Meet The Real Mike Pence

Mike Pence is the current governor of the state of Indiana and is the running mate of Donald Trump to become the Vice President of the United States.  During his recent debate with Senator Tim Kaine, who is running on the Democratic ticket to become Vice President, he looked very presidential.  His demeanor was perfect, the way that he avoided interrupting Senator Kaine (most of the time) was perfect, his hair was perfect and the press – based on the standards of the press – and many of those watching felt that he won the debate.

What more can I say…oh yeah, Mike Pence lied a lot; not always by verbalizing his lies but by wagging his head indicating no or not true at the statements that Senator Kaine was making about Donald Trump.  The problem for Governor Pence is that the statements that Senator Kaine was making about Mr. Trump were true; and Governor Pence knew this.  But whether what someone says is true or a lie is not a part of what the press bases its determination on as to whether one is a winner or loser in these televised debates.

I must agree that Governor Pence had his television presence completely together and performed impeccably before the cameras.  He looked completely presidential.  But looks can be deceiving.  Now meet the real Mike Pence.  Meet the Mike Pence who, although he seemed to be in agreement with Senator Kaine when he explained how he disagreed, based on his religion and personal views, with some of the things that he supported as an elected official but voted for them because of his sworn duty and the fact that he was elected to office to represent those who elected him, took firm and extraordinary stances against abortion and gay rights due to his religious beliefs despite the fact that polls show that the majority of Americans are pro-choice and favor equal rights for gay people including their right to marry whomever they love regardless of that person’s gender.

Meet the Mike Pence who according to an article in thinkprogress.org compared the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Obamacare to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and ‘thanked a town hall constituent who said that President Obama “sounds a lot like Hitler.”‘  And women, meet the Mike Pence who proudly proclaims that Donald Trump will nominate Supreme Court Judges who will overturn Roe v Wade.  According to an article in LifeNews.com Governor Pence made the following statement: ‘”If we appoint strict constructionists to the Supreme Court as Donald Trump intends to do, I believe we will see Roe v. Wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs…”  I couldn’t be more proud to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the next pro-live president of the United States of America, Donald Trump,” Pence told the crowd.’

As regards Donald Trump, I said in a recent post to this blog that all voters should check the records of Mr. Trump and any other candidate running for office and not base their votes on sound bites, the popularity of the candidate or on their personal desire to jump on the band wagon of the popular thing to do crowd.  I want to reiterate that statement in this article in the hope that you will take my admonition seriously and get informed before you vote no matter which candidate that you are contemplating voting for.  Governor Pence might have been very impressive as far as how he performed in front of the cameras in making you believe that he will make a good vice president for all Americans; but his record tells a different story.

And just yesterday, a 2005 video of Donald Trump making some very lewd comments about women surfaced, was obtained by The Washington Post and was made public.  The publication of this video has forced Mr. Trump to apologize for those comments, has his campaign in total disarray, put the Republican Party in a tailspin and has almost certainly ruined his chances of becoming president.

Members of the Republican Party are beginning to abandon him.  Already, Republican colleagues who have endorsed him are beginning to withdraw those endorsements and once again conversations regarding somehow replacing him – this time with Governor Mike Pence, his running mate, have surfaced in Republican inner circles.  This is not good news for Mr. Trump or for the Republican Party.

Whether these Republicans and the Republican Party overall are abandoning Donald Trump because it is the right thing to do or simply because it is the politically astute thing to do is relevant and still important; or at least, it should be.  It should be important because it involves their dignity; again, at least for those who still have any dignity left.  Mr. Trump has already taken that away from many of them.

But even if those Republicans and the Republican Party are now abandoning Mr. Trump because it is the right thing to do, voters still must not forget how long it took and what he had to do to cause them to abandon him even though from the very beginning they had said that he was unqualified and unfit to hold the office of President of the United States of America yet did everything that they could to put him into office.  Those men and women should, at the very least be challenged – and many of them even replaced, because they failed to make a tough decision and instead play politics to help assure that they would keep their jobs.

And this was not just a regular run-of-the-mill political decision where the broad brush of politicians will be politicians can be applied.  This was a decision as to whether or not to place someone in the White House who could ruin America and who regularly demonstrates the temperament of a hotheaded bully who could easily be provoked to do exactly that!  This is a man who insulted our allies, have most world leaders concerned about what he will do about informal agreements and treaties if he is elected, seems to admire dictators and who cozies up to Russian president Vladimir Putin like he would an admired and cherished old friend.  These Republicans and the Republican Party exhibited cowardice, a lack of statesmanship, and no backbone whatsoever.  This recent revelation about Mr. Trump, Republican Party members and the Republican Party overall reinforces my admonition to voters to check the records of candidates and base their vote on this solid information rather than that of sleek sound bites.

Everyone has flaws so we will never find perfect people to select to become President and Vice President of the United States.  But we can get informed and select the candidates that are the best qualified and best suited for the job from among all of those that are available to us.  We can select those whose records indicate that they are indeed who the sleek sound bites say that they are; or who are as close to the ‘I will be the president to all of the people and always protect America and its people and keep them safe’ images depicted by those sound bites as possible.  If we will just commit to do that then America will be fine and continue to prosper, grow, and become even greater than it is now.

So once again I say, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent; always remember that your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!  You will likely continue to hear this refrain from now until the end of the election.  Don’t be surprised or become bored with the redundancy but, instead, internalize the message and embrace its meaning and importance.  Then vote in all elections and not just the presidential elections.  From bottom-to-top, local level to the federal level, they are all important.  So be sure to always vote.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line