The evil genius of clown politics George Santos (if that is his name) is more than a Strangelovian political farce. More than a Republican “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love a Bum.” Merely laughing at him, writes The Atlantic‘s David Graham, is missing the darker implications for our politics. Do not let your amusement, he warns, “eclipse the horror of such a candidate reaching office and the consequences for Congress and the American political system’s remaining shreds of repute.” Yes, Santos (if that is his name) duped voters in his district. Yes, he ought to be investigated for laws he may have broken in running. But the fact of his being elected just two years after a violent insurrection instigated over bogus allegations of a stolen election adds an element of tragedy. The fact that Santos (if that is his name) ran and won election to the U.S. House as an even phonier business success than Donald J. Trump — he of reality TV, of a bankrupt casino, of a fraudulent foundation, of a scam university, of alleged tax and bank fraud, of 30,000 lies, of “Stop the Steal,” and of uncounted cultish rallies — should leave us more unsettled than amused. “Are you not entertained?” shouts Maximus (Russel Crowe) to the arena crowd after slaying multiple gladiators (and beheading the last). “Is this not why you are here?” When politics is reduced to entertainment, solving serious social problems is left either to clowns or to “do-gooder” plutocrats…