Mike Pence goes all-in on the crazy train
In general, Mike Pence is quite deft at being forgettable. He’s quiet; but then again next to Donald Trump, a howling baboon wielding a klaxon would seem quiet. Pence additionally benefits from being approximately as intolerable as most Republican party leaders, and he thus blends into the collage of grey and white. He has made some harrowing inroads with regards to his influence in scaling-back reproductive rights, but even this power-grab has enjoyed a relative amount of media neglect. Today, however, it seems as though Mike woke up on Trump’s side of the bed, and it served as a sobering reminder of his complicity in Trump’s corruption.
In speaking to the graduating class of the US Military Academy, which it should be mentioned is an excellent school, Pence intimated that the US would be engaging with enemies in the near future. His exact words were “Some of you may even be called upon to serve in this hemisphere,” without specifying whether he means the Western or Northern hemisphere – so it could be in reference to North Korea, Russia, Iran, or Venezuela, all of whom Trump seems to enjoy agitating and engaging in diplomatic rope-a-dope. That said, he could have easily been talking about Germany or Mexico or even Australia or Guinea-Bissau, because nothing makes sense anymore and he probably doesn’t know what a hemisphere is, let alone what countries are in our hemisphere.
To further ape Trump, Pence proceeded to somewhat uncharacteristically kiss his own ass, by boasting to the students, “I can’t help but think that First Lieutenant Edward J. Pence, looking down from glory, is finally impressed with his third son.” I don’t claim to be a clairvoyant, but I assure you, Mike, I’m getting a strong sense from beyond that he ain’t proud of his treasonous and heartless chump of a son. For Pence to posture like this is rich and to see him do it so flippantly is disgusting. He’s totally an insider.
To think that Mike Pence wasn’t at least aware ofDonald Trump’s most evil plans is at best naive and at worst foolhardy; many of us have been saying this from the beginning. But to hear him so clearly talking the party line, more specifically the Trump line, tells us that he’s not only aware, he’s all-in, something that I’m sure we’ll learn more about once the public hears more about Mike Flynn’s testimony.
Democracy thrives in snarkiness