to restore an America that is ‘independent and strong like the country I fought for.’” That’s enough for me to not vote for him (I’m not in his district, so I won’t anyway); I could overlook the “country I fought for” shading of what he really did in the military, but I don’t like campaign ads that exploit violent imagery, because we already have too many people inciting political violence.
And then there’s the campaign ad “posted online Tuesday by Majewski supporters” that “flashed the words ‘Afghanistan War Veteran’ across the screen alongside a picture of a younger Majewski in his dress uniform.” Either they’re misinformed (by him?), or they’re a pack of liars. This is something he could set straight, but choose not to; Huffington Post says, “Majewski hasn’t been forthcoming when asked about the specifics of his service.”
“I don’t like talking about my military experience,” he said in a 2021 interview on a podcast. Although he added, “It was a tough time in life. You know, the military wasn’t easy,” I doubt that’s his real reason, as his military service wasn’t as traumatic as if, say, he had served in a war zone. I doubt he’s on V.A. disability for PTSD as a lot of Vietnam veterans are. Rather,
“A review of his service records, which the AP obtained from the National Archives through a public records request, as well as an accounting provided by the Air Force, offers a possible explanation for his hesitancy.
“Rather than deploying to Afghanistan, as he has claimed, the records state that Majewski was based at Kadena Air Base in Japan for much of his active-duty service. He later deployed for six months to Qatar in May 2002, where he helped load and unload planes while serving as a ‘passenger operations specialist,’ the records show.”
But that’s not the only problem with Majewski’s military bragging. He apparently was busted down in rank for brawling, and left the Air Force after 4 years of active duty only one rank above his entry rank, and barred for re-enlisting.
Majewski apparently also is lying about his involvement with QAnon, which he claims to denounce, but “in the past Majewski repeatedly posted QAnon references and memes to social media, [and] wore a QAnon shirt during a TV interview,” Huffington Post says. And in “a February 2021 appearance on a YouTube stream, Majewski stated, ‘I believe in everything that’s been put out from Q,’ while characterizing the false posts as ‘military-level intelligence, in my opinion.’” That was only last year.
He also was at the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and said on a livestream, “It was a struggle, because I really wanted to go in.” In other words, the only reason he isn’t a riot defendant is because the churning mob outside kept him from getting to an entrance. And, needless to say, he’s an election denier and Stop-the-Stealer. This is someone who, if elected to Congress, will vote against certifying a valid election.
There are also issues with him claiming to have been an “executive” at the electric utilities he worked for, but I’m running out of time to write this, and you’re probably getting bleary-eyed by now from reading his catalogue of lies, which seem endless.
Look. This isn’t complicated. Let’s reinstate HONESTY as a qualification for public office, okay? Republicans and Democrats, little government or big government, conservative or liberal, can we just agree that lying is a bad thing, and electing liars to important public positions isn’t good for anyone?
It would be nice if our elected representatives also were grounded in reality, so we can get rational policies from our legislative bodies, but in today’s political climate that may be hoping for too much.
Related stories: Majewski also lied about why he was disciplined by the military (see story here). His lying doesn’t bother a Trump supporter; Trump’s mere endorsement is good enough for him (see story and video here). But the GOP pulled its financial support for him after the disclosure about his veteran’s status (see story here).
Update: Majewski also embellished his academic record by claiming “honors” recognitions he didn’t receive (see story here).
