Excited about the potential impeachment of Donald Trump? So was I at first, but here’s a few things to consider that might keep you up at night:
Pence could be a worse president, because he is just as extreme as Trump but comes across much more “presidential” which would more quickly normalize extreme beliefs. There’s nothing worse than extremist beliefs packaged up presentably to make it all seem palatable or normal.
Pence would be able to rally the Republican base, because unlike Trump, the Republican party can trust Pence to be a loyal member of the party. This means that Pence may be able to accomplish so many of the things Trump would love to accomplish, but never will because of his personality and style. You’ll have a Republican house, senate, and White House, and they’ll potentially work well together– that’s bad news for the poor, marginalized groups, the environment… I could go on.
And if they all keep working “well” together and at least passing laws that please the upper class? Well, it’s hard to defeat someone for reelection if the economy is good and rich people are happy.
And here’s the real thing we should take into account: If an impeachment takes a while and Trump is impeached after 2 years and 1 day of his presidency, the constitution would allow Pence to complete 2 years of a Trump presidency and then serve two FULL terms of his own, as a President can serve in office a total of not 8 years, but 10. So, yes, the potential that Mike Pence could be president for 10 years is a real possibility– and imagine what the laws of the land or SCOTUS would like like then?
While it might be exciting to see Trump thrown out, if such an event is delayed until the second half of his term, we could end up with an extremist Pence presidency that could last a full decade— and I might just prefer watching Trump flounder for four years, and lose his reelection.
Sometimes what you have is better than what you’ll get– we saw that in Iraq, and I worry that we might forget that lesson.
What do you think?
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42 Responses
while i am not that big of a fan of trump i can’t say i support impeaching him
Another, different take on it. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/irreverin/2017/05/11-reasons-president-pence-not-just-bad/?ref_widget=related&ref_blog=irreverin&ref_post=4974
This man’s notions are quite bizarre.
Compelling argument by Ben Shapiro to combat the liberals in this forum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMIvCKCGIY
I’d rather see Trump storm out on his own because as satisfying as impeachment woudl be, I worry about the violence that would occur when it happens. No doubt Fox will not report the many, many reasons for impeachment, but would play the victim card all the way. Trump voters are angry, gullible and armed to the teeth.
Ben Shapiro gives a compelling argument here. This is for my fellow Christians that are liberal. Believe me I am no fan of Bush. BUT I DO support Trump!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-SCWpT_WYI
Pence becoming President is the main reason I am not sure I want Trump impeached.
The ultimatre enabler and wholly complicit in matters re: Flynn while ignoring time stamped Congressional security warnings and denying receipt of the same despite electronic proof including notation of the communication.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/19/mike-pence-flynn-elijah-cummings-responds-238598
An evangelical stooge who resided over State legislation to exclude members of society while apparently blinded or oblivious to the finanacial implications and or well being of a populace he was sworn to protect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Freedom_Restoration_Act_(Indiana)
You can put lipstick on a pig with a corp. haircut but it’s still a pig.
plus the whole “russia” thing is a conspiracy at best
I don’t understand.
Obviously Trump cannot be impeached, because if he were, then he could not compel the nations to worship the Beast and complete his mission.
If people on the left were actually honest, they eat up just as much extreme propaganda as the right wingers. You make fun of Religious Right preachers for believing Obama is going to turn us all communists, but here is everyone talking about Pence turning us all into a theocracy due to the fact they demonize his beliefs as being the same as the Taliban.
I don’t think this will happen. Pence is colluding with treason as well as Ryan. Let us hope due diligence is done and the moderates of the party hit the eject button on the extremists that hijacked their party. This is their chance, I they don’t blow it. If they can take this chance the houses will be able to meet in the middle as they once did, and things can finally progress after so many years of the US government and the US people being held hostage by a handful of nut jobs called the Tea Party. Come on Mccain, Kasich, Collins, do your job and put country over party!!!!
I don’t know what worries me most – the potential for violent social unrest that could erupt if he’s impeached, or the violent unrest that may erupt if he isn’t. Ya just can’t win.
What total GARBAGE!! Just reading the first sentence of this horrible article is horrific! Trump stating he will defend Christians. Who else as president has boldly said this as he has!? Who else is standing up to planned parenthood? Benjamin are you Catholic or a Christian?? Catholics that voted for Obama committed Mortal sin as well. That sin being ABORTION. So Ben please reform, and stop writing this horrible garbage! Passing laws to help the upper class? Let’s see I’m paying out the nose in health insurance and in taxes and by no means am I rolling in dough. This kind of article just really makes me angry at the utter lack of any political cognitive knowledge. Just the other day I read that witches… REAL witches were trying to cast a binding spirit on Trump. So obviously Satan is attacking him. That SHOULD TELL CHRISTIANS something. Please pray for him INSTEAD of attacking him! By the way I am a deplorable and proud of it!
Ben,
Sorry, but you sound like a political hack (or a bigot) rather than a Christian.
Trashing a whole 40% of your fellow citizens. Not so good.
Trump is an existential threat to humanity. Removing him is Job One.
Don’t worry. It’s clear Pence is chin deep in the Russian. We’ll get him too
Pence can be taken down too. He was responsible for vetting Flynn but obviously did a poor job at it. We’ll see what Mueller’s investigation reveals.
Actually, I’ve been thinking for a while that Trump will get impeached, but not by the Democrats. I suspect Trump is nothing but a stalking horse for Pence and the Fundies and other ultra conservatives. After all, Trump isn’t a social conservative, nor a theocrat, and certainly not the clean Christian they like to portray themselves as. He was pro-abortion, or at least ambivalent before. However, he’s popular. And I suspect Pence and crew considered him easily manipulated by his ego.
Once he goes too far, or is no longer useful, Pence can come along and appear as the more reasonable one. He’ll gather the Republican faithful (faithful to church and the party), and throw Trump under the bus. After that, he can do almost anything he wants. He’ll move more subtly than Trump, with probably far more background support, and do more damage while looking more reasonable. Unfortunately, they’ll probably be far more effective in moving ahead with a theocracy.
I do wonder though, if he’s more damaging and less controllable than they’ve planned for.
http://kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/proposed-medicaid-section-1115-waivers-in-maine-and-wisconsin/
So two states are already proposing Medicaid cuts, including work requirements, and time limits, thus cutting coverage for a lot of disabled and/or chronically ill people.
Pence as President would bring to full power the Christian Zionist, the Tea Party and all those who want to continue to destroy what Obama did. Doesn’t matter what it does to America, only matters that they get rid of any idea, law, EO or award Obama received. This totally is the opposite of the Christians teachings that the Republican party stood for 30 years ago. It is totally a party who does not care for the poor, of the people of lesser means. It is a party of “me”. A party that loves its money and doesn’t care about any faith that they claim to uphold. This is a sad day for the world.
Mr. Corey wrote: “Pence could be a worse president, because he is just as extreme as Trump but comes across much more “presidential” which would more quickly normalize extreme beliefs.”
Mr. Corey did not tell us what makes Vice President Pence extreme or extreme as President Trump.
I could be wrong but it seems to me that Mr. Corey prefers Donald Trump as president.
It’s worse than I thought. Completely agree. Have always considered Pence the greater threat. “Handmaids Tale” here we come.
First of all, an impeachment is only a liberal dream as long as both the House and Senate are dominated by the GOP. Now, in the midterm elections, if we vote them out, and the Dems win majority, then I would not be afraid of impeachment because with a Dem dominated House and Senate, Pence is not going to accomplish anything, just like Obama could not.
Absolutely! Better the devil you know, dude!
Besides…Pence and his witch-of-a-wife are evangelicals. I grew up in that toxic consciousness. The consciousness that tells itself that it knows God better than anyone else.
I know how these people roll. They know a few scriptures….and therefore… they’re experts on The Divine. They’re a remix of the Scribe and Pharisee that had The Lord Jesus murdered. Same devilish Levitically driven spirit. Same devilishly sanctimonious heart.
Leave the clown where he is. Much safer that way…..
President Trump will not be impeached. But, now that we have a Special Counsel Hillary Clinton who has the only Russian connection over the uranium giveaway may be exposed. Wouldn’t that be poetic justice?
Let’s not talk impeachment yet. Keep in mind that there is absolutely no evidence of any impeachable offense even though the ‘Democratic talking points’ are creating that narrative. I guess this is a political blog? It seems very Democratic in it’s orientation and joining in the character assassination of Trump (and Pence). Let’s talk policy and disagree on that and stop putting leaders down on the basis of character assassination, political bias or talking points! Do we have any Christian charity anymore in the political debate?
Wow. Impeachment. Everyone is jumping the gun here. The chances of that happening are nearly zero. Those cries are just from those who have a real hatred. They are more scary than Trump. Most of it is just lies and half truths with no real evidence. The media has more to answer for than Trump or the white house. Endless speculations. Let the inquiry and investication run its course without all this guessing and assumptions. The best think we can do is pray for our leaders. That always should be our focus.
http://www.dailywire.com/news/14525/5-statistics-showing-how-capitalism-solves-poverty-aaron-bandler#.WM7Csi1gN8A.twitter
One thing of note is how beloved Pence is in his own state: he’s despised. We might have Pence as a President, but by then the makeup of the Legislature could change drastically. Result: Pence authors Executive Orders making Psychotic Christianity the “Preferred” religion – and the Legislature could refuse to fund or support his trip down power street. A lot of Trump’s failings are due to the fact that even in a Republican-dominated Legislature he lacks support for many of his more off the wall proposals, such as his Border Wall. One thing no President can do is fund his Orders, he hasn’t the authority.
So Pence might lend a more rational appearance to the Presidency – for a while. After a few of his Extremist Executive Orders, he’ll probably have about as much approval nationally as Trump does now.
When that happens, the Parties won’t diddle around like they’ve done with Trump. Pence will be in a world of hurt provided by his own people, and I will bet that he won’t find it any more comfortable than Trump does.
Yes Ben, I definitely concur with you, for Pence is truly a lot more sneaky one than Trump is with ulterior motives. I’ve often felt that Republicans went ahead with pushing for the Trump presidency even though they knew he was a good candidate for impeachment because then they could work with their close ally in Pence to push through all the Republican partisan agendas. But let’s hold that thought a moment, for here’s the crux to it all…
If Trump is ripe to be impeached, then so is his closest ally in Pence. Pence has been lying up and down the candidacy and presidential days for Trump, he is an accessory to the crime, so should be on the chopping block as well.
So that leaves Paul Ryan in line as the House Speaker to be the next choice, but we’ve just found out today through a ‘Washington Post’, an obtainment of an audio recording that Ryan was giving a coverup to Trump over a Putin arranged payment to Trump. Ryan stated in the secret Republican meeting that “we are family…a Republican family…so no one leaks this”…
The problem is that Trump is merely the apex culmination of Republican tactics and ploy to hang onto power in devious ways, but in the process of putting party loyalty over the nation’s concerns…this is dragging all of the country down. Then if Trump’s base is triggered through the urging of Trump, if indeed he is impeached; composed of white nationalists, angry white males, misconstrued biased Christian fundamentalists, renegade bikers and gun nuts…they will do some nasty things in only they know how…
Demogoguery at it’s finest. Yeah, Republicans HATE poor people. HATE them. Can’t wait for them to die.
not just trump, I PRAY they find evidence on Sessions & take the Whole lot with them! as for Prancy Pence, We need to be Ready to Get Out the Vote in 2018 & 2020! Reminding people that America is NOT The Christian Country, We are Free from Pence’s Beliefs, he can try to Corral us all into His beliefs, but Now I think lots of NON-Voters are Finally realizing We REALLY MUST VOTE! Blessings!
Can’t go with you on this one, Benjamin.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/irreverin/2017/05/11-reasons-president-pence-not-just-bad/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=Progressive+Christian&utm_content=43
Yes, I agree–Trump as president is worrisome–Pence is scary.
I think there’s very little chance Pence (or Ryan) escapes this s***storm unscathed. My guess is if Trump is impeached, whomever takes over won’t be able to remove the tarnish from their reputation in time for 2020.
I agree that Pence might be more likely than Trump to push through a nasty agenda, IF he hadn’t been thoroughly tarnished and repudiated; but we can’t tolerate the intolerable out of fear. I think that a Republican party that threw itself behind an immature tyrant will be pretty much dead in the water for the next 16 months. Win this battle, and then fight the next one.
Benjamin, I appreciate your thoughts, but impeachment of Trump needs to proceed regardless of Mike Pence. This administration is going down in 2020, and I don’t think that a Pence Presidency can save it. Too, I trust Pence more with foreign relations than I do Trump. Trump is behaving exactly how I thought he would as POTUS – reckless, childish and incompetent. It’s time for him to go.
Here’s a tweet that perfectly explains why we need to keep Trump in office https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2700ba553f7a12ce8bd9f77583aca77e1f4f9b6508d8dbe3bbacaa406cfe1447.png
What about mid-term elections? Could that change things?
absolutely correct. trumpster fire loathes anyone who isnot a dictator, a billionaire, white and a member of trumpster fire spawn. pence did to indiana what brownback is doing to kansas. also, it’s possible that pence hates women more than the orange ferret wearing tyrant
Yeah, but Pence is likely going down as well if there is any truth to the extent of the involvement with the Russians that is being rumored. If not, I agree, Pence is in some ways a worse option.