Mike Pence is one of the hoard of extremist radical Republicans now running for president in 2024. It is useful to know that the insulting irrationality, hypocrisy and arrogance that characterizes the apparent nominee Trump has poisoned the minds of the rest of the herd. LGBQT Nation reports about the irrational cluelessness and hypocrisy of Pence when he was faced with deep contradictions in his own extremist dogma:
GOP presidential candidate Mike Pence could hardly respond when a CNN reporter pointed out his hypocrisy on LGBTQ+ issues. Pence argued that parental rights are paramount in one instance and then argued against parental rights when it comes to gender-affirming care.“We’re gonna protect kids from the radical gender ideology and say no chemical or surgical gender transition before you’re 18, period,” he said, getting applause from the conservative audience.Host Dana Bash pushed back: “I just want to be clear on this because you are so adamant about parents’ rights.”
“Right, I am,” Pence responded.
“But in this particular case, parents who say, along with the doctors, that what is best for their kids, what their kids feel most comfortable with doing, is gender transition,” Bash said. “The parents should not be allowed to do that?”
Pence did not appear to have a response ready for this fairly obvious question.
“Right, look, I, I, look… The, the s- state has the obligation to see to the safety and health and well-being of the people in the state,” he said, even though Pence adamantly opposes safety measures like vaccine mandates, which do a lot more to keep people safe than focusing on transgender youth. “And I accept that. Look, yet… I, I take your point, I take your point….”
Bash insisted that she wasn’t making a point, “It’s a question,” as Pence continued to stammer.
“Well, I, I, look, this… Well we have afoot in America that is a radical gender ideology that has taken hold in our schools, that has taken hold in our universities, it is afoot across the nation….” Pence responded, trying to talk about anything other than the inconvenient fact that many parents of transgender kids support their children.
Obviously, Pence, like most other radical Republican elites has no idea of what he stands for or the pain his dogma will impose on innocents. He cannot understand his own beliefs because he is incapable of rational thought in the face of his own infallible reason-killing Christian fundamentalist dogma.
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From the Corruption Files: An important but grossly under-reported trait that's prominent among radical right Republican elites is their support for legalized opacity. Opacity shields corruption, conflicts of interest, theocracy and plutocracy. For example, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has been explicit for years that he wants all major transparency in government and campaign funding laws nullified. In Thomas' opinion, unlimited money should be able to influence government in secrecy. The Jacobin wrote:
Clarence Thomas Has Long Fought to Kill LawsRequiring Transparency in Political SpendingWhile refusing to disclose lavish gifts from a billionaire, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas pushed to invalidate all political spending disclosure laws in America, insisting that donors have a constitutional right to anonymously influence politics with unlimited amounts of cash.In 2010, the Supreme Court issued its notorious Citizens United ruling, declaring that “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption” — and therefore could be made limitlessly.
But that ruling, which unleashed billions of dollars in dark money election spending, did not go far enough for Thomas, who had previously insisted that there exists an “established right to anonymous speech.” He supported the Citizens United majority ruling, but issued a concurring opinion insisting that judges should overturn all rules that require transparency in political spending.
An “established right to anonymous speech” is the legal argument that right wing extremists are using to kill transparency. This is a key component on the path to kleptocracy.
A Des Moines Register opinion piece reports another example of the radical right's pro-corruption dogma in action:
Iowa’s new pro-corruption law is shocking and indefensible — and as Iowa’s former chief public corruption prosecutor, I know a thing or two about corruption.
That was my work from 2010 to 2017. Since 2019, I have been Iowa’s state auditor, working as Iowans’ watchdog, where my office uncovered a record amount of misspent public money in my first term.Given Iowa’s longstanding reputation for honesty, integrity, and trust in our state’s checks and balances, it is hard to imagine our elected officials creating a system that would encourage waste, fraud, and abuse — except that’s exactly what Senate File 478 (the pro-corruption law) is about. It literally makes it legal for government officials to hide documents that show waste, fraud, or abuse from the state auditor. I can’t believe I’m not making this up.Before the Legislature passed and the Governor signed the pro-corruption bill into law, the auditor’s office could require government entities to hand over documents during the course of our work, and Iowa’s courts could independently review any dispute about it.This new law ends all that. It allows any state agency to simply deny the auditor’s office access to information it doesn’t want to share. In those instances, a three-person panel made up of a representative from the entity being audited, a representative from the auditor’s office, and one appointed by the governor would decide whether the information is turned over. Keep in mind, representatives of almost all state agencies already serve at the pleasure of the governor. So that’s two to one. Simple as that.
There is no other plausible way to interpret this other than to conclude that support for secrecy and corruption is an important policy goal of the radical right extremists who now control the Republican Party.
Q: Is there another plausible interpretation of this other than to conclude that radical Republican elites support secrecy because they are corrupt, e.g., (i) is this merely an aberration from a tiny minority of radical elites, or (ii) does most of the rank and file support secrecy in government and believe that corruption will not happen, or they do not care if corruption happens?
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From the Spin Dictator Files: Everyone is reporting that Trump has been indicted for several crimes. The WaPo comments about what he is likely to be charged with:
A seven-count indictment has been filed in federal court naming the former president as a criminal defendant, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a case that has yet to be unsealed. The charges include willful retention of national defense secrets, obstruction of justice and conspiracy, which carry the potential of years in prison if Trump is found guilty.
It's possible, maybe likely, that Trump's support will increase and the GOP will nominate him as the Republican candidate for president. The ongoing criminal trial would then probably be the dominant issue in the 2024 election. Trump definitely will continue to claim innocent victimhood and play the martyrdom card as hard as he can, even after he is convicted, assuming he ever is convicted. If he is convicted of any crimes or if he loses the 2024 election, Trump will very likely try to foment another armed coup attempt, while viciously demagoguing the prosecution as an evil, socialist witch hunt of a poor innocent patriot.
A plausible or maybe likely sequence of events: Indictment → Trump dithers, delays and demagogues as as much as possible → the public further divides and the emotional temperature goes up while rationality goes down → the 2024 elections are held → the court convicts or acquits → ??? at this point there's multiple plausible paths
Regardless of the path ahead, it is reasonable to predict that the political and social situation in the US will probably further deteriorate and democracy and the rule of law will continue to erode until at least some time after the 2024 elections.
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From the Demagoguery Files: Elite GOP demagogues have fired up an enraged attack on the Doj and Merrick Garland for indicting Trump. The Hill reports about the blatant lies, slanders and hypocrisy the GOP is deploying:
Republican senators, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are warning the indictment brought by the Department of Justice against former President Donald Trump raises serious conflict-of-interest issues for Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The senators, who mostly spoke to The Hill in the hours before Trump himself broke the news of his indictment, cited Trump’s status as the leading Republican candidate for president and the fact that federal investigators have also seized classified documents that President Biden kept in his personal possession after leaving the Obama administration.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, warned Thursday evening the prosecution of Trump “will do enormous damage to the rule of law.”
“Indicting Donald Trump is the culmination of what Merrick Garland has been pushing for since he became Attorney General. The weaponization of our Department of Justice against enemies of the Biden admin. will do enormous damage to the rule or law & have a lasting impact,” he tweeted after Trump himself announced he would be indicted.
Accusing Garland of conflicts of interest and political motivation to get Trump is pure lie, slander and hypocrisy. Extremist Republicans operate without concern for conflicts. Garland never wanted to prosecute Trump for anything -- circumstances, including Trump's own arrogance and stupidity, forced the prosecution on Garland and what little is left of the rule of law for elites like Trump.
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