Mediaboss Marketing

BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Mike Pence at CPAC. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)Shortly after the November election, The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill observed that while Mike Pence is often seen as the adult in the room, and a "counterbalance" to Donald Trump, "there is every reason to regard him as, if anything, even more terrifying than the president-elect." Scahill called Pence's ascension to vice president "a tremendous coup for the radical religious right."

While many in the nation were celebrating Pride Month held in June to commemorate the activists who began the modern gay rights movement at the Stonewall Riots -- the White House was silent.

During the same period, Vice President Mike Pence was off singing the praises of Dr. James Dobson, one of America's premier conservative Christian anti-gay political leaders. Pence told a cheering crowd at a celebration in Colorado Springs, Colorado, of the 40th anniversary of James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" radio program, that they have "an unwavering ally in President Donald Trump."

Pence said that the passage of President Trump's health care bill will finally "defund Planned Parenthood once and for all," and he added that "the time is now" to re-engage in politics.

Earlier in June, at Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Road to Majority conference, Pence praised Dobson, calling him his "mentor," when the founder of Focus on the Family received the organization's Winston Churchill Lifetime Achievement Award. Pence assured the audience that Trump will "never stop fighting for the values and ideals that make this nation great."

"You've done more for faith and freedom in your lifetime ... than any one person could do in ten lifetimes," he told Dobson. "Not only is your country grateful, but I say with confidence, great is your reward. You've made an eternal difference in the lives of millions."

"Raised Catholic, in a Kennedy Democratic household," he became a devout evangelical after being "converted at a Christian music festival in Kentucky while in college," Scahill pointed out. "Pence now describes himself as 'a Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican, in that order.'"

As the Elite Daily's Lisa Dunn pointed out, Pence's record on gay rights is abysmal: In 2006, Pence led the conservative Republican Study Committee, who among other things, sought to ban gay marriage and legally define marriage as between one man and one woman. The following year he voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, stating that "this sets up something of a constitutional conflict between the right to religious freedom in the workplace and another person's newly created right to sue you for practicing your faith or acknowledging your faith in the workplace."

In 2009, he voted against legislation that would expand the 1969 Federal Hate Crimes Act to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity. In 2010 he voted against the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, maintaining that "Homosexuality is incompatible with military service because the presence of homosexuals in the ranks weakens unit cohesion."

"From his time as U.S. Congressman to being Indiana's governor, Pence's anti-LGBTQ activism spans decades, and it would only continue if he reached the nation's highest political office," Sarah Kate Ellis, the President and CEO of GLAAD, agreed, told AOL News.

Given the breadth of Pence's synchronization with the religious right's agenda, he was a natural fit to sing the praises of Dobson.

Dobson the Kingmaker

Focus on the Family, "rejects reproduction freedoms for women, opposes sexuality education in schools except 'abstinence-only,' works to ban curricular materials it deems inappropriate including notions of multiculturalism and specifically anything it has determined promotes the so-called 'homosexual' or 'gay agenda,' encourages prayer in schools, supports private school vouchers to pay for parochial education at tax payer expense and to the detriment of public schooling, and many other conservative causes," lgbtqnation.com's Warren J. Blumenfeld recently pointed out.

James Dobson's radio program, which he began in 1977, "eventually grew to 7,000 stations in 150 countries and at its peak reached 220 million people each day," CBN News' Wendy Griffith recently pointed out, and led to the founding of the Focus on the Family organization, which at one time, was one of the most powerful and influential organizations on the Christian Right. At its height, FotF employed over 1,000 people. Dobson became a much sought out voice for anti-gay, and anti-abortion political action.

In the early 1990s, Dobson was one of the major backers of the notorious anti-gay Amendment 2 in Colorado, "a ballot measure to block any anti-discrimination laws aimed at protecting gays in cities and counties in the state."

While Amendment 2 passed (53 percent to 47 percent), the Colorado Supreme Court later ruled that "fundamental rights may not be submitted to a vote," and it never went into effect.

In his 2004 book, Marriage Under Fire, Dobson wrote: "Like Adolf Hitler, who overran his European neighbors, those who favor homosexual marriage are determined to make it legal, regardless of the democratic processes that stand in their way"

After Dobson left the organization in 2010, Focus on the Family shrunk to about half of its peak size. According to Associated Press' Nicholas Riccardi and Kristen Wyatt, FotF's new leader Jim Daly, "scaled back involvement in politics see[ing] himself as part of a younger generation of religious leadership."

While Dobson heartily endorsed Trump, saying "I believe he really made a commitment but he is a baby Christian." Daly chose to remain neutral.

As part of its 40th anniversary celebration, CBN's Griffith noted that Family Talk Dobson's current radio program -- is launching the Dobson Digital Library, which "brings four decades of tried-and-true, family-centered content to a new generation of families on the worldwide web."

In June, Dobson was presented with the Winston Churchill Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition's Patriot's Gala. In presenting the award to Dobson, Reed said that Dobson had "served at the forefront of the evangelical conservative movement in America for decades, fighting for traditional marriage, the sanctity of human life and encouraging godly families."

At Dobson's anniversary dinner, Pence was determined to un-neutralize Focus on the Family supporters, getting them to gear up for more political action.

Focus on the Family is not disengaged from politics, Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State told the Associated Press. "Look at the data they put out," Lynn said, referring to Focus' arguments against bans on conversion therapy and suggestions that transgender children are being misled. "This is really hard-core stuff and it's not easily distinguished from the way Jim Dobson talked when he ran the place."

"What LGBTQ Americans are witnessing since Donald Trump became president is a systematic erasure to the LGBTQ community," Ellis continued. "The Trump Administration has removed LGBTQ people from government websites and the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census, but if Mike Pence were to ever become president, this erasure would be placed into overdrive."

See more here:
Inside Man: Mike Pence Is the Religious Right's White House Agent - Truth-Out

It was a short twenty minute meeting. A nothing burger. There was a time I didn't know the Trumps.

These are certainly strange times. Every day there's something new coming out of the White House...most of it is troubling. If the general public is stressed by all the revelations, you can only imagine what the people who work for #45 think.

The quotes at the top are words said by Conway, Priebus and Pence. It usually takes less than twenty-four hours before the Trump family makes their words sound foolish. That was about the timeline for this one.

Kellyanne Conway and Reince Priebus are bright, well-spoken people....most of the time. They both played major roles in electing the fool that is now President. It wasn't an easy job. You have to give them and the Russians credit for that. Congrats guys. But then they went all in. They took jobs in the White House working for a guy who doesn't have a clue. Okay...I get that, too. It's a chance to shape policy and make a difference...not to mention the power.

But I bet they never figured they'd be babysitters and apologists for the Trump children. Turns out that working for 45 is like dating a person who has children. It's a package deal. You might love the person but you better find a way to love the kids, too or there's trouble. Kellyanne, Reince and Mike found trouble.

Here are words I never thought I would type...poor Kellyanne. First she has to defend little Ivanka's fashion line. She gets in trouble for saying she was goingbuy some shoes. Now there's this with Junior and Jared.

Here are more words I never thought I would type...poor Reince. First, what the Hell is a Nothing Burger. It sounds like what I order at McDonald's....just the sandwich plain. On Sunday, Reince says to Chuck Todd it's nothing. A day later, Junior makes Reince look like a schmuck.

Then there's Mike Pence...Vice-45. He's been such a good company man for the last year. There's nothing that his boss can do that he can't explain away. He loves his wife, family and God. Nothing wrong with that and when he says that stuff, it rings true. He doesn't have a single political view that I agree with, but I buy into his character. You have to believe that all this crap was wearing him down. Does he have a breaking point? Looks like he does because he threw his boss and the kids under the bus. The explanationis he's getting ready to be President but that would be cynical and I'm above that (eyeroll).

But hey....it's jut another day in D.C.

These jobs don't pay that much. Kellyanne and Reince make $170,000ish/year. Mike makes $230,7000. They can all do better in the private sector. You can easily picture all of them going home each night and pounding their head against the wall and wondering if it's all worth it. Kellyanne, Reince and Mike....is it?

Related Post: Kellyanne Conway ruined my Sunday

Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.

Read more here:
Kellyanne Conway, Reince Priebus and Mike Pence: Second thoughts? - ChicagoNow (blog)

Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement today about Donald Trump Jr.s email dump that confirmed POTUS son accepted an invitation to meet with a Russian government attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Trump Jr. this morning released what he said was his entire email chain with publicist Rob Goldstone, setting up the meeting. President Donald Trumps oldest son said he was doing so in an effort to be totally transparent. The New York Times was about to publish yet another report on this meeting with Veselnitskaya who would come to Trump Tower bearing high level, sensitive dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump including the email chain.

The newspaper first reported word of this meeting over the weekend, adding Trump Jr. to the pantheon of Trump associates who forgot to acknowledge meeting with Russians until reminded by reading about it in the media. That list also includes former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and current First Son-in-Law Jared Kushner, as well as Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Trumps former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn

In his statement, issued by his press secretary, Marc Lotter, Pence reminds people the meeting took place at a time when he had absolutely nothing to do with Donald Trump. The meeting between Veselnitskaya and Trump Jr., Kushner and Manafort, took place on June 9. Candidate Trump named Pence his running mate on July 15.

Here is Pences statement: The Vice President is working every day to advance the Presidents agenda, which is what the American people sent us here to do. The Vice president was not aware of the meeting. He is not focused on stories about the campaign, particularly stories about the time before he joined the ticket.

See the rest here:
Veep Mike Pence Puts Distance Between Himself And Donald Trump Family - Deadline

In Robert A. Caros The Passage of Power, the most recent volume of his majestic biography of President Lyndon Johnson, he recalls the mental machinations LBJ went through before accepting the vice president slot on the 1960 Democratic ticket led by John F. Kennedy.

LBJ didnt like the Kennedys, but weighed the merits of the number-two job in relation to his own stalled but ferocious presidential aspirations. He even instructed his staff to look up how many presidents had died during their term since 1860 five out of 18. Later, when asked why he took the offer, LBJ said, I looked it up: one out of every four presidents has died in office. Im a gamblin man, darlin, and this is the only chance I got.

Advertisement

I imagine Mike Pence making similar calculations before becoming Donald Trumps running mate last summer. This is not to imply that Trump isnt the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency, as his longtime physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, declared with suspiciously Trumpian hyperbole last year. Instead, Pence was likely banking on the chaotic Trump campaign birthing a calamitous Trump presidency. With the administration buckling under daily accusations and investigations, Pence is acting like a man ready to move on up to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The New York Times recently reported that Pence is chatting with deep-pocketed money men like Charles Koch, and hosting dinners with his wife, Karen, for wealthy donors at the vice presidents mansion. In May, Pence launched his own PAC, the Great America Committee. While its name echoes Trumps campaign slogan, no previous sitting vice president has ever formed such a separate political organization. An unnamed Pence surrogate told NBC News that any chatter that the PAC is meant to bolster the veeps 2020 plans is misguided.

Get This Week in Opinion in your inbox:

Globe Opinion's must-reads, delivered to you every Sunday.

Thats probably true. Pence likely envisions his White House scheme coming into focus long before 2020. Behind that frozen smile, he has to despise Trumps say-and-tweet-anything belligerence, multiple marriages, and situational Christianity. By comparison, Pence comes off as controlled, steely, and sane. He looks like a 1990s basic cable TV version of an American president.

Everybodys got to eat, right?

Pence behaves as if hes immune to all the drama swirling around his boss, or at least sufficiently out of the loop to seem reasonably clean. Yet like others in the Trump administration, he has also lawyered up, hiring his own attorney to represent him in the special counsel investigation and congressional inquiries into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Whether Pence will be ensnared in this administrations bottomless troubles remains, for now, smoke from a distant fire. This much is already certain: Pence would be an awful president. The man who describes himself as a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order, is a hard-line theocrat with more respect for the Bible than the Constitution. As a US congressman, then Indianas governor, he proposed policies that threatened the lives and rights of women and the LGBT community. Even in a reliably red state, Pences medieval beliefs, especially a so-called religious freedom law to legalize discrimination, were so denounced that the Indianapolis Star ran a front-page editorial under the massive headline FIX THIS NOW. The state legislature eventually watered down the anti-LGBT language enough to curtail the economic backlash.

Advertisement

If Trump is ultimately removed from office, it cant happen soon enough for Pence, who always looks like hes humming Hail to the Chief to himself whenever he walks into a room. Should that happen, Trumps detractors would need to gird themselves for a new fight with a man whose best qualification for the job is that hes not Trump. While thats certainly true, saying Pence would be a better president than Trump is like claiming its better to be mauled by a black bear than a brown bear the disastrous impact on this already reeling nation would be exactly the same.

Read the original:
Mike Pence looks like he's ready to pounce on the presidency - The Boston Globe

MSNBC

Mike Pence voices support for radical health care alternative MSNBC If Senate Republicans fail to pass their regressive health care plan, there's quite a bit of support among GOP members to strike a bipartisan deal with Senate Democrats and move on to other issues. There is, however, a radically different approach that ... Mike Pence: 'We are close' on healthcareWashington Examiner VP Mike Pence: 'We're Very Close' on HealthcareNewsmax Pence endorses repeal and delay strategy on ObamaCareThe Hill all 1,617 news articles »

View original post here:
Mike Pence voices support for radical health care alternative - MSNBC