Mike Pence: Almost as bad as Trump but he might not get us killed

[Cartmann99]

On 9/16/2017 at 5:35 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

Okay, I have to admit that I giggled just a little too long thinking of special blinders created by "mother" that have pictures of Jesus on the inside, so the wearer will both avoid temptation by the many eye traps out there, but also be reminded of their savior. They would be like a chastity belt for the eyes.

For the folks that want to spend a little more, you could have a virtual reality version with Jesus on one side scowling and shaking his finger at the wearer, and then MC Hammer on the other side singing Can't Touch This. They could do it like Amazon does with their Kindle Fire tablets and give the option of paying a little more to get an ad-free version. Otherwise, you would occasionally cycle through a preselected number of ads for family-friendly products like guns shaped to resemble your favorite Fox News anchor.

[onekidanddone]

How is this 'breaking news'. People were slaugte5red in Las Vegas, Puerto Rico is still reeling and a new hurricane just hit the gulf. We are supposed to care that Pency Boy walked out of a game? 

Vice President Pence walks out of Colts game over 49ers’ national anthem protests

Quote

The plan had been for Vice President Mike Pence to attend the Indianapolis Colts game at which Peyton Manning’s number is to be retired, a gala celebration of the former Colts quarterback’s contributions to Pence’s home state.

But Pence, the former governor of Indiana, left Lucas Oil Stadium after the national anthem, explaining his decision via Twitter early Sunday afternoon.

“I left today’s Colts game because President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem. At a time when so many Americans are inspiring our nation with their courage, resolve, and resilience, now, more than ever, we should rally around our Flag and everything that unites us,” he said in a statement. “While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I don’t think it’s too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem. I stand with President Trump, I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our Flag and our National Anthem.”

Pence’s response appears to have been triggered by the decision of between 15 to 23 members of the San Francisco 49ers to take a knee during the anthem, as many NFL players have done to raise awareness of social injustice and racial inequality. Members of the Colts stood for the anthem with arms linked.

Although players have stressed that the demonstrations are not meant to disparage military members of the anthem, Pence’s decision to leave revives the story of players who have been protesting social injustice and racial inequality this season. They have taken a knee. They have linked arms. Some have raised a defiant fist to the sky in the face of presidential directives to the owners of their teams to fire or suspend them. And as their season settles into the critical second quarter, they have sought to pivot toward taking positive action and refining their message.

Away from Indianapolis, other players around the league, like Olivier Vernon of the New York Giants, continued to kneel Sunday, but most stood and linked arms as many have acknowledged that that their message was becoming misinterpreted, co-opted by some who were claiming it was aimed at military members rather than police brutality. So players, who had urged Commissioner Roger Goodell to designate a month to raise awareness, have taken a new approach over the last few weeks, in part because they were hearing boos from fans during the anthem. In Green Bay, players heard it loud and clear late last month after asking fans to join them in linking arms. Not many did and there were boos during the song.

“Beauty is, it’s a free country so they can choose to do it or not. The messaging towards this unfortunately needs to continue to be redirected, I think. It’s never been about the national anthem. It’s never been about the military.” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “We’re all patriotic in the locker room. We love our troops. This is about something bigger than that — an invitation to show unity in the face of some divineness from the top in this country and I’m proud of our guys.”

The message was muddled over the first month of the season, with President Trump calling for NFL owners to suspend or fire players who took a knee for the anthem, calling any who do, in a veiled reference to Kaepernick, a “son of a bitch.” A false, Photoshopped image of the Seattle Seahawks’ Michael Bennett burning a flag in the locker room became a widely shared meme designed to stir up passions. The Seahawks took the next step in their activism, announcing the creation of an educational fund.

“In an effort to create lasting change and build a more compassionate and inclusive society, we are launching the Seahawks Players Equality & Justice for All Action Fund to support education and leadership programs addressing equality and justice,” the team tweeted Sept. 29. “We invite you to join us in donating and taking action.”

The efforts may not have led to results that are more conversational than nationally tangible, but the players pledge that their activism will not end and it’s likely to become an issue again after Pence’s early exit. In their memo to Goodell, Bennett, Philadelphia Eagles Torrey Smith and Malcolm Jenkins and retired player Anquan Boldin requested that the NFL designate a month, as it does for Breast Cancer awareness in October, to highlight player activism and community engagement.

“To counter the vast amount of press attention being referred to as the ‘national anthem protests’ versus the large amount of grass roots work that many players around the league have invested their time and resources, we would like to request a league wide initiative that would include a month dedicated to a campaign initiative and related events,” the memo stated. “Similarly to what the league already implements for breast cancer awareness, honoring military, etc., we would like November to serve as a month of Unity for individual teams to engage and impact the community in their market.”

Their activism has taken root, down to the high school level and over to the NBA, where players have traditionally been more vocal because, among other reasons, their contracts are guaranteed. Although Trump cited declining TV ratings for the NFL, those have improved as the games have and as areas in Texas and Florida have begun to recover from hurricane damage. Players are not backing down, even though the question has always been how to use their platform. Stick to sports? That’s not going to happen, no matter the consequences.

“I’ve heard people say that my colleagues and I are un-American and unpatriotic,” Jenkins wrote in a Washington Post essay. “Well, we want to make America great. We want to help make our country safe and prosperous. We want a land of justice and equality. True patriotism is loving your country and countrymen enough to want to make it better.”

 

[GrumpyGran]

36 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

How is this 'breaking news'. People were slaugte5red in Las Vegas, Puerto Rico is still reeling and a new hurricane just hit the gulf. We are supposed to care that Pency Boy walked out of a game? 

Vice President Pence walks out of Colts game over 49ers’ national anthem protests

 

So Pence is campaigning, too? What a disgusting publicity stunt. This was obviously planned. What a coincidence it was the game against the 49ers! I'm sorry but the Vice-President doesn't just "walk out" of anything. It's a motorcade. With escorts and closed roadways. Did he go out and catch a bus?

When he starts confronting people who are also violating the flag code by plastering the American flag all over everything, then I'll stop calling him a shameless opportunist and a true threat to religious freedom.

Oh, and I guess fuck you, Payton Manning? Sorry need to leave to create chaos and make a statement.

Edited October 8, 2017 by GrumpyGran
forgot poor Peyton getting thrown under the publicity bus

[Cartmann99]

4 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

“I left today’s Colts game because President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem. At a time when so many Americans are inspiring our nation with their courage, resolve, and resilience, now, more than ever, we should rally around our Flag and everything that unites us,”

Did anybody else hear the Battle Hymn of the Republic playing in the background while they read that, or is it just me?

Also, did Mrs. Pence really give him permission to go somewhere where there's beautiful cheerleaders gyrating to the Devil's music, or did he figure out that towel charm she gave him had a tracking device inside and toss it?

[onekidanddone]

54 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Did anybody else hear the Battle Hymn of the Republic playing in the background while they read that, or is it just me?

All we needed was for for a single tear drop to run down Pence's cheek. 

[VixenToast]

When I saw that headline, my eyes rolled so hard they nearly fell out. Totally a publicity stunt by President Vice President Pence. Fucking nationalist nutbag.

[GreyhoundFan]

[GrumpyGran]

I wonder what he would have done if all of the players stood. Would he have been forced to stay? Made up an excuse to leave? After all, we know it was a set-up, he told the press traveling with him to stay in the van because they wouldn't be there long and he was wearing a suit. It was a blatant PR stunt. He probably made sure the players knew he was there.

Of course mother was there. So I have a question. Did they have church in the limo on the way to the game? National anthem at 12:00. Had to take at least an hour to get there and into the seat,what with security. Surely he didn't miss church to bully American citizens and pander to a serial adulterer. That sounds like the drop-slide to hell. Just sayin'

[Ali]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGran said:

Did they have church in the limo on the way to the game? National anthem at 12:00. Had to take at least an hour to get there and into the seat,what with security. Surely he didn't miss church to bully American citizens and pander to a serial adulterer.

It is possible that he went to a 9 a.m. service that only lasted an hour.

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGran said:

Surely he didn't miss church to bully American citizens and pander to a serial adulterer. That sounds like the drop-slide to hell. Just sayin'.

@GrumpyGran, Republican Jesus specifically told Pence to go to the game and flounce when the players kneeled for the Anthem. 

3 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

All we needed was for for a single tear drop to run down Pence's cheek. 

That commercial from the 70s about pollution is playing nonstop in my head now.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Cartmann99

[candygirl200413]

He wasted tax payer dollars AGAIN to do a publicity stunt. If there's anything I learned with this administration is that my hate and disgust has no limit.

[Childless]

I'm so embarrassed to be from the same state he's from.  I can't believe they wasted tens of thousands of tax payer dollars on this farce.  It's not like there are still over three million Americans without access to electricity and clean water.  Right?  It's not like all Americans have access to healthcare.  Right?  It's not like all our schools have adequate funding.  Right?  But, yeah, let's spend tons of money and inconvenience everyone with extra security so little Mikey can stomp his feet and throw a fit over kneeling black men.  This is also the guy that got all butt hurt over the movie "Mulan".  Remind me, who's the snowflake again?

Oh, and we also shelled out thousands of dollars this weekend so Cheeto von Tweeto could go golfing again.  Glad this administration is trying to save taxpayer dollars like he promised during the campaign. 

[louisa05]

It is possible that he went to a 9 a.m. service that only lasted an hour.

We’re out of church and home for breakfast by 9 a. m. most weeks.

But the Pences church going is the least of my concerns here.

In this country today, we are told we have to live with mass shootings because the Second Amendment is sacred above human lives but this administration goes to these lengths to trample on the First Amendment rights of citizens. I can’t even.

[47of74]

35 minutes ago, Childless said:

I'm so embarrassed to be from the same state he's from.  I can't believe they wasted tens of thousands of tax payer dollars on this farce.  It's not like there are still over three million Americans without access to electricity and clean water.  Right?  It's not like all Americans have access to healthcare.  Right?  It's not like all our schools have adequate funding.  Right?  But, yeah, let's spend tons of money and inconvenience everyone with extra security so little Mikey can stomp his feet and throw a fit over kneeling black men.  This is also the guy that got all butt hurt over the movie "Mulan".  Remind me, who's the snowflake again?

Oh, and we also shelled out thousands of dollars this weekend so Cheeto von Tweeto could go golfing again.  Glad this administration is trying to save taxpayer dollars like he promised during the campaign. 

And if Biden had done anything even remotely similar to this Pence and the rest of the Refucklicans would have been whining non stop about Biden's waste of taxpayer dollars. 

[GrumpyGran]

11 hours ago, Ali said:

It is possible that he went to a 9 a.m. service that only lasted an hour.

Nope, no such thing. First there is bible study or class, as some call it. Because you're not there to study the bible in the regular service? That takes an hour. Then there's the service. One hour minimum. And these people don't go to church before 9am. If you aren't there for at least two hours you haven't made a commitment to God and you are going to HELL!

He may be an elder in his church and have decide to give all the members a new set of rules, like my brother, who is an elder in the church I grew up in. Everybody was complaining that they didn't have enough time for fun on Sunday so he changed the service to one hour starting at 8:30. Sorry, God.

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGran said:

He may be an elder in his church and have decide to give all the members a new set of rules, like my brother, who is an elder in the church I grew up in. Everybody was complaining that they didn't have enough time for fun on Sunday so he changed the service to one hour starting at 8:30. Sorry, God.

Or he could have stayed in the Roman Catholic Church. Then he could have attended mass on Saturday afternoon. And, many masses are barely an hour long, especially the Saturday vigil and early morning Sunday versions. The church where my mom attended in her old town normally had masses shorter than 50 minutes long.

[GrumpyGran]

27 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Or he could have stayed in the Roman Catholic Church. Then he could have attended mass on Saturday afternoon. And, many masses are barely an hour long, especially the Saturday vigil and early morning Sunday versions. The church where my mom attended in her old town normally had masses shorter than 50 minutes long.

Was he Catholic at one point? Did she 'save' him? Yeah, Catholicism would have worked better, although you know those 'real' Christians think Catholics are heathens. Church is on Sunday, only Sunday! Well, and Wednesday night.

[GreyhoundFan]

6 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

Was he Catholic at one point? Did she 'save' him? Yeah, Catholicism would have worked better, although you know those 'real' Christians think Catholics are heathens. Church is on Sunday, only Sunday! Well, and Wednesday night.

Yes, he was raised Catholic, but became an evangelical in college. Also, he was raised a -- gasp -- Democrat, and even voted for Carter.

"Pence’s empty stunt signals three more years of culture-war posturing ahead"

Spoiler

Yesterday, Vice President Pence mounted a national anthem protest of his own to express his displeasure at football players protesting racism and police brutality. If this kind of thing disgusts you, I have bad news: There’s going to be three more years of culture-war posturing from the Trump administration.

In case you missed it, Pence traveled to Indianapolis for a game between the hometown Colts and San Francisco 49ers, then dramatically stormed out of the game upon seeing members of the visiting team kneel during the national anthem, so deeply offended was he. While it was intended to look like a principled reaction to the players’ shocking protest, it was immediately apparent that the event was carefully planned. Everyone knew there would be kneeling players, and reporters traveling with Pence were kept outside and told beforehand that he might be leaving early. Then President Trump, apparently aghast at the idea of somebody besides him getting praise from Fox News, tweeted that it was all his idea:

... < tweet from twitler >

Who knows if that last part is true, but the White House surely knew how the episode would play out: Pence would perform his little stunt, Democrats would point out how contrived it was and act outraged at the expense the taxpayers incurred, cable news would eat it up, and the whole thing would exacerbate racial and political divisions within the country. Mission accomplished!

This is politics in the Trump era, and it’s going to be this way as long as he’s president.

It was obvious almost from the day he took office that Trump has no interest in reaching out to voters who didn’t support him in 2016 or don’t support him now; he is emphatically the president of his base, not the entire country. But there are at least three different things Trump can offer that base, and understanding them allows us to see why there will be more manufactured pseudo-events like Pence’s football protest.

The first is concrete results that Trump might deliver. During the campaign he traveled to places with large concentrations of white working-class voters and promised an industrial revival that would deliver them economic security and transform their lives. In places such as West Virginia and Kentucky he claimed all the coal jobs would be coming back as new mines opened (there are fewer than 70,000 people currently employed in the coal-mining industry, about the same number of Americans who work at Bed Bath & Beyond). In the industrial Midwest he promised that new factories would be pouring in to revive downtrodden towns. While it’s theoretically possible that Trump’s policies could produce these gains that would benefit his base, they haven’t yet and are not likely to do so.

The second way Trump can come through for his base is what we might call substantive culture-war results. These are changes that are fundamentally about cultural divisions within the country, but which have a real impact on people’s lives. The appointment of a Supreme Court justice falls into this category, because it is always framed in terms of issues such as abortion and gay rights. On those issues Trump has delivered, particularly for evangelical voters, with actions such as his move to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military and the new policy allowing companies to opt out of including birth control as part of health coverage.

The third way Trump can feed that base is the symbolic culture war, which is about things like Pence’s football morality play — it doesn’t have any immediate practical impact, but it generates conflict and division, keeping the base riled up and angry at people they think aren’t like them.

There are already signs that Trump’s failure to deliver concrete results, and the unlikelihood that he will ever do so, is beginning to dawn on some of his supporters, as new Reuters polling of Americans in rural areas shows:

In September, 47 percent of people in non-metro areas approved of Trump while 47 percent disapproved. That is down from Trump’s first four weeks in office, when 55 percent said they approved of the president while 39 percent disapproved.

The poll found that Trump has lost support in rural areas among men, whites and people who never went to college. He lost support with rural Republicans and rural voters who supported him on Election Day.

That’s hardly a widespread revolt, and it doesn’t necessarily mean those voters won’t come around when there’s a choice between Trump and a Democrat in 2020. But it is a meaningful drop, and it shows that the number of die-hard Trump supporters who will stand by him no matter what he does is significantly smaller than the 46 percent of voters who chose him in 2016.

There’s another factor to note, which is that Trump will probably run out of substantive culture-war policy changes to deliver to his base. Once you’ve reversed all the Obama-era policies you can find, where do you go from there? The answer is that you find more symbolic culture war battles to fight. You lash out at African American athletes, or politically correct college kids, or liberal Hollywood actors, or some pointy-headed professor somewhere who said something offensive. The less of your policy agenda you accomplish — and let’s not forget that Republicans will probably end their first year of total control of Washington without passing a single important piece of legislation — the more you’ll seek out those attention-grabbing conflicts, to show people who’s on whose side.

It’s always possible that this administration transform itself into a model of efficiency and accomplishment, giving not only Trump supporters but all Americans a future built on durable prosperity and social progress. But if that doesn’t happen, you can expect a lot more culture-war posturing coming from the White House.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Because we all need a laugh, I thought I'd share this from the fabulous Alexandra Petri: "Some other protests Mike Pence has planned"

Spoiler

After briefly refusing to dignify a football game with his absence, Vice President Pence jetted to California for a previously scheduled event, and I guess President Trump thought this was how protests ought to go. Below are a few more ideas for protests that Pence doubtless has planned.

Take Secret Service detail 80 miles out of the way to glower at a yard sign that says “No Matter Where You’re From, I’m Glad You’re My Neighbor.”

Pointedly refuse a piece of toast because it appears to contain an image of the Virgin Mary and his wife is not present to guard his virtue.

Buy a $3,000 ticket to “Hello, Dolly.” Angrily tear it up and leave the theater when he discovers that they do not begin each show by playing the national anthem. Go to a previously scheduled event.

Fly across the country to San Francisco to squint angrily at a bar with a rainbow flag. Insist he had something else to do in town that justified all this travel but refuse to say what it is.

Fly 300 miles out of his way to stand, remove his hat and applaud a wedding cake that has a man and a woman on top of it.

Spend two hours standing outside the door to a “Hamilton” show he does not have tickets to with his arms folded.

Buy a new television and make the Secret Service carry it home, then throw it out the window because it does not say “Made in USA” on it.

Climb Mount Rushmore and reverently brush dirt off Thomas Jefferson’s nose.

Run into and out of an American Eagle Outfitters in indignation that the store offers no appropriate outfits for eagles.

Stick head into the automatic doors at a Whole Foods and then run away shouting “I WILL NOT DIGNIFY THIS WITH MY PRESENCE” for unclear reasons.

Go see “Blade Runner: 2049.” Leave the second it is revealed that movies do not begin with the national anthem. Fly to a previously scheduled event.

Fly 800 miles out of his way to stand at the door of a pharmacy and swat contraceptives out of people’s hands.

Use an entire tank of gasoline to go wave his finger disapprovingly at a pigeon for doing its business on a statue of Christopher Columbus.

Make a big deal on social media about how excited he is to go to a pool and relax all afternoon. Instantly turn around in indignation because of what the women are wearing. Fly to California for a previously scheduled event.

Angrily turn off “The Americans” and throw a second, replacement television out the window when it is revealed that the Americans in question are not Americans after all but Russians.

Announce that he is going to the woods to live in harmony with nature and serve out the rest of his term in peace and quiet. Sit there for about 10 seconds. Immediately catch sight of a stick that he claims looks like a temptress from the side and insist that he must leave at once. Fly to North Carolina for a previously scheduled event.

Sadly, I can see some of them happening.

[GreyhoundFan]

"It’s not the cost of Pence’s trip that was galling. It was the preparation for it."

Spoiler

Sunday’s NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time. By 1:24 p.m., Vice President Pence’s official Twitter account had posted this.

... < tweet from Pencey >

That graphic — complete with the appropriate social media information — was the tail end of a thread of tweets that conveyed the same message. The thread began at 1:08 p.m., without a typo to be found.

This reinforces the obvious conclusion that Pence’s appearance at the game and his well-coordinated exit from it was staged. It was a Colts-Niners game — pitting his home-state team against the team from the liberal hotbed where the players’ protests over racial violence began. Pence’s press pool was informed that, in essence, there probably wasn’t any reason for them to join him inside the stadium. Why get out of your press van when Pence would go in, take a quick patriotic picture, and leave?

As President Trump said on Twitter on Monday morning, Pence’s trip to Indianapolis for this game was long-planned. An event that necessitated some modicum of effort and expense, for one reason: to reinforce the divide at the center of the protests, a divide that overlaps almost completely with racial politics.

A lot of emphasis has been placed on the cost of the trip, for understandable reasons. CNN figured that the flight alone cost about $200,000 on net — $242,500 in flying time from Las Vegas (where Pence was holding an event in the wake of the massacre there last week) and back to Los Angeles (where he had a political event scheduled). An Air Force Two flight from Vegas to L.A. alone would have cost about $45,000, so: about $200,000.

A spokesman for the vice president told The Washington Post in a statement that this was actually a cost savings, because Pence would otherwise have flown to D.C. for the night instead of Indianapolis. “Instead,” the statement read, “he made a shorter trip to Indiana for a game that was on his schedule for several weeks.”

But CNN’s analysis excludes a lot of other costs, of course. As the Indianapolis Star reported, Pence’s appearance introduced another level of security for fans attending the game, prompting the Colts to encourage people to show up early to navigate that security. That extra security cost extra money — as did Pence’s travel from the airport to the stadium and back.

There’s a ripple through a city whenever a president or vice president visits: street closures, added security, added nuisances. The full costs of those visits are probably incalculable, because they have effects beyond the places directly affected. In this case, it’s worth remembering that the ripple was for the purpose of allowing Pence to spend less than an hour at the stadium so he could spend 30 minutes bragging about his principled stand on social media.

A few hours after Pence’s stage-managed hand-wringing on Twitter — the digital equivalent of the disappointed head-shake he perfected on the campaign trail — Trump took to his favorite social-media platform to address a different subject.

... < tweet from twitler >

“Nobody could have done what I’ve done for Puerto Rico with so little appreciation,” Trump said. “So much work!”

It was an odd tweet for a lot of reasons, including that it framed Trump, once again, as one of the victims of the ongoing disaster on that island. But it also reminded Americans that, as Pence was saving us money by not flying all the way across the country, federal authorities on the island were scrambling to pour resources into fixing a problem that, to some extent, resulted from a lack of adequate planning from the government.

The time of the president and vice president are valuable, and what they do and where they go reflect the things that are important to them. You can always scrounge up more money; you can’t create more time. And Trump’s visit to Puerto Rico last week lasted only a few more hours than Pence’s trip to Indianapolis. Of the 520-odd cumulative days that Trump and Pence have been in power, one was spent traveling to Puerto Rico and one was spent going to Indianapolis. Time is spent in other ways, too: As we’ve noted before, the president has spent a lot more of his time tweeting about the NFL than he has the devastation of Hurricane Maria.

Pence’s flight to Indianapolis was planned for weeks; his social-media response ready to go with a graphic immediately after he left the stadium. It’s an impressive level of preparation for an administration, as it turns out, focused on goading the president’s base into anger at black athletes.

The trip wasn’t free, and the idea that it was a cost savings is ridiculous. But the really galling aspect of Pence’s jaunt was that it demonstrated the sort of issue on which the administration is deliberate about having its act together.

 

[fraurosena]

The text on his shirt says it all.

Edited October 10, 2017 by fraurosena
changed size of pic

[GreyhoundFan]

Jennifer Rubin's take: "Pence’s pathetic stunt tells us a lot about him"

Spoiler

With the exception of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, there is no GOP politician who has debased himself more for the sake of accommodation with President Trump than Vice President Pence, who once enjoyed respect as a decent, consistent conservative. His ploy on Sunday shows he has permitted himself to be reduced to the status of the Washington Generals, the hapless stiffs the Harlem Globetrotters humiliate again and again.

The Post reports:

The plan had been for Vice President Mike Pence to attend the Indianapolis Colts game at which Peyton Manning’s number was to be retired, a gala celebration of the former Colts quarterback’s contributions to Pence’s home state.

The former governor of Indiana and his wife, wearing a Manning No. 18 jersey, left Lucas Oil Stadium after the national anthem, following instructions from President Trump after a number of San Francisco 49ers players, as they usually do, took a knee during the anthem.

“I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled,” Trump posted on Twitter. “I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen.”

The first rule of blatant political stunts is not to let on that they are blatant political stunts. Pence was acting not out of spontaneous patriotism but out of blind loyalty to a president who reduces everyone around him to a sleazy character on a reality TV show.

The obnoxious play-acting had the intended effect in stirring more racial animosity. The Hill reported:

San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid slammed Vice President Mike Pence’s walkout during his team’s game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, calling it a “PR stunt.”

Reid [was] was one of the players to start kneeling with then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem to protest racial equality. …

“So this looks like a PR stunt to me. He knew our team has had the most players protest. He knew that we were probably going to do it again,” Reid said.

“This is what systemic oppression looks like. A man with power comes to the game, tweets a couple of things out and leaves the game with an attempt to thwart our efforts. Based on the information I have, that’s the assumption I’ve made.”

Well, at least Trump supporters can no longer accuse protesting players of “politicizing” football. Trump has done more than anyone to turn the protest against police violence into yet another battlefront in his populist war designed to stoke white grievance. This shameful, unprovoked attempt to fan racial tensions is beneath the dignity of the office of vice president and should make clear that Pence is as morally unfit as Trump to hold high office.

For a self-styled fiscal hawk, Pence grotesquely wasted taxpayer money for a political stunt. The Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington tweeted a rebuke: “This twitter stunt cost American taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Likewise, former director of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub denounced the charade. He wisecracked on Twitter: “Price of flight: $30,000 per hour. Security: $1 bazillion. Ticket: $93. Hotdog: $17. Choreographed denigration of 1st Amendment: Priceless!”

The Post tried to pin down an estimate: “It costs the federal government about $43,000 an hour to fly Air Force Two, according to a 2012 estimate by the Air Force. Assuming a total flight time of six hours for the journey east [from Las Vegas to Indianapolis] and then west again [to California], the tab for the flight alone would have topped $250,000.” He or the Republican National Committee should pay back every dime to the U.S. treasury.

To recap: Pence wasted taxpayer money, participated in a Trumpian divisive gambit to stoke racial animosity and made himself look like a spineless errand boy. Those who cheer him — including his legion of evangelical conservative supporters — should reflect upon the extent to which Trump has corrupted (morally, politically, intellectually) Pence — and them.

 

[47of74]

Ugh

Quote

President Donald Trump joked that Vice President Mike Pence “wants to hang” all gay people, according to a profile of Pence published in The New Yorker on Monday.

The article, entitled, “The Danger of President Pence,” details various viewpoints held by the socially conservative vice president that clash with Trump’s. Two sources told the magazine Trump has teased Pence about his stances toward religion, abortion and the LGBTQ community.

When that meeting shifted to discuss gay rights, according to the article, Trump pointed to Pence and joked, “Don’t ask that guy — he wants to hang them all!” 

Fuck Face and his Buddy showing their true colors.  

[Howl]

It give me more pleasure that it should to think about Trump "ribbing" Pence-y about his piety. 

[GrumpyGran]

1 hour ago, 47of74 said:

Ugh

Fuck Face and his Buddy showing their true colors.  

This makes me think he's a little angry with Pence. Or has no respect for him. I bet he thought he could fire Pence and recently found out he can't.