Mike Pence, Round Two

Yes I know, I already wrote about Mike Pence. Here is the link in case anyone wants to play catchup or does not know the context of what I am about to write.

https://wordpress.com/post/tiredmidnightblogger.wordpress.com/504

I also wrote a post about the question of whether Antifa (or BLM, though I actually never touch that point in the post) actually started the violence and Trump supporters are largely innocent bystanders:

https://wordpress.com/post/tiredmidnightblogger.wordpress.com/528

Right or wrong, I am pretty proud of my post about Pence. But it has one obvious, glaring flaw. I fail to say very much about Pence.

When Trump chose Pence as his running mate, I liked him. I frankly knew nothing about him, but the guy just looks Presidential, and he talks Presidential. And unlike Trump who always made me want to either cringe or cry, Pence could actually make me feel like someone was out there doing their job. He may have been full of crap for all I know, but he conveyed that feeling you want from a President. You wanted to respect him, and that is something in these times.

Hopefully it is not a Joe Rogan moment for me to admit that I really do not remember much of anything about Pence before he became Trump’s running mate. Whether it was because a good Vice President lets the President have the limelight, or because I have not trusted or followed the media in a decade, all I can recall is “Trump Trump Trump Trump Coronavirus Trump is bad” for the last six or seven years. I can even verify that, if you go to http://www.bitemebitemebitemeCurtissucks.com…..what….that is the wrong website? Never mind. Hopefully I can be forgiven for not citing a source, it is surely common knowledge that for good or ill, Trump makes for great news numbers.

According to Wikipedia, Mike Pence ran for Congress, lost twice, and became a conservative radio talk show host in the years 1994 to 1999. During this time, I was battling depression and myalgic encephalomyelitis, had given up (mostly) on following the news, and likely listened to too much Rush Limbaugh. I cannot say whether Pence was an educator or just a hack, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt. His message must have resonated with some, because when he ran for a seat in 2000 he won it.

As the years rolled on, Mike Pence became a supporter of the Tea Party Movement (as was I) and won an election for Governor of Indiana in 2013 (about a year after I quit following the media altogether and followed more healthy habits, like working eighty hour work weeks to support a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder, giving up on all my hopes and dreams, and praying every night that a kind God would allow me to never wake up again).

Likely everyone knows all of this stuff but me. Let’s skip ahead to today. Trump is claiming that Pence could have overturned the election. Pence states that Trump is wrong. What are the Cliff’s Notes versions of their arguments?

Trump says there was voter fraud, and that under the Electoral Count Act of 1887, Pence could have overturned the election on that basis. Pence says that Trump is wrong. Let’s examine these claims.

In Trump’s defense, the Act he quotes was actually written exactly for the reasons he cites. But my research does not at this time support his claim that Pence could overturn the election. The law lays down the time limits and guidelines by which votes are counted, lays out that a state’s governor shall properly submit one set of counts,

and that Congress can intervene in “a very narrow class of disputes,” and it is Congress, not the Vice President, who gets to intervene. As President of the Senate, the Vice President would have some say. Hypothetically he might adjourn a meeting for Congress to intervene. But he would not be able to overturn the counts just on his own decision. Last of all, the law spells out that fraudulent documentation is a felony with a five year imprisonment. So maybe the Attorney General could get Joe Biden arrested and…what….fat chance in hell that will happen? Never mind.

In the end, the most important question, “Was there voter fraud?” I still believe can be answered “Yes, but very little can be proven, and what can be proven does not even come close to overcoming the election.” Simply my humble opinion, but I’m standing with Pence at least on this issue.