Here it comes, here it comes, it’s just your 19th nervous breakdown. — Rolling Stones
This ought to ruin Mike Pence’s day, perhaps even more than fleeing through the tunnels under the Capitol on January 6, show stopper that that was. Normally, a former president will happily endorse his vice president to carry on in the number one spot in the next election. Not so in this case. No, Donald Trump just twisted the knife in Pence a little deeper. Trump gave an interview on the Lisa Boothe show wherein Pence’s name was conspicuously left off a list of candidates, which included Ron DeSantis, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz (natch), Rand Paul, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kristi Noem. Insider:
“Ron DeSantis is doing a really good job in Florida,” he said. “I think Josh Hawley has shown some real courage in going after big tech … Somebody that’s been really terrific is Ted Cruz.”
He added, “Rand Paul has been great … Sarah Huckabee is going to do great in Arkansas. I think that Kristi Noem has done a terrific job … The Republican Party is stacked.”
That’s some deep bench, alright. And what of Trump’s wing man, the adoring sycophant Mike Pence?
“It’s too bad Mike Pence didn’t go back, because you would have had a much different result had Mike Pence gone — he could have said, ‘I’m sorry, but this was not approved by the state legislature, and according to the Constitution, it had to be,'” Trump said.
Color Mike Pence gone. It’s now an official part of right-wing cultural lore that but for Pence’s purported cowardice, Trump would still be in the White House. Without Trump’s support, Pence’s only way to go is to join with the Sasse/Romney crowd and at this point, that wouldn’t be too credible. The way Pence should have played this, is to denounce Trump right after the January 6 riot. If he had done that, then he actually would have had a chance to unite the party and lead it. But as his former aide Olivia Troye opined, “he’s not evil, he’s weak.”
You had your moment, Mike. If you were a big enough man to have done the right thing and taken charge in the middle of America’s darkest hour, and been the voice of morality and decency, which supposedly your Christian orientation teaches, you would be headed for the 2024 nomination now, as the head of a healing Republican party; The Woke Conservatives, who finally realized how awful Trump was and pulled back from the abyss, values intact, before they went over the cliff. Mitch would have loved it, he’d be jumping up and down. But you didn’t have the guts. You might consider one last alternative, though, which is a tell-all book about Trump. That is your one last shot to stay in politics. Or, go on down to K street and start lobbying. Lots a luck. Be sure to write when you find work.
Pence seemed quite agitated after the 1-6 attack. I remember seeing him leading the senate and he was flushed in the face and had an air of ‘don’t mess with me’ about him. I guess that moment passed. Too bad for him.
You ever wonder if he wishes he’d just stayed a failed governor of Indiana? He’d be in a much better position if that were so.
Pence was pretty much a non-starter for most people, for all kinds of reasons.
Who? Oh, you mean the Hoosier Mortician and the Traitor Prince of Mar-A-Lago. The former was always on his way to being a nonentity. The latter is on his way to prison or the graveyard, whichever comes first.
Having worked in a funeral home and spent plenty of time in the prep room the logical, scientific part of me knows the impossibility of self-embalming. However, for a long time Pence has had me wondering if he somehow managed to figure out how to do it!
Mike Pence turns my stomach, much like his firmer boss. After the orange orangutan almost had him and his family slaughtered he came crawling back up trump’s ass, he is a stinking coward. And that group that 45 named as possible 2024 candidates shows you how weak the field really is. If Biden keeps doing the right thing he’ll easily defeat any of those fascists,
Trump eventually betrays everyone he is associated with. So what’s new?
“It’s too bad Mike Pence didn’t go back, because you would have had a much different result had Mike Pence gone — he could have said, ‘I’m sorry, but this was not approved by the state legislature, and according to the Constitution, it had to be,’” Trump said.
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Well, if there’s any more need for evidence that Trump doesn’t live in the real world (except maybe the “reality” show version that was a huge franchise on MTV), that quote pretty much leads the pack. I don’t know *which* particular state Trump was referring to in the quote but EVERY state legislature “approved” the manner of how their elections were handled (especially the November general election) and NO state legislature has any direct say in certifying election results (that’s typically the province of a state’s Secretary of State). The votes cast by the members of the Electoral College are done with the same relative secrecy as any other vote cast by the general public and the Congress performed its duty AS LAID OUT BY THE CONSTITUTION (and further clarified by additional law in the formal US Code).
Trumpler’s list (catchy name for a movie, that) is hilarious and speaks volumes about the ill health of the Repugnican party, which is wonderful for those of us who would like sanity to rule America. Imagine Sorry Fuckabee Slanders as candidate for president! Maybe with Margarine Traitor Groan as VP? Oh, the coast-to-coast laughter would be a healing force in itself.