Saccharine homophobe and Trump's pathetic lackey VP Mike "Dense" Pence had a strange couple of days in Iceland and Ireland. He was expertly trolled by Icelanders who flew LGBTQ rainbow flags near where he met with Iceland's Prime Minister (who wore rainbow bracelets), and had a stilted handshake with Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner Matthew Barrett at Farmleigh House in Dublin.
But beyond the culture wars embarrassments, while in Ireland, Pence also inserted himself in the Brexit debate, awkwardly finding himself and his Irish hosts on opposite sides. A no-deal Brexit would endanger years of relative comity between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland by establishing customs controls and more border security, emphasizing their "separateness." Pence, echoing his master's voice, supported ultra-conservative British Prime Minister Boris "Breaks It" Johnson's policies. Marian Lord's opinion piece in the Irish Times captures the reaction:
"The hospitable hosts buttered up their important guest and made a big fuss of his family and hoped he would say nice things about them to the important people he would meet after his visit to Ireland.
And he told them they were wonderful and that he loved them. He even said a special prayer for everyone and then, just before he left, he turned around and kicked them where it hurts.
It came as a shock.
Like pulling out all the stops for a much-anticipated visitor to your home and thinking it has been a great success until somebody discovers he shat on the new carpet in the spare room, the one you bought specially for him. [snip]
Pence, after all, is Irish American and wastes no opportunity to go misty-eyed about his love for the 'Old Country' as he lards on his Mother Machree shtick on both sides of the Atlantic. He couldn’t praise Ireland enough on Tuesday – 'deeply humbled' and 'honoured' to be going to the hometown of his mother’s grandmother and so on.While his remarks were meant to please demagogue Donald "The Chosen One" Trump and, secondarily, Johnson, it was bad form to express them in a public speech in front of his hosts. But then, this incompetent "America First" administration can't see beyond their own views and prejudices.
But, after he said all these nice things about the 'Emerald Isle' and how much his boss Donald Trump – he sent his best wishes, by the way – appreciates us and all we do to help American security in Shannon, he delivered a very strong endorsement of Boris Johnson and Brexit." (our emphasis)
(photo: VP Pence and his wife, Mother, is welcomed by Irish Taoiseach Varadkar and his partner Michael Barrett. Paul Faith/Getty Images)
