In our country’s early years, the V.P. was the person who lost the presidential election. The selection process then evolved into what we currently have. Too often, the Veep has lived up to Garner’s statement. Here’s a test of that. List the presidents of the 20th century. Now list the vice presidents. Unless you’re a scholar of political history, you’ll probably miss at least a few of the Veeps. Lyndon Johnson, arguably one of the most qualified because of his tenure in the Senate, was not well-known by most Americans until he took the oath of office as president on Air Force One in Dallas in 1963.
Dan Quayle was the V.P. for George H.W. Bush. A sick joke going around at that time was that Bush picked him because he was so unqualified to even be considered as president that nobody would dare take a shot at Bush. In the 1988 vice presidential debate with Lloyd Bentsen, Quayle compared his length of congressional service with that of JFK. Bentsen’s response was “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy”. The responding look on Quayle’s face was that of a pouting child who was going to take his toys and go home. Quayle proved to be, as might be stated by the eminent philosopher and commentator Bugs Bunny, a maroon.
Also notable in recent years was Sarah Palin who did not serve as V.P. but was the running mate for John McCain in 2008. Many thought that she was viewed as such a potential disaster that she hurt McCain’s chances for election. In the hilarious political satire TV series Veep, it can be argued that the V.P. character is based to some degree on Palin.
All of which brings me to our current Veep, Mike Pence. Outside of residents of Indiana, most Americans didn’t know who he was until Melania’s husband picked him as running mate last year. After doing a little research on him, the thought of him being a heartbeat away from the presidency scares me more than the guy who is the current president. Before reading any further, you might want to eat something because it shouldn’t be read on an empty stomach.
Start with his statement at the 2016 GOP convention “I am a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order.” That’s a huge red flag. A person’s religious beliefs and affiliations are their own business. When a politician puts those beliefs on the forefront, that tends to indicate that the politician uses those beliefs as the basis for his/her political agenda. Although not specifically addressed in the Constitution, the notion of separation of church and state has been addressed by the Supreme Court as it applies to the First Amendment. It was most famously brought up by Thomas Jefferson in his first term as president.
Pence has proven to be a disaster regarding energy and the environment. As president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, a conservative think tank, he wrote some statements that should cause anyone to question his basic intelligence. Denying climate change, he wrote “Global warming is a myth.” In his 2015 State of the State address, he said “We must continue to oppose the overreaching schemes of the EPA until we bring their war on coal to an end." That same year, he sent President Obama a letter opposing the EPA’s Clean Power Plan and stated that Indiana would refuse to comply. He is not any better on public health issues. About the dangers of tobacco smoking, he wrote for the Indiana Policy Review Foundation “Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill.” Tell that to a lifelong cigarette smoker who is dying from lung cancer. In 2015, there was an outbreak of HIV in southern Indiana. Planned Parenthood clinics there tested for HIV and offered assistance in prevention. Pence, along with the Republican-controlled legislature, defunded Planned Parenthood. Although there is evidence that needle exchange programs help prevent the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C, Pence has opposed such programs and blocked funding for them.
In 2015, Pence signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which essentially allowed business owners in Indiana to discriminate against gay customers. He has spoken in favor of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, stating “Societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.” In 2000, he spoke regarding the Ryan White CARE Act, which is an AIDS resources bill. Pence stated “It should be renewed only if resources were directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.”
In 2016, Pence signed into law HB 1337, one of the nation’s strictest anti-abortion laws. That bill banned abortion if the reason for the procedure was that the fetus had life-ending chromosomal damage or abnormality. It required that all fetal remains from abortions or miscarriages at any stage of pregnancy be buried or cremated. It contained a clause allowing abortion doctors to be charged with wrongful death.
Enough for now about Pence, and now for something completely different. You may recall that Melania’s husband recently listed the media outlets he considered to be enemies of the country by spreading “fake news”. He left out Fox News, which is apparently the one that he considers to be a reliable news source. A couple of weeks ago, he made a speech in which he claimed there had been a terror-related incident in Sweden. When the Swedish government wondered what he was talking about, the Tweeting Twit said that he heard about it on a Fox News interview. How his supporters can continue supporting him is baffling.
~ Posted by Exile in Oregon - Medford OR
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