Georgie Porgie

Georgie Porgie is a classic English nursery rhyme that goes like this:

Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,

Kissed the girls and made them cry.

When the boys came out to play,

Georgie Porgie ran away.

The origins of the rhyme are a bit murky, but it’s been around since at least the 19th century. There are various theories about who “Georgie Porgie” might have been based on. Some suggest it referred to King George I. The rhyme has a teasing, playground quality to it, depicting a boy who’s bold enough to kiss girls when he’s alone with them but runs away when other boys show up. It’s often recited as a children’s game or chant. Some versions have slightly different endings or additional verses, but the core four lines remain the most well-known.

The meaning and what Georgie Porgie represents has been interpreted in many ways over the years. On the surface, its about a certain type of childhood behavior. At face value, it’s about a boy who acts differently depending on his audience. He’s brave enough to kiss girls (possibly unwanted attention, even in a childish context) but cowardly when faced with boys who might challenge him. It’s essentially calling out a bully or pest who only acts bold when there’s no real threat of consequences. The rhyme criticizes someone who picks on those less likely to fight back (the girls) but retreats when confronted by peers who might stand up to him. It’s about false bravery. Even in this old rhyme, there’s recognition that the kisses “made them cry” – the girls didn’t want this attention. It validates that the girls’ distress matters, even if the overall tone is somewhat lighthearted. This is about playground politics. It captures a common childhood dynamic – kids who act tough or inappropriate until authority figures or stronger peers appear, then suddenly become meek and forgiving. Some believe it was actually political satire about royalty. If it was written to harpoon King George, the “boys coming out to play” might have represented political opponents or the public turning against him, as they apparently did at the time. If it was about royalty, “pudding and pie” could have been a mocking of the excessive indulgence, the kissing representing romantic scandals, and “running away” suggesting avoidance of real responsibility or conflict. Today, the rhyme is sometimes viewed through a more critical lens – it describes behavior that would now be clearly understood as harassment, even among children. The girls crying isn’t funny; it’s a sign of distress at unwanted contact. And the “running away”…sheer lack of accountability.

Things endure for a reason and this rhyme has endured. Despite (or perhaps because of) its somewhat ambiguous and problematic content, it’s survived because it serves as a social lesson about accountability. Even children, who find its catchy rhythm perfect for playground chanting, recognize the behavior pattern it describes and understand the imbedded lessons in it. Like many old nursery rhymes, it likely served multiple purposes – entertainment for children while also carrying adult meanings and social commentary that went over kids’ heads.

But then, we all know that Donald Trump, our current version of King George (how perfect that I am writing this on NO KINGS day) is both a schoolyard bully and completely devoid of any sense of accountability. His most recent action, and the one that gives rise to this story, is his commutation of the 87 month sentence after three months of incarceration of convicted fraudster and felon, George Santos, the disgraced ex-Congressman that was an avid and flamboyant Trump supporter that bilked his donors, constituents, the Federal government and all Americans (by extension) during his bottle-rocket moment in the national eye. This act of commutation has made me wonder exactly how I feel about it all as an American citizen and taxpayer.

To be honest, I am of a mixed mind about it all, mostly because I always considered George Santos more of a joke and distraction than a serious problem to our country. He was, indeed, emblematic of a mindless and unwitting electoral public who knee-jerked their voting at a moment when the press favoring conservatives overwhelmed the liberal democratic government in power. It didn’t take long and only junior-G-man reporting by the New York Times to uncover what a fraud Santos was and to get that constituency to realize the mistake they had made. In many ways they were more upset about it than anyone…and seemingly contrite about their involvement to boot. In many ways, the actions of a Republican thin-margin leadership in Congress was initially more to blame about even seating him in Congress for a nanosecond since his escapades got airtime so quickly. In some ways, that was a bigger crime than anything Santos himself perpetrated. That is what American should be most upset about.

At Mr. Santos’s sentencing, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York at the time, John J. Durham, described the conviction as a warning. “To Mr. Santos and other dishonest individuals of that ilk, who lie, steal identities and commit frauds to get elected to public office,” he said, “public officials who criminally abuse our electoral process will end up in a federal prison.” Ha! A spokesman for the Eastern District declined to comment on Friday night after Trump gave Santos his commutation ticket to freedom. Talk about abusing our electoral process! How about lying to the public, breaking every constitutional norm and rule in the book, engaging in a personal vendetta against any and every political or personal enemy that has ever stood against you, or using the sacred power of the pardon to advance political goals and agendas? That’s pretty much what is going on here.

So how do I feel about George Santos going free. Meh… Who really give a shit. I feel much worse about the January 6th actors being set free. I feel much worse for the poor Venezuelan and Colombian fishermen that are being killed every day by decree of an unelected Stormtrooper named Steven Miller. I feel much worse about the dedicated civil servants who are being fired, indicted and generally harassed and having their lives meaningfully disrupted by a narcissistic and vengeful man-chained sitting in the highest office in the land…ney…the highest office on the planet. As a taxpayer, I want to spend one more dime on George Santos’ incarceration (especially the special needs and isolation requirements his high profile nonsense requires, like I want another hole in my head. Let the imbecile go and let him stand for all the craziness perpetrated on all of us and our country by this idiotic president and his idiotic band of followers. Do I worry that George Santos might go around duping others now? Not in the least. If anyone gets conned by George Santos at this stage, it will be like P.T. Barnum once said, “there’s a sucker born every minute.”

Variations of that idea have been expressed throughout history, though usually not in those exact words. There’s “A fool and his money are soon parted”, the old proverb (dating back to at least the 1500s) carrying a similar implication – that people who are easily fooled somewhat deserve to lose their money through their own gullibility or poor judgment. Even “Caveat emptor” (Let the buyer beware) is a Latin legal principle that puts the responsibility on the buyer to be cautious. It implies that if you don’t do your due diligence and get cheated, that’s partly on you. Many confidence tricksters and scammers throughout history have rationalized their actions by claiming their victims “deserved it” for being greedy, foolish, or careless. This is a classic way fraudsters justify their behavior – blaming the victim. This is the moral framework that lets scammers sleep at night. But this thinking is problematic. This philosophy ignores the important factors of information asymmetry (the scammer knows it’s a scam; the victim doesn’t), vulnerability (elderly, desperate, or trusting people aren’t “suckers” – they’re victims), the lack of morality in deliberately deceiving others for profit, and that trust in others is actually a valuable social trait, not a character flaw. Preying on trust, ignorance, or desperation isn’t justified just because someone is vulnerable to it. The American public deserves better, but it mostly deserves better than Georgie Porgie…and I don’t mean George Santos.