Pence May Be Spreading More than the Gospel of Trump

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the longest-serving President of the United States, had a total of three Vice Presidents during the slightly more than twelve years that he was in office.  The first was John Nance Garner, a Texan and former Speaker of the US House of Representatives who went by the nickname "Cactus Jack."  Nance was as prickly as his nickname implied and was not bashful about giving his opinion on things.  He served eight years as Vice President and during that time developed quite an opinion on the value of that job.   Cactus Jack Nance opined quite publicly that the office of Vice President of the United States was not worth "a bucket of warm piss!"

But times have apparently changed since John Nance Garner served a mere heartbeat from the presidency. Now instead of being the equivalent of a pail of urine, the vice-presidency in considered to be "essential."  Who would have guessed?

Yesterday five aides to current Vice President Mike Pence tested positive for the coronavirus.  One of the Pence aides with the positive diagnosis was Marc Short, the Vice President's chief of staff.  Another was Marty Obst, Pence's senior political adviser.

Pence, who in one of his few public duties for Trump served as the head of the Coronavirus Task Force, knows the drill.  The aides must quarantine - and so should he - at least until it can be determined whether he is infected or not.  That would include more than just a quick negative test or two.  The Vice President should step back from his official and campaign duties for a few days until the disease has had time to incubate and make itself known.   (Tests are not always accurate, and people who are asymptomatic, like Pence, can still be infected and spread the disease even though they are showing no signs of infection.)

But Pence is in the middle of a tight campaign and he does not have time to follow rules.  He has political rallies to attend, rallies where he will remove his mask and speak to hundreds and even thousands of cheering supporters, many of whom will not be wearing masks out of some blind loyalty to the Trump-Pence fiction that the pandemic is not really all that much of a health risk.  (Almost unbelievably, there are still Trump supporters who regard the entire pandemic experience as a "hoax," completely disregarding the 225,000 dead Americans or the fact that Trump and his wife each were diagnosed with the disease and Trump spent four days in the hospital as a result.)

Last week a couple of Kamala Harris's staff members also tested positive for the coronavirus, and she wisely withdrew from her campaign obligations until she could safely return to the campaign trail.  Senator Harris was focused on saving lives - while Mike Pence seems to be more concerned with saving his political hide.

Maybe I'm out-of-step with social norms, but I tend to have more respect for candidates who recognize my health and safety concerns and react accordingly.   Any dimwit who feels that he has to feed his own ego or keep his erratic boss happy by placing thousands of others at risk does not deserve to hold a public trust like the vice-presidency of the United States.

Mike Pence needs to do more than just mindlessly spread the Gospel of Trump.   He needs to forthrightly stand for the health and safety of Americans and let the hot air of his boss blow on by.   Anything less just affirms Cactus Jack Garner's description of the job that Mike Pence is so desperate to keep.

You pose a risk to your fellow citizens, Mikey.  Stay home and phone it in for a few days.