President Mike Pence?

I have found myself rather unsetled at some of the things I have read on the internet and out there in the Facebooksphere in the last four days that have, quite frankly, alarmed and depressed me. There are a number of people who have stated publically that they either hope or couldn't give a damn if Donald Trump died in the coming weeks after having contracted the COVID-19 virus. The general consensus of opinion seems to be that it would serve the hideous old freak right if he bought the farm. While I'm inclined to agree with the karma aspect of that opinion, I am of a much different opinion with regard to his mortality. 

I am praying that Donald Trump gets though this health crisis he presently finds himself in.

There are two reasons for this. Reason Number One is simply that, as a Christian, I would not wish lethal harm on my worst enemy - and even though he is probably unaware of my very existence, Donald Trump is definitely my worst enemy. And yet I was sincere in the piece I wrote two days ago when I stated that I wish both him and Melania speedy recoveries. They have a fourteen-year-old boy who at the moment is probably beside himself with worry.

Reason Number Two is that I don't want Mike Pence at the helm of our ship of state for one minute - let alone what might prove to be three very long months. While it seems apparent to me that poor old Mike is not as bat-shit crazy as The Donald, he's at least as dumb as him - perhaps even dumber (which would be a feat in itself). With Trump sitting at the Resolute desk, as completely unsettling as that may be, we've gotten to the point where the man is fairly predictable. That simply is not the case where Pence is concerned. I have family and many friends in the state of Indiana - a place my late mother was a native of - and a place where Mike Pence once served as governor. Most of them will assure you that the idea of that guy getting within a mile of the Oval Office is enough to give them the dry heaves, or at least to wake up in the middle of the night screaming and in a cold sweat.

From his idiotic idea for "gay conversion therapy" (pray the gay away) to the monstrous law he signed into being that allowed people to keep guns in their cars on the property of public schools, Mike Pence is not a man that most Hoosiers hold closely to their hearts. And think about this: any guy who disrespects women to such an alarming degree that he does not trust them enough to be alone with them without the presence of his wife ("Mother" he calls her) should not be succeeded to the post of sewer inspector of Fort Wayne - let alone chief-executive of the United States of America. We just don't want to go in that direction, folks. Seriously.

Were Donald Trump to pass away - especially before the November third election, Pence automatically assumes the top of the ticket - even if early voters have already wasted their precious ballots on Donald. I can just imagine the toxic sentimentality of a whiney "LET'S WIN THIS ONE FOR THE DONALD" campaign that get's Pence swept into office with an electoral win (although the silly bastard would never win the popular vote). Our international reputation has already been damaged to such an insane degree that it will take a generation-or-more before we even come close to mending it. Four years of President Mike Pence might very well prove to be the rancid icing on a moldy cake. It's in our national interest that Donald Trump lives out his term to January 20, 2021. Keep your fingers crossed and your hands folded.

I don't buy the faux Christianity of Mike Pence; I never have. I'm not stupid enough to believe that a man who, throughout his career, has promoted so many evil and hateful policies - could ever be a follower of the prophet who admonished us: "Blessed are the meek". As cynical as I've become as I approach my twilight years, I hope and pray that I never become quite as cynical as that. I know stone-cold atheists who are much better Christians than Mike Pence. I can imagine at this moment that he is salivating at the very idea of Donald Trump kicking the bucket any day now.

I'm sure that Pence will have some sort of a future once his days in Washington are at a merciful end. He might be amusing as a talk radio host, and I might even tune in now and again for the unintentional giggles that I am certain he would provide in abundance. But I don't want the odious twit making policy for a period of four years that would further damage this country.

If you believe in the power of prayer, keep Donald Trump "in your thoughts and prayers". His demise would prove disastrous for all of us - even those mean and stupid enough to want to reelect him. We're teetering on the edge, folks.

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

 

SUGGESTED LISTENING:

 

Ball and Chain

by Janis Joplin

 

Janis Joplin died fifty years ago today. I can remember where I was when the news came over my father's car radio. Here's Janis on the mountaintop:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjrTo54YMjA 

 

Speechless....