Another Nutcracker Suite has arisen, and I can only pity Vice President Mike Pence:
Hours before President Donald Trump retweeted a message for his vice president to “act” in stopping the ratification of the Electoral College, he met for more than an hour in the Oval Office with Mike Pence, whom he has complained recently isn’t doing enough to support his bid to overturn the election.
The discussion was “entirely unrelated” to the eventual tweet, one person familiar with the matter said, though would not specify whether the issue of the January 6 ratification in Congress arose. The two men went separate ways for the holiday. [CNN/Politics]
Pence will be in charge of the counting of the Electoral College votes on January 6th. By bringing him to the attention of the Trump cultists, Trump has given Pence two unpalatable choices:
- Ignore Trump’s pathetic treaty. Trump’s cultists will hate Pence forever, and his political career is over. He cannot win an election without the support of the cult.
- Somehow bollix up the count. We can then assume Trump will desperately try to hold on to power for as long as possible, and pick his own successor. It’ll be a member of his family, not Pence. Additionally, if it fails, Pence’s perfidy will be remembered, and his political career is over.
As observed by many, for Trump loyalty is for suckers, and Pence has been loyal even when he could have led a 25th Amendment maneuver to remove Trump from power, and made it stick.
Now, I would be shocked if he ever wins another election.
