Mike Pence is a stand-up guy
What makes a political figure heroic is often in the eye of the beholder. Faults we might forgive in one, we censure in another.
Consider: President
Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about an extramarital affair. And, yet he escaped condemnation from most rankand-file Democrats. Odd, then, that many of the same Democrats and hardened feminists who loved Clinton have long regarded former Vice President Mike Pence with revulsion.
Pence, to be fair, has been an easy target. Stories focus on his prayerful poses and the-fly-thatlanded-on-his-head during the 2020 vice-presidential debate, which was screamingly funny but hardly a legacy. Others have focused on the way he referred to his wife as “Mother,” a notso-uncommon reference among parents who often end up calling their spouses “mom” or “dad,” just as their children do.
More to the point, it is increasingly clear that Pence, a devout Christian who sat stiffly and silently beside Donald Trump throughout the latter’s presidency, really did save the Constitution last year from the clutches of the sore-loser commander in chief and his wacky legal sidekicks. Bible verses and prayers exchanged between Pence and his aides on the mornings of Jan. 6 and 7, 2021, can be credited with bolstering them when, just as they had vowed, he defied Trump and certified the 2020 election results.
Trump had some not-verynice words for Pence, calling him a coward and worse, and still Pence wouldn’t budge. Trump sent lawyers and emissaries — and made heaven only knows how many phone calls — all urging Pence to break the rules and probably the law. Pence held strong. Then came the mob, calling for his neck. They got dangerously close — within 40 feet, according to a report. And still Pence remained.
That’s what it means to save the Constitution.
Now, of course, liberals are seeing Pence in a new light. No longer just a “wing-nut Bible thumper,” he’s a man of courage! A man with a spine! Hallelujah, brother, you saved the United States of America. And, indeed, he did, at least according to testimony from some of Trump’s own staff before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.
Pence certainly showed great courage when he insisted upon remaining at or near the Capitol that day, especially considering that some members of the assembled rioters and protesters were clearly keen on killing him. In preparation, the mob had constructed a wooden gallows featuring a noose intended for Pence’s neck. Video shown during the hearing captured Trump supporters chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” Imagine if that were your name on the lips of such savages.
Courage in the face of fire is surely commendable. But is it courageous to do the legally correct thing? Does what Pence did — and did not do — justify the beatification of a public servant? Only in a country where duty has lost its currency and honesty is rare does doing the right thing rise to the level of heroic.
Legally, Pence knew, he had no choice. And, truth be told, he did waver. He did consult others, including another benighted vice president, Dan Quayle, in search of a legal way to meet Trump’s illegal demands that Pence arrange to postpone the certification of electoral college votes pending the resolution of legal challenges.
Quayle was another favorite target of liberal mockery long ago as vice president to President George H.W. Bush. But the Pence chapter also reflects well on Quayle, who is now 75 and told Pence last year that he could in no way agree to what Trump was asking: “Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away,” according to the Robert Costa and Bob Woodward’s book, “Peril.”
Pence, who hasn’t spoken to Trump in more than a year, looks likely to run for president in 2024, whether the former commander in chief decides to get back in the ring or not. For such an act of defiance, Pence will need even more courage and a spine of steel.
Whatever route he took to arrive at his decision to save the republic, Pence deserves broad support to keep Trump away from the 2024 GOP ticket. It is almost enough for Americans to register and vote in the Republican primary in 2024. Whatever follows couldn’t be worse than another Trump presidency.