Pray that Mike Pence Has an Epiphany
There is way too much speculation over what Vice President Mike Pence will do at the Electoral Vote Count scheduled for Congress on January 6th, 2021—by no mistake Epiphany, a word from Greek roots meaning revelation. The man needs one. Desperately.
Times’ authors opine, “[A]s a matter of constitutional text and history, any effort on Jan. 6 is doomed to fail. It would also be profoundly anti-democratic and unconstitutional.”
The vice president has no substantive powers over the count; his task is administrative according to both the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act. “The whole point of an election is to let the people decide who will rule them. In America, ‘we the people,’ not ‘we, the vice president,’ control our destiny.”
The Times asks, “Can he show the integrity demonstrated by every previous presidential administration?” A good question, but I don’t think that’s the real question. The real question is: Will he? And the answer from the top of The Times building all the way to my office computer screen is: We don’t know.
Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp has changed its tune over Bad-Loser Trump. A lead editorial begins, “Mr. President, it’s time to end this dark charade.”
The editorial continued, “Democrats will try to write you off as a one-term aberration and, frankly, you’re helping them do it. The King Lear of Mar-a-Lago, ranting about the corruption of the world.
“In conclusion, it said: ‘If you insist on spending your final days in office threatening to burn it all down, that will be how you are remembered. Not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist holding the match.’”
Strangely, these long-overdue and anomalous words from The New York Post made me think, not of 45, but of Mike Pence, faithful sidekick to the bad loser. Mr. Pence has been a good dobee in the strict Romper Room sense. It’s defined as “someone who is diligent and/or whose good behavior meets expectations.”
Well, we could argue about ‘good behavior’ if you like in the same way that Scrooge’s nephew’s Christmas guests argue that yes should have been the answer to Is it a Bear? in their game of Yes or No, that we know today as 20 Questions.
I wouldn’t characterize Mr. Pence’s behavior as good, but I would characterize it as obedient, sycophantic, partisan, and highly prejudiced toward the religious faith he considers supremely correct.
Truth? I don’t know what’s in his mind. I don’t think anyone does. Perhaps, not even he.
However, what I do know is that he absolutely has a choice on Epiphany—between doing the right thing, which is certifying the electoral vote as is, and assuring his own political future, and doing the wrong thing, which is challenging the electoral vote illegally and unconstitutionally as per his boss’ request, and lighting his own funeral pyre politically speaking.
He’s going to have to break his ironclad, possibly unquestioned, blind loyalty to Mr. Trump in order to tell the truth and save himself. Does he have the backbone to do it?
Bryce Covert is a contributing Opinion writer. In her article on Andrew Cuomo in this morning’s Times, she quotes him, “I just want to make it very simple. If you socially distanced and you wore a mask, and you were smart, none of this would be a problem. It’s all self-imposed. It’s all self-imposed.”
She continues, “His blunt rhetoric exemplifies how political leaders—in Washington and in red and blue states—are responding to the Covid-19 crisis. They’ve increasingly decided to treat the pandemic as an issue of personal responsibility—much as our country confronts other social programs, like poverty or joblessness.
“Yes, it’s absolutely critical that we wear masks and continue to keep our distance. But these individual actions were never meant to be our primary or only response to the pandemic.” Mike Pence led the task force on the coronavirus. There has been, arguably, less than no real leadership. This is why the states are in such turmoil. States can only do so much without a federal lead.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called Covid restrictions “Orwellian” in November, assuring us that “the American people make responsible health decisions as individuals.” That, she said, is “the American way.” Ms. Covert again, “It is the American way to champion individualism over collective obligation.” Well, doesn’t that put Mr. Pence’s dilemma smack dab in the center of the limelight?
Paul Krugman, bless him, is doing is level best to put a good spin on the latest (too little, too late, IMHO) disaster relief package. “So the government was there to help, and it really did. The only problem was that it cut off help too soon. Extraordinary aid should have continued as long as the coronavirus was still rampant—a fact implicitly acknowledged by bipartisan willingness to enact a second rescue package, and Trump’s grudging eventual willingness to sign that legislation.”
Back to Ms. Covert, “In 2019, 34 million Americans officially lived below the poverty line in this country, with many millions more struggling just above it—and that number has only increased since then. We could lift every family out of poverty by sending out regular checks; other countries use taxes to fund benefits that significantly reduce their poverty rates. Poverty, then, is a policy choice.”
I never thought about it that way before, did you? Poverty? A policy choice? How could anyone make that choice? Anyone? It makes no sense to me. But politicos have been making this very choice for decades.
Ms. Covert concludes, “The last 10 months have given us a very clear message: We are inextricably connected to each other. We can’t stay healthy unless our neighbors can do so, too. The economy can’t properly function if Americans are sick and dying. The economy is only a means to an end, a way to improve living conditions. The economy should serve us—we cannot sacrifice our lives at its altar.”
The Vice President was elected to serve us as well. Given his history in Indiana … here’s a little fun fact. I’m considering The Prom for one of my Mex Mysteries. In doing some beginning research, I learned that the authors set the show in Indiana because of Mike Pence’s cruelty toward queer and transfolkx. No mistake.
Leo Carson is a sculptor who made a bust of Breonna Taylor to install in a busy downtown plaza in Oakland, California. Less than two weeks after it was in place, he “held the broken pieces of the vandalized ceramic bust” in the same hands that sculpted it. “The sculpture was smashed in several places late last week, drawing widespread condemnation in the community and prompting a police investigation.”
“It’s a vicious attack against the light + justice sought in Breonna Taylor’s name,” Mayor Libby Schaaf wrote. “We will keep moving forward; Oakland will not tolerate acts of hatred.” I wish I could say the same about Mr. Pence with any surety. Instead, I think he initiates, encourages, and perpetrates acts of hatred in the name of his faith. Note the emphasis.
Finally, James T. Saake of La Cañada Flintridge, California writes in a Letter to the Editor.
“I propose a simple idea to help America’s future. Let’s get rid of the ‘aisle’ separating the parties in Congress by randomly assigning seating at the beginning of every session. Doing so would help our senators and representatives get to know one another better. Simple. As relationships build, people begin to work together. No more disparaging remarks pointed at ‘my respected colleagues across the aisle.’
“It’s healthy to have differing opinions on the issues but working together will help us heal and redefine our future.”
I do not envy Mr. Pence’s position, Beloved. He’s between a rock and a cliff and almost all variables are unknown. If he behaves as he has since he was elected, he’ll attempt the Trump coup and sacrifice himself. He’s done it before, by omission if not by commission.
If he, in the next nine days, grows a conscience along with a heart, he’ll be making the choice Mr. Saake recommends, “working together [to] help us heal and redefine our future.”
So, Mr. Pence, will you side with the Dictator-in-Chief? Collude in his lengthy, lyrical, Learian lament? Ignore the systemic racism, medical disparity, and personal poverty of millions of Americans? Or will you get it together, look your face and your God in the mirror, and make the right choice for all of us?
I know which one I’m praying for. Please join me. After all, Beloved, where two or three are gathered …
Dr. Susan Corso is a spiritual teacher, the founder of iAmpersand, and the author of The Mex Mysteries, the Boots & Boas Books, and spiritual nonfiction. Her essays address the intersection between spirituality and culture. Find out more at www.susancorso.com