A President Mike Pence is looking better every day

[Zorro]

Donald Trump and those around him have made a long series of mistakes stemming from his campaign's contacts with Russians and subsequent inquiries into the matter, which raise the real possibility of his impeachment. But none of those compares to his biggest blunder: choosing Mike Pence as his running mate.

Pence is in a delicate position, which may be why he is seldom seen or heard from these days. On the one hand, his job as vice president obligates him to be a loyal member of the administration. On the other, he needs to maintain good relations with congressional Republicans, many of whom find Trump exasperating.

The vice president has to give every sign of appearing to support Trump in advancing his agenda, lest his boss turn on him. That means cheerfully endorsing the nonsense that flows nonstop from Trump's mouth, including brazen lies.

But Pence can't go too far. He needs to avoid being completely contaminated by a president who violates every norm of ethics, behaves like a stooge of Vladimir Putin and keeps wading deeper into a scandal that may bring indictments. Pence has to look loyal without making his toadyism too slavish.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chapman/ct-mike-pence-president-sounding-good-chapman-perspec-0723-jm-20170721-column.html

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. He looks like a goddamn piece of shit

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Better than Trump isn't saying much.

Pence would be terrible. That terrible is still better than Trump is just an indication of how fucked we are.

[murielm99]

3. I thought he was supposed to make 45

impeachment-proof.

Stop trying to rehab Pence and make him look good. He is awful, and if he becomes President, I will fight him every step of the way.

[Zorro]

8. Whoosh...

Who's "trying to rehab Pence"? He's a POS, too, and the writer doesn't disguise his opinion of Pence in that regard.

The point of the editorial is -- POS or not -- Trump's worst decision has been selecting Pence as VP, since he looks marginally less awful, less inane, less disgraceful, and less politically insane -- and hence more palatable to the Republicans.

[joet67]

4. I promise you, he is just as bad on policy, and his crazy is just a different kind. nt

[Guilded Lilly]

5. Both are deadly hideous. And then there is Ryan and McConnell and

and every Congressional Republican and The Stupid and the filthy rich white men and the Russians and...
Our war has just begun.

[Locrian]

6. absolutely correct - trump is their perfect distraction - n/t

[Pachamama]

7. A slightly smaller shit sandwich only

[Aristus]

9. Are you trying to risk the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing?

Go outside, turn around three times, and spit!

[weydowner]

10. out of the frying pan

This is one of those cases where you want to get rid of the monster-in0chief for a basically unknown quantity. Pence has been a pretty lousy VP, agreeing with everything his master proposes. His values regarding this puts him in question. Either he agrees or he is a hypocrite; guess which is worse. I don't know - both are a bit lousy.
As Governor, he could appeal to a nasty trait in US voters. Bad for the rest, but what-the-hell; if he mounts the throne, he must be better than DT.
The problem there is that you would get a dysfunctional administration for one that knows how to enact the bad things that lurk on the edges - so far - of the US psyche.
Would he keep these mini-monsters that surround DT? What about the Family - somehow I do not see them going quietly. If he did make a clean sweep he would still have the Big Beasts of Congress, D and R, not to mention the poor deluded public. Half the country dislikes him, and that is only going to get larger.

Plus he lied under oath, but these days that doesn't matter.

[Pauldg47]

11. You mean another racist idiot...give me a break!