The passion of Mike Pence

Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 06:30
Updated
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 06:30
This is a good piece about Pence from JV Last. I know I should feel more compassion for the man but it’s really hard. All those years of being a cruel right wing theocrat and then eagerly sucking up to the crude libertine Donald Trump makes it impossible for me to see him as anything but a hypocrite — at best. There is a theory I cannot test, but which I believe to be true: If Mike Pence were to walk through the crowd at a Donald Trump rally—for instance, the recent giant event where 50,000 Trump supporters swamped the town of Pickens, South Carolina—he would need a security detail. He would not be safe without one, and he might not be safe with one either. In fact, I have a hard time believing that any Secret Service team would agree to go along with such an excursion. Enough Trump supporters hate Pence that much. By contrast, I believe Pence could safely walk through the crowd at a Joe Biden event—like his June 17 rally in Philadelphia—without any security. Some Biden supporters might make snide comments, but it seems equally possible that others might shake his hand and thank him for saving the republic on January 6, 2021. Not to belabor the obvious, but, for Pence, this is a problem. Because Pence is running for president as a Republican. Yet for the country, this isn’t just a problem; it’s an almost biblical tragedy. Mike Pence is the man who told his tribe the truth. They turned on him for…