We're into a whole new year of ass clownery! Yes, Dear Readers, just this past Tuesday we named our Ass Clown of the Year for 2018, and it's already time to designate our first Ass Clown for 2019. How time flies when you're having panic attacks for the future of the nation.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the time has come to announce
The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for January, 2019
and the award goes to
Vice-President Mike Pence
It seems hard to believe that Mr Pence has only received this award once before and never on his own, having shared the June 2017 Right-Cheek Award with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, but it's really not so shocking when you think about it. Seldom has any person occupying the Number Two position in our government been such a total non-entity, a potted plant or decorative print blending in on the office wall, a man whose only function seems to be oozing fawning servility while gazing adoringly at Donald Trump and defending his every pronouncement, no matter how bizarre. No other vice-president has been so often and so publicly undercut by the president he continues slavishly so support.
A vice-president is, of course, the second banana to the president, and has no Constitutionally-designated function other than to serve as President of the Senate*. He (or, one of these days, she) is generally chosen as a running mate for the president on the basis of political considerations** rather than demonstrated executive ability, education, or experience, and can't act independently or outside of the job limits placed on him (or her) by the president. The vice-president is, though, expected to be the senior advisor to the president, offering advice on matters both political and practical. Mr Pence, unfortunately, has failed on all counts to temper the worst impulses and actions of a president manifestly unfit to hold the office. If Donald Trump has been a disaster as president, Mr Pence has failed in his duty to mitigate that disaster.
Dear Readers, Vice-President Mike Pence is our first Ass Clown designee for 2019. Heaven help us.
Have a good day. Come back tomorrow for some much-needed laughs when Cartoon Saturday breaks into the new year. More thoughts then.
Bilbo
* Constitution, Article 1, Section 3, Clause 4.
** "Geographic balance" of the ticket, for instance.
3 comments:
He keeps a low profile, doesn't he?
The only thing scarier than Pence as Vice President is Pence as President.
You. as always, make an excellent point. He's an ass clown of high order and deserves more attention. It's easy for him to slip between the cracks, considering the plethora of flashy ass clowns. I agree with Mike; President Pence is scarier!
While I agree he has failed on all counts to temper Trump's worst impulses and actions, that's not why, I think, he was chosen to be vice-president. It's an arrangement made with his evangelical supporters. Pence is there to take over if/when Trump leaves office. If he has to ooze fawning servility to be a step away from Presidential power, it's considered a small price to pay. He's fulfilling his purpose almost perfectly. You are absolutely correct that a vice-presidency should be handled very differently, at least if the goal is the good of our country.
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