Don’t Blame Mike

Mike Pence’s mini-Donald performance at the vice presidential debate was appalling by any standard except that of his boss: constantly running over his time without apology, despite repeated entreaties from the moderator; condescending attitude toward his opponent and the moderator; melodramatic facial expressions during his opponent’s responses; occasional outbursts during his opponent’s responses; and the one thing to rule them all, the constant stream of lies and disinformation.

Those of us who were expecting a little bit more civility from this bland sycophant – including yours truly – should have realized that his performance was intended for one audience member only: his boss.

To whatever extent the Trumpster (rhymes with dumpster) was involved in the veep’s debate prep, it doesn’t take a political genius to figure out that Mikey’s marching orders were to be as rude and arrogant as possible – probably expressed as “show them you’re a strong leader.”

Pence’s toadiness, his blind, bland willingness to parrot every lie, every outrageous statement made by his boss, has lots of people scratching their heads. To me, it’s very simple: he’s stupid and he’s ambitious. The stupid part is written all over his face whenever he appears. Actually rather than stupid, let’s just say he’s a dim bulb; he has enough awareness to play a long game, knowing that if he plays it right, he’ll be in line to run for the presidency in 2024, regardless of the outcome of this election. But he also knows that his chances are exponentially better if his boss wins another four years, which is even more incentive for him to suck it up and do and say whatever the president wants.

Mike Pence is no better or worse than the other idiots in Trump’s orbit; they all have to have some awareness of the bizarre, otherworldly position they are in, but they are addicted to the reflected power of the presidency. And the orange imbecile is the only president they’ve got.