Saturday, July 16, 2016

On Pence: "A Deep Thinker He Is Not" (Also, The "Half-Assed" TP Roll-Out)


Here's some editorial board reactions to the "TP" ticket:

Los Angeles Times:
... [F]ar from compensating for Trump’s deficiencies, Pence's credentials bring them into sharper and more frightening relief. Even if Pence were the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln, his presence on the ticket won’t alter the fact that the Republican candidate for president is a shallow self-promoter who traffics in bigotry and bluster.
New York Times:
For Mr. Pence’s audition in Indianapolis this week, he made a speech introducing Mr. Trump as a man who has “never forgotten or forsaken the people who work with their hands.” That’s surprising, since Mr. Trump’s record of forsaking working people is rather long. With Mr. Pence on the ticket, it gets only longer. 
Once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle:
Mr. Pence appears to be executing his biggest mistake, by far, right now. He has called himself “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.” But he has agreed to run on a ticket with an uncharitable man who habitually insults minorities, religions and vulnerable people, who wants to economically isolate the United States and who regularly displays his ignorance of the Constitution and policy. As he campaigns with Mr. Trump, Mr. Pence will have to add “hypocrite” to his list of labels.  
Boston Globe:
Donald Trump had one big chance to demonstrate to voters that he has put aside the shoot-from-the-hip style of his primary campaign. He could have chosen a serious-minded vice presidential candidate with policy gravitas, sending the message that he is self-aware enough to understand his own weaknesses and that he understands the need to bring in close advisers, starting with the vice president, who could compensate for his flaws. 
Instead, he chose Indiana governor Mike Pence. On paper, Pence — a former congressman — seems to have the credentials for the job. But a deep thinker he is not. Pence, also a former talk radio host, has virtually no foreign policy experience and no serious legislative achievements in Congress. As governor of Indiana, his major accomplishment was to throw the state into turmoil by signing an antigay law that spurred a huge popular outcry and was quickly amended.
We can't say all the editorial commentary has been negative.  You'll find a lot of corporate media editorial boards in full "normalization" mode on the Pence pick. "He's a staunch conservative!" is the theme of most of those editorials, as if being a "staunch" conservative these days was indicative of good sense, intelligence or moral acuity.  Generally, Pence's abysmal record on women's and LGBT rights is glossed over or framed as showing how he'll help solidify the evangelical base (as if that hadn't already happened), or how he will provide some experience in and knowledge of government that neo- fascist bumpkin Donald "Rump" Trump clearly lacks.  What a low bar for the ticket of a major political party in the 21st Century.

BONUS: Rump's formal introduction of himself Dense Pence today was yet another laughable example of what a sh*tstorm Rump and his "campaign" are, and more proof that the 40% of voters who would vote for this narcissist also likely play with their toes.  Reality:

For a narcissist, not surprising:


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