Mike Pence’s most trusted staffers and advisers have voluntarily testified before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. And reports are that they all did so with not just his blessing but his exhortation.
Yet Pence himself has not testified. And all indications are that he has no intention of doing so … voluntarily.
This glaring inconsistency has to be one of the most baffling developments in the world of politics; well, since that master military-strategist-cum-bungling-genocidal maniac, Vladimir Putin, invaded Ukraine on February 24…
Of course, it’s self-evident that Pence is not testifying because he hopes to remain (as if he ever were) the heir apparent to Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president of the United States. But anyone in their right mind knows this is every bit as delusional as those QAnon kooks thinking Trump is just waiting for JFK Jr for them to return as president and vice president by the end of this summer, respectively.
In fact, Pence’s pipe dream was just thrown into stark relief on Friday night at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Tennessee. Because, during Trump’s grievance-filled screed, which was billed as a keynote address, he evoked a mixture of applause and laughter as he ridiculed Pence mercilessly as weak and hapless for failing to help him (and them) hold on to power – by any means necessary.
In other words, Trump has the base of the party convinced that Pence is not only a de facto traitor (albeit to their insurrectionist cause), but a friggin’ joke when it comes to leadership.
But Pence has only himself to blame. After all, he knew full well, even as events were unfolding on Jan. 6, that Trump was not only badgering him to help execute America’s first coup d’état, but also willing to see his Proud Boys hang him (and his family) for failing to go along with their plot.
Yet Pence refuses to denounce Trump – even as Trump continues to dump all over him. Frankly, this kind of abiding sycophancy makes Ted Cruz’s cuckoldry look chivalrous.
Hell, Trump can be forgiven for thinking that the more he humiliates Pence the more Pence loves him. Which has to be the most perverse public display of sadomasochism ever.
The point, though, is how can any Republican, let alone anyone else, see Pence as a leader who can defend America? This, when he can’t even stand up for himself and his own family…
Yes, he deserves credit for refusing to pull the trigger on that coup … at the eleventh hour. Except that’s precisely why Trump and his MAGA supporters feel so betrayed.
After all, Pence had spent the past four years giving them every reason to believe he would do exactly what Trump expected – the Constitution and the welfare of the country be damned. And who can blame them.
Lest we forget, this is the same Pence who not only aided and abetted Trump in undermining every democratic institution that made America great, but blithely sacrificed his soul at the altar of Trump’s political ambition.
Apropos of which, long before Jan. 6 made him the Judas Iscariot of the Republican Party, here is how I was already throwing cold water in his face in “Pence Says Roberts Is a Disappointment to Conservatives. But (Real) Conservatives Say Pence and Republicans Are a Disappointment to … Conservatives,” August 7, 2020:
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This, from the guy who – like a leader of fallen angels – led Republicans in transforming their party into a racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, homophobic, fascistic, spendthrift cult – dedicated above all to furthering the political ambitions and enriching the personal fortunes of Donald J. Trump.
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So yeah, he picked a critical moment to rediscover his political spine and religious faith. Unfortunately, his delusional ambition to succeed Trump has him playing that sycophantic, pathetic second fiddle again.
He’s even trumping Trump by dismissing the Jan. 6 insurrection as just a media conspiracy to “demean” Trump’s MAGA supporters. Yes, the ones who tried to hang him.
The problem is that Pence has put himself in a no-win situation: He’s a walking laughingstock. And even when he tries to curry favor with Trump’s MAGA supporters, who now compose the base of the Republican Party, they dismiss his constipated countenance of sincerity because it just makes him look like he’s full of sh*t.
This is why Pence should go Sammy ‘The Bull’ Gravano and testify against Trump. It’s really his last best chance to show political leadership.
Granted, he has forfeited much of his valor to his staffers and advisers – who have also stolen much of his thunder with their riveting testimony. But it’s never too late to do the right thing.
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