Tuesday, November 15, 2022

The Pence Interview

 Like many people, I stayed up to watch Mike Pence's interview with David Muir last night. His new book comes out today. "So Help Me God". ABC has been running teasers about this interview for some time now. 

In the end, this is what I think: Our government is made up of checks and balances. It was designed that way to prevent the fate of our nation from ever being placed in the hands of one person. 

During the ignoble reign of Donald Trump, we saw people of power abandon their vow to serve our nation and begin to aid and abet a bombastic, unintelligent blowhard of a man with very dangerous ideals that ran counter to the constitution. Everything that he did was to benefit himself. Because he was in power, the people who should have been protecting us abdicated on their responsibilities to a nation and swore allegience to him instead.

Mike Pence spent a lot of time really trying to highlight the courage it took to stand up to Donald Trump and his enablers on January 6th. I do not mean to minimize that in any way. 

BUT I watched his foot jiggle nonstop during the interview and I listened to him dodge the really hard questions, questions about his knowledge (in early December) that a 'protest' was happening on January 6th. He said that he felt it could be a good thing, something to highlight the 'irregularities'. 

Except that, by his own admission, by that point, he felt that the president had lost the election. He claimed that he told the president this "many times". On January 4th, Pence told a cheering crowd that the nation's concern about those 'irregularities' would be brought to the floor to challenge the ratification. 

Two days before the riot. TWO DAYS.  

Think of it. Even as he's claiming that he told the president over and over again that he'd lost the election, he's still standing before a radical fringe group and, in essence, validating their rhetoric. Fanning the flames, some might say. 

Yet, he did, as he reminded us over and over again, he DID stand firm on January 6th. He pointed out that "it takes more courage to uphold the law, rather than break it". 

^^^truth^^^

Nearing the end of his interview, he was asked about the classified documents. He got a little impatient then. He felt that there were better ways to handle that than to raid the house of a former president, but he offered no suggestions on any of those better ways. 

The documents had been requested, over and over again. (Clickable link, btw)

At the end of the interview, Tim shut off the television and we headed for bed. Yes. Pence was very courageous on January 6th and we can all thank our lucky stars that he was. However he showed a singular lack of courage in the preceding four years. Now, nearly 3 years later, he shows it still. 

He teased at a possible run for election in 2024. He will not get the vote of the far right radicals who believe that on January 6th, they were screwed by Mike Pence. He will also not get the vote of an equal number who believe that we were screwed by Mike Pence well before January 6th.

Hindsight is 20/20, he says as his foot jiggles. He is trying to insure that no shit splatters his expensive shoes. 

I will not buy his book.

29 comments:

  1. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing", although I would argue that Pence is not a good man either.

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    1. I believe that 'good men' speaks to their impression of themselves. Pence fervently believes in his own goodness and courage.

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  2. Oh Debby, so well said. I watched this interview too, with no real hostility towards the man (mostly indifference), until I was reminded of Pence's 'fanning the flames' himself just days before Jan 6, by David Muir. I was reminded that he STOOD BY TRUMP FOR 4 YEARS wearing that robot-like smirk while Trump did his worst. Oh Mike... I'll pray for you.

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    1. 'robot' is a good description. He seemed robotic last night as well.

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  3. I didn't need to watch that interview as I would assume that Pence is trying to make himself look good when he did nothing to stop the Jan. 6th insurrection. People died and he could have prevented it by speaking up. What a putz.

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    1. He and many others, and looooooong before the insurrection.

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  4. Too little too late. Yes, he stood his ground on January 6th. And for that we will always be grateful. But how many times did we see him standing next to tonald dump silently giving him unspoken support for the ridiuculous garbage he knew was being spouted forth. Those log pauses between David's questions and his answers seemed like Pence was choosing his words carefully to defer any blame from himself.

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    1. That jiggling foot fascinated both Tim and I.

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  5. What a sad statement that Pence was being brave to uphold the law on Jan 6th.

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    1. It's all he has, actually, and he's polishing that turd for all it is worth.

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  6. Are there only two major political parties in America? You seem to have little choice of who to vote for.

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  7. I didn't watch the interview. I sort of remember that it was coming up but I guess I haven't been interested in what Pence has to say. I don't think he has a chance of winning should he decide to run.

    Although I agree that people of power did abandon their responsibilities to serve the people, I guess I can't blame them. I think it is a weakness of human nature to want to follow those in power in hopes of obtaining some of it ourselves. I am reminded of a failed reality show that featured Richard Bronson and one of the first episodes was to see who wanted to go over Niagara Falls with him in a floating capsule. Unbelievably, many volunteered to the point of getting in and buckling harnesses before Richard Bronson told them that this was an important lesson about failing to observe risks in the chase of power. It really stuck with me. I would hope that I would have done better in a similar situation but wouldn't guarantee it.

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  8. Pence is dead in the water politically, and I can't believe he doesn't know it. I don't disagree with anything you've said.

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    1. I think he will come to that realization. I just think he is fumbling around at this point trying to figure out what comes next.

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  9. Thank you for watching and reporting- I did not have the stomach to see another moment of "mother's" boy performance. One bubble of doing what is expected and lawful in a democracy which has a solid-ish constitution does not an admirable politician make. Every one of the orange brigade is writing a book- Bad days of reading ahead! Kelly Anne- oh please!

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  10. Did not see the interview; did not know about it until reading this. Mike Pence is, in my opinion, strategizing to become the GOP nominee and taking advantage of the slow collapse of both Donald Trump's hold on the party and the MAGA movement (see results of midterm elections). I don't blame Pence for that. He has the right to put himself out there if that is what he wants to do. And like you, I appreciate that he did, in fact, do the right thing on January 6th. I think he is a good man. But he has too much history with Trump for me to ever support him (or have any interest in reading a book he has written). Until January 6th when he finally came around, he could hardly open his mouth in public without first pandering to his boss. For all of these reasons, he's not on my short (or long) list of who I would want to be the Republican nominee or the next POTUS.

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  11. Pence is a hypocrite and a coward. He spent 4 years enabling Trump, he knows it and so does the rest of America. He did the right thing certifying the election, but I suspect that his motives then were self-serving, not for the good of the country.

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  12. Turd polishing. Exactly. Well said, Deb.
    Bonnie in Minneapolis

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    1. I think that he is just tossing it out there to see how it is received.

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  13. Some aid had said if Pence replaced 45 after impeachment that things would be worse. Like nursing, I find those in the trenches and behind the counter probably have the more accurate views. Pence was a wimp before and after; still is. I think he "accidentally" did some good Jan. 6. Linda in Kansas

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  14. He seems to me to be easily led, a person who has gotten a long way by being agreeable.

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  15. It took him a long time to find his backbone, but I don’t think he found all of it.

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  16. Heeey! We watched it too and feel exactly as you do. And the funniest thing was that YOU ALSO noticed his foot jiggling. It never stopped. He kept looking at it and wondering when he'd realize what he was doing. He was working very hard to dodge the uncomfortable questions. And yes, he showed 4 years of cowardice.

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