by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
This past weekend Vice President Mike Pence and his family traveled to his hometown of Indianapolis - on the public dime - to attend the Colts-49ers professional football game, a game that he walked out of before it even commenced. Pence left the stadium when several players on the 49er's team, all black, "took a knee" during the national anthem. The players were protesting the continuing murders of black men and boys by police, crimes that are often not even prosecuted. Pence was protesting what he and Donald Trump perceive as disrespect toward the national anthem.
The kneeling players had no direct cost upon taxpayers. The Pence show, however, cost taxpayers dearly. He flew from Las Vegas, Nevada to Indianapolis on Air Force Two at a cost of over $42,000 per hour. That night he and the family stayed in an Indianapolis hotel, a situation which required extra police presence, and all of which was billed to taxpayers - and the following day Air Force Two flew the Pence family back out west, over Las Vegas where the sojourn started, and on to Los Angeles.
Estimates of the cost for the Indianapolis side trip range from a quarter of a million dollars to a full million - and the Pence family did not even see the game! Of course, the real rub is that they never intended to see the game to begin with. It was all a political stunt to draw attention to the protesting players and emphasize the administration's sanctimonious defense of "patriotism," whatever that entails. Or, as some wags would suggest, it was all an attempt to to remind Trump's supporters that he and Pence are every bit as racist as they are.
Mission accomplished!
Those black football players disrespected the national anthem, football, motherhood, and God - and Mike Pence called them on it. What a man!
Most of the press reporters who have the tiresome duty of following Mike Pence around all day missed his hasty exit from the football game because they had been told to remain in the press van. Administration officials forewarned them that the Vice President would probably be leaving the game early.
He never intended to watch the game. It was just a cheap political stunt - one that the American taxpayers paid for.
I will be driving to Indianapolis this coming weekend. Yesterday I had my car in the garage making sure that it will be up to the eight-hour drive (each way). The mechanic's bill for fixing the air conditioning, rotating the tires, and servicing the engine was a bargain at one-hundred-and-thirty dollars. Fuel out and back will be over a hundred dollars, and I will be paying for a motel room for two nights, several meals, and a ticket to see the world premier of a great new film. All of those expenses will be borne by me personally - but I am really looking forward to the trip and don't mind the cost.
I do, however, resent having to help pay for Mike Pence and his family traveling to the same destination. If Pence wants to prove his racist street cred, let him do it on his own dime - not ours!
Citizen Journalist
This past weekend Vice President Mike Pence and his family traveled to his hometown of Indianapolis - on the public dime - to attend the Colts-49ers professional football game, a game that he walked out of before it even commenced. Pence left the stadium when several players on the 49er's team, all black, "took a knee" during the national anthem. The players were protesting the continuing murders of black men and boys by police, crimes that are often not even prosecuted. Pence was protesting what he and Donald Trump perceive as disrespect toward the national anthem.
The kneeling players had no direct cost upon taxpayers. The Pence show, however, cost taxpayers dearly. He flew from Las Vegas, Nevada to Indianapolis on Air Force Two at a cost of over $42,000 per hour. That night he and the family stayed in an Indianapolis hotel, a situation which required extra police presence, and all of which was billed to taxpayers - and the following day Air Force Two flew the Pence family back out west, over Las Vegas where the sojourn started, and on to Los Angeles.
Estimates of the cost for the Indianapolis side trip range from a quarter of a million dollars to a full million - and the Pence family did not even see the game! Of course, the real rub is that they never intended to see the game to begin with. It was all a political stunt to draw attention to the protesting players and emphasize the administration's sanctimonious defense of "patriotism," whatever that entails. Or, as some wags would suggest, it was all an attempt to to remind Trump's supporters that he and Pence are every bit as racist as they are.
Mission accomplished!
Those black football players disrespected the national anthem, football, motherhood, and God - and Mike Pence called them on it. What a man!
Most of the press reporters who have the tiresome duty of following Mike Pence around all day missed his hasty exit from the football game because they had been told to remain in the press van. Administration officials forewarned them that the Vice President would probably be leaving the game early.
He never intended to watch the game. It was just a cheap political stunt - one that the American taxpayers paid for.
I will be driving to Indianapolis this coming weekend. Yesterday I had my car in the garage making sure that it will be up to the eight-hour drive (each way). The mechanic's bill for fixing the air conditioning, rotating the tires, and servicing the engine was a bargain at one-hundred-and-thirty dollars. Fuel out and back will be over a hundred dollars, and I will be paying for a motel room for two nights, several meals, and a ticket to see the world premier of a great new film. All of those expenses will be borne by me personally - but I am really looking forward to the trip and don't mind the cost.
I do, however, resent having to help pay for Mike Pence and his family traveling to the same destination. If Pence wants to prove his racist street cred, let him do it on his own dime - not ours!
1 comment:
If you were Pa Rock, Inc., you could deduct those business expenses from your income taxes and avoid feeding the beast, like a good capitalist!
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