About time to start investigating Pence

[Silver]

Since Trump won't last much longer, I better get started investigating VP Pence.

[Fiannan]

Since Trump won't last much longer, I better get started investigating VP Pence.

I like this meme response.

[Fiannan]

Or...

[Silver]

Pence_thinking ahead.jpg (65.33 KiB) Viewed 2093 times

Would you look at the expression on Pence's face? It's like: What is he even talking about?

Pence is counting down the time until he gets to move into the big chair.

Meanwhile, do you see the guy on the left side of the picture. That's Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame. He's a Bilderberger, and he's about to control a lot of groceries in the US. How do you feel about that? And how do you feel seeing Trump making nice with a Bilderberger? Oh yeah, Trump is going to really going to MAGA wink wink with all the billionaires around him. I'm going to start investing in companies that make sackcloth and ashes.

[Silver]

Ruh roh. Somebody changed the meaning of the word "conservative" while we weren't looking.

"According to a FiveThirtyEight rating of candidates' ideology, Pence was the most conservative vice-presidential candidate in the last forty years.[146]
Pence stated that his role model as vice president would be Dick Cheney.[147]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pence

Read more at Pence's wiki page. He's quite the flip-flopper.

[freedomforall]

Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Chug, chug, chug, Choo-choooOOOoooOOOoooooo!

Meanwhile, Muslims are next door attempting to enforce Sharia Law. #-o #-o #-o

[Silver]

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/t ... come-clean

It’s time for Mike Pence to come clean
BY ROSS ROSENFELD, CONTRIBUTOR - 06/16/17 04:20 PM EDT 258

It’s time for Mike Pence to come clean

The key question after James Comey’s testimony is: What did Mike Pence know, and when did he know it?

Yes, the question the nation asked more than a generation ago during Watergate is the same question which needs to be asked in the latest White House scandal.

Let’s go through some key facts and dates:

Dec. 29, 2016: Flynn speaks with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about the sanctions recently placed on Russia by the Obama administration.

Dec. 30: Vladimir Putin announces that Russia will not take action in response to the sanctions.

Jan. 4, 2017: Flynn informs the Trump transition team, which Pence headed, that he is under investigation for failing to register as an agent of the Turkish government.

Jan. 12: The Washington Post reports that Flynn and Kislyak spoke the day before Putin’s announcement.

Jan. 14: Flynn and Pence speak about the situation. Pence claims that Flynn told him that the sanctions against Russia were not discussed with Kislyak.

Jan. 15: Pence goes on Face the Nation and states that Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador – a statement that proved blatantly false.

Jan. 26: Sally Yates and an aide go to the White House to speak with Don McGahn, the White House counsel. They explain that Flynn has been compromised and that he needs to inform the President, Vice President, and others.

Jan. 27: McGahn asks Yates to return to the White House to further discuss the matter.

Jan. 30: Trump fires Yates after she refuses to enforce his travel ban.

Feb. 9: The Washington Post reports that Flynn discussed the sanctions with Kislyak. A spokesperson for Pence claims that the VP had been unaware.

Feb. 10: Donald Trump also claims that he was unaware that Flynn and Kislyak had discussed sanctions.

February 13th: It is reported that the White House knew about the nature of Flynn’s discussions with Kislyak for weeks.

Now we come to James Comey’s testimony. According to Comey, as far as he understood it, the Vice President was aware of the nature of Flynn’s discussion with Kislyak.

If you are to believe otherwise, you’d have to be willing to believe that somehow others in the White House knew, including the President, but not the Vice President, who was busy speaking on news outlets and saying the complete opposite.

You’d have to believe that McGahn, who, according to Sean Spicer, conducted an “exhaustive and extensive questioning of Flynn,” did not, for some reason, inform the Vice President. It would mean that either McGahn was not doing his job and Pence didn’t know, or Pence is not telling the truth and covering the White House.

Shouldn’t we ask McGahn in order to find out?

And why wouldn’t Trump stop Pence from repeating the inaccurate information?

And if Pence isn’t telling the truth, we again must ask why. Why would Pence continually mislead the public about his knowledge of Flynn’s interaction with Kislyak?

If you ask yourself that question, you can’t help but reach the conclusion that it could only be for nefarious purposes.

Comey also indicated that Attorney General Jeff Sessions potentially could not be trusted when it came to the Russia/Flynn situation.

Again: Why?

Then, when Comey himself refused to let the Russia matter drop, he was pressured by Trump and then suddenly and unceremoniously canned. Coincidence?

The question remains: What happened between Pence and McGahn and why was the Vice President continuing to make claims that the administration knew were false?

Can Mr. Pence answer that one?

[Silver]

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/ ... lawyers-up

MIKE PENCE, TRUMP’S STEADFAST NO. 2, LAWYERS UP
With Robert Mueller’s investigation expanding, the vice president has hired a criminal defense attorney to keep his hands clean.
BY ISOBEL THOMPSON
JUNE 16, 2017 9:00 AM

In public, Vice President Mike Pence has been among Donald Trump’s most unwavering, faithful defenders, offering reliably ingenuous support of the president in his pan-Midwestern monotone. “It is the greatest privilege of my life to serve as the vice president to a president who is keeping his word to the American people,” he said Monday during the administration’s first full Cabinet meeting. But behind the scenes, Pence is taking steps to shield himself against the stain of scandal that is quickly spreading through the West Wing. As special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia picks up steam—and expands to include an inquiry into obstruction of justice—Pence has taken the step of hiring a criminal defense lawyer to guide him through the tangled web of allegations hanging over the White House.

After interviewing a series of candidates, Pence reportedly hired former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Richard Cullen, now the chairman and a senior litigation partner at the firm McGuireWoods, which, incidentally, is where former F.B.I. director James Comey—recently fired by Trump and a now a key figure in any potential obstruction of justice charge—was once briefly a partner. In fact, Cullen is godfather to Comey’s daughter. (This Town, indeed.)

[Silver]

Well, the narrative is out there and getting louder.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ ... ure-215257

If doing that job for a boss like Trump is the equivalent of walking a tightrope, it could get narrower in a hurry. Nobody expects Pence, who just turned 58, to suddenly usurp the president in any way; that’s just not who he is. But people close to him understand that with each new layer of legal jeopardy Trump encounters, be it in relation to Russia, Comey, Flynn, any combination of the three or something else entirely, the murmurs of “President Pence” will only grow louder. (After weeks of deliberation, Pence in mid-June followed Trump’s lead in hiring an outside counsel to deal with the expanding Russia-related inquiries.) The president’s precarious situation, coupled with Pence’s recent burst of political activity—in May he formed a new PAC, the Great America Committee; his summer calendar is littered with campaign swings on behalf of prominent lawmakers; he has been hosting intimate dinners with key activists and donors; and there are discussions underway about reengaging with his old friends Charles and David Koch—might produce a perception that becomes unmanageable for the vice president’s team.

[Fiannan]

Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Chug, chug, chug, Choo-choooooo!

Meanwhile, Muslims are next door attempting to enforce Sharia Law. #-o #-o #-o

Now that's appropriate. ;)

[Silver]

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/reveal ... a-scandal/

REVEALED: Mike Pence is raising buckets of cash that can be used for his legal defense in Russia scandal

Sarah K. Burris SARAH K. BURRIS
16 JUN 2017 AT 22:00 ET

Mike Pence (CBS News)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!

Vice President Mike Pence has claimed that he had no knowledge about the Donald Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia nor was he aware of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn acting as a foreign agent while working for Trump. Still, Pence has retained counsel and now he’s fundraising into his own political action committee (PAC), which have no restriction on the use of the funds.

This week, Pence hired his own attorney, Richard Cullen, a Richmond-based attorney who once served as a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Pence spent Friday attending a fundraiser for his PAC, Great America Committee, in Indianapolis. Premier tickets went for $5,000 and individual tickets were $2,500, simply to gain access to the Vice President.

The Journal revealed that a source close to Pence would said the VP would likely use the funds for his own personal legal bills. His attorney said that Pence’s office directed him to “make certain that whatever method [of payment] is used is compliant with all federal law and regulation.” There are few legal regulations or restrictions on what PAC funds can be used to pay for.

Financial disclosures filed last year revealed Pence is nearly broke with no mutual funds, 401(K) accounts and no large savings accounts. Using his leadership PAC, any donor is allowed to bankroll Pence’s legal defense, including President Donald Trump.

Officials with the PAC said when it was started that they intended to use it to help handle Pence’s state-controlled assets such as voter file lists, donor and supporter lists that were used for his state governor’s campaign.

[eddie]

Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo-choo, Get Trump, get Pence!, Choo, choo, Get Trump, get Pence! Chug, chug, chug, Choo-choooooo!

Meanwhile, Muslims are next door attempting to enforce Sharia Law. #-o #-o #-o

Not a lot of passengers on that train of thought! Good one! Haha!!

[Silver]

The main thing to focus on here is not that Trump is a Gadianton. Instead go to the link below and see even more info on your next president, Pence. Psst...another Gadianton plant.

http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/Articles/ta ... l-War.aspx

America Closing In On Civil And Global War

Published: Thursday, June 22, 2017
America is edging closer and closer to both civil and global war.

There isn't much unity in the “United” States these days. Resentment, bitterness, anger, and hatred in people from the left and the right are growing exponentially by the day. The liberal media, such as the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, etc., are constantly flaming hatred against conservatives and Christians. And the so-called conservative media, such as FOX News, Alex Jones, etc., are flaming hatred against liberals and Muslims. Both sides are equally hate filled. And both sides are equally manipulated by globalists.

It is no hyperbole to say that the days leading up to the War for Southern Independence were no more volatile than the days in which we live today. America is literally tearing itself apart. The globalists, who are experts at dividing people and turning people against each other, are truly having their way in America today--maybe more than ever.

For years, people seemed to see through the whole left/right, Democrat/Republican, liberal/conservative paradigms. But since last year’s elections, that whole phony, globalist-created system is back with a vengeance.

On any given day, any major American city could--and often does--become a war zone. In fact, more people are killed in America's big cities than are killed in active combat zones overseas. Beyond that, more U.S. servicemen kill themselves than are killed by enemy combatants.

At the same time, the Trump White House has quickly taken us to the precipice of World War III. While claiming to fight terrorism, Trump is sending over $500 million (the actual figure is up in the billions) of military aid to one of the BIGGEST sponsors of terrorism in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia. He is helping the House of Saud commit genocide against the people of Yemen; he is launching missiles into Syria; he is bombing Syrian troops (these troops are among the ones truly fighting ISIS); he is shooting down Syrian jets; he has U.S. and NATO troops playing war games on Russia's borders; and he is all but promising to go to war with one of Russia's closest allies: Iran--and for what reason? Donald Trump is doing just about everything a U.S. president can do to ignite war with Russia (so much for his campaign promise to foster friendship with Russia and to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for their terrorist atrocities).

Writing for TheWeek.com, Ryan Cooper opines, “An all-out nuclear exchange between the United States and Russia is one of the few things that could threaten human extinction. Hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, would be killed in the immediate attack, blowing the world economic system apart, and beginning what would probably be several years of nuclear winter, devastating agriculture. People might survive in remote locations . . . . It would be the worst disaster in history, by several orders of magnitude.”

Cooper continues, “So what are we doing in Syria to justify ratcheting up tensions with Russia? The prospect of nuclear warheads a mere few dozen miles off the American coast [with the Cuban Missile Crisis] was at least a comprehensible strategic threat. In Syria there is not only no strategic threat, there is not even a realistic American objective of any kind.”

See the column here:

Memo To America: You Should Still Be Terrified Of World War III

Whether Trump is naive, foolhardy, and reckless or whether he is a brilliant globalist plant who--along with a faux opposition media (and a gullible conservative media)--pulled off a masterful deception on the American people last November, only God knows. It really doesn't matter. The results are the same: America is on the verge of exploding--internally and globally.

This is surreal.

Here is what's nagging me like an itch that won't go away: Contrary to his campaign rhetoric of wanting to "drain the swamp," Trump has loaded his administration with establishment toadies, neocons, and globalists. These are the same ones who are ostensibly giving him so much trouble now. Like Trump was not smart enough to know what these people were all about before he appointed them. Right!

Here is the current list of CFR members and fellow travelers and Bilderberg attendees Trump has appointed to his administration so far (the number surpasses the number Barack Obama appointed, by the way):

CFR Members And Bilderberg Attendees Appointed By Donald Trump

But the one to watch out for the most is Vice President Mike Pence.

Right now, the subject being talked about the most in private discussions inside the Beltway is the speculation that Trump is going to resign at some point and turn all of this chaos over to Pence, who will then become the hero who will restore calm and stability to D.C.--and restore the globalists' quiet control over the U.S. government at the same time. Of course, the discussions rarely mention the globalists. Globalists are like the devil: everyone knows he exists, but no one wants to talk about him.

Here is a sample of what I’m talking about:

Man On A Wire: Mike Pence’s Tightrope Act

And as noted above, and just like every president (of both parties) of recent memory, Trump has already put the globalists’ lackeys in key positions of government.

If G.W. Bush was the “decider-in-chief,” Donald Trump is the “delegator-in-chief.” Trump has conveniently turned the vast majority of day-to-day decisions (including decisions on who to kill) over to the likes of Jared Kushner, James Mattis, Mike Pence, et al. Oh, yes, and his daughter, Ivanka Kushner.

And speaking of G.W. Bush, Pence could be his political and ideological twin. Pence is a professing Christian with a mild and affable demeanor; and more importantly, like Bush, he is a trusted globalist insider. Of course, right now, no one knows for sure how deep Pence’s globalist roots go. But for globalists to be raising his stock in Washington, D.C., and already referring to him as “President Pence,” it is safe to assume that Pence has been well-schooled and well-groomed by the globalist elite.

Of course, Bush’s family is a royal family of the New World Order. Their globalist lineage goes back to supporting Adolph Hitler and the Nazis in World War II. For all intents and purposes, the Bush family--maybe more than any other single American family--INVENTED the neocon movement (which is little more than Americanized fascism) in this country.

Most “liberals” hate Donald Trump; and most “conservatives” hate Hillary Clinton. Plus, rank-and-file “conservatives” nationally were fed up with establishment toadies such as Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Lindsey Graham, et al. But they were perfectly content to accept the little-known, small-State “conservative” governor as Donald Trump’s second. After all, who really pays much attention to the vice presidential candidate in a presidential campaign anyway?

But Mike Pence is the guy who would be able to appease liberals and sedate conservatives--just like G.W. Bush. But unlike Bush, Pence could never have won the election last year. So, how clever it would be to let the “outsider” Donald Trump carry this insider to the White House and then, in the midst of political turmoil, civil unrest, and impending global conflict, turn the reins over to the guy that the globalists wanted in the White House all along. And if Pence became President, just watch: political division, civil unrest, and global conflict would largely dissipate (except for the radical left, who, like the radical right, cannot live peacefully with themselves, much less anyone else). Calm would be restored, and the globalists would be able to quietly go on about their work of constructing their utopian New World Order without opposition from the “little” people.

“Far-fetched,” you say? Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing is certain: America is as divided as it has ever been. And there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the shadowy powers-that-be are manipulating the right and the left, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, and Christians and Muslims like pawns on a chessboard.

In the meantime, America is edging closer and closer to civil and global war.

[Silver]

Nothing shouts "Warmonger!" like voting to increase all types of military spending. Here's Pence's position on stealing more of your money to enrich his buddies in the Military Industrial Complex.

2) Defense Spending

Slightly Increase a) Armed forces personnel training
Greatly Increase b) Intelligence operations
Slightly Increase c) Military hardware
Slightly Increase d) Modernization of weaponry and equipment
Greatly Increase e) National missile defense
Slightly Increase f) Pay for active duty personnel
Slightly Increase g) Programs to improve troop retention rates
Slightly Increase h) Research and development of new weapons
Greatly Increase i) Troop and equipment readiness

https://votesmart.org/candidate/politic ... VP1rOsrLX4

[larsenb]

Psst . . . . I think it's about time to start investigating Silver!

[freedomforall]

Psst . . . . I think it's about time to start investigating Silver!

Things to consider in an investigation:

Are they a paid troll ?
Are they a paid agitator ?
Are they a plant ?
Are they a narcissistic purveyor ?
Are they vain ?
Are they conceited ?
Are they stubborn ?
Are they deprived ?
Are they arrogant ?
Do they seek self aggrandizement ?
Are they prideful ?
Do they come on stronger, even after being asked to tone it down ?
Do they listen to reason ?
Are they on a mission of aversion ?
Are they a bully ?
Are they a mental midget with a loud pie hole and looking for attention ?

As LDS's, when we truly look at ourselves and discover we have some of these bad traits, do we not try to change and become more Christ-like ?

Speaking of pie holes.......a cute definition of a baby is:

A loud voice at one end and a complete lack of responsibility at the other.

An example, so cute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmA2ClUvUY

[Silver]

I told you guys that Trump wouldn't last.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-3 ... mself-foot

Trump Cannot Help Shooting Himself in the Foot

chindit13's picture
by chindit13
Jun 30, 2017 11:24 AM

Could Donny Boo Boo possibly stick his head any farther up his own @#$! The clown’s not a checker player playing against chess grandmasters, he’s a fool playing Russian Roulette with a semi-auto instead of a revolver.

Donny just had to watch Morning Joe today, and it got him to Tweeting yet again, like the impulsive child he is. Joe S detailed a story where Joe was informed by senior White House folks that the National Enquirer, the rag run by Donny Boo Boo’s good friend, was going to run a hit piece on Joe and Mika, but if Joe called Trump and apologized for criticizing him, Trump would have the story pulled. Also, Mika’s kids were being harassed by unknown individuals, and as soon as that started is when Joe got the first call from the White House.

Granted this is just alleged, but it will undoubtedly get the attention of Bob Mueller. Mueller can question both parties under oath and find out which one (no doubt Trump) is lying. Mueller has that right to broaden the investigation, just as Ken Starr broadened Whitewater to eventually include a blue dress. Also, though Tweet Boy denied Joe’s allegations, Joe said he has both texts from senior White House officials and phone records.

In addition, Joe detailed a call he got from ‘a long time senior House Republican Rep’ who was at the White House healthcare meeting a few weeks ago. In the meeting, according to this Rep, Trump went into a wild rant about Mika, using his now characteristic ‘blood pouring from everywhere’ meme. The Rep said that in all his time in DC he had never been so scared, as the POTUS was clearly mentally unstable.

The Dems have already introduced a Bill yesterday to invoke Article 4 of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump for reasons of insanity. Some Republicans are quietly joining the debate. Some other Repubs are trying to make a deal with Democrats, saying they will join the Trump removal group if Dems make concessions on the healthcare Bill. Now THAT is dealmaking!

There can be little doubt that Trump is on the edge of a total breakdown. Rats are beginning to desert the sinking ship of fools. Don’t be surprised if some very visible figures walk away over the 4th of July weekend, such as SecState Tillerson. Donny looks like a steaming pile of $#!% as the pressure is showing on his taut and wan face. If we wake up tomorrow and see Donny had a heart attack, it will not be surprising. It’s not like he’s in any sort of shape. It’s ironic that the bloated asshat is forever criticizing women on their looks, as if his 300 lbs of rancid blubber make him a looker.

Ninety-nine percent, perhaps 100%, of Donny's woes are of his own making. He never grew up, and in his declining years he may well be losing whatever hold on reality he might have had---and that has always been in question on the best of days. The 140 characters are on the wall, when even his own Party is horsetrading behind his back to rid the United States of the disgrace and embarrassment that is Trump.

[Fiannan]

Maybe this is why so many people in America are ignorant:

[Fiannan]

Daddy's girl.

“Shortly, the public will be unable to reason or think for themselves. They'll only be able to parrot the information they've been given on the previous night's news.”

-- Zbigniew Brzezinski

[freedomforall]

Maybe this is why so many people in America are ignorant:

What really disturbs me this: The baby-boomers came up when the Constitution was honored and respected more. The principles of liberty and freedom were taught in our schools. Boomers should know the difference between then and now. So, why are the children of Boomers and their kids going a different way? Did the Boomers when starting out with married life and bringing forth children ignore their responsibility to teach their kids to honor the Constitution and live a better life, ie, less crime, higher morality, higher belief in God and know the difference between tyranny and enslavement...as opposed to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness according to the Supreme Law of the land?

Just what has happened as to why America is in so much turmoil and chaos? Who is to blame for such a massive decline? What is right and what is wrong?

[freedomforall]

Daddy's girl.

“Shortly, the public will be unable to reason or think for themselves. They'll only be able to parrot the information they've been given on the previous night's news.”

-- Zbigniew Brzezinski

Irrespective of what happens in this country pertaining to evil in every way, shape or form, the righteous will prevail and raise up to meet the Savior when he comes down out of the clouds wearing red apparel. And the wicked will he destroy...and it is this land, the land of America, the promised land, will be inhabited by those who kept the commandments and didn't seek to bring down the church for their own gain.

So let the righteous be strong, faithful and looking for the day when Jesus appears. The wicked will only bring shame upon themselves for paying heed to evil men in power thinking they can completely control the minds of their peers. The weak may follow evil, the strong and faithful will know the difference and act the way pleasing to God. These strong and faithful are the elect of God.

Ephesians 4:14
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Col. 2:8
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

1 Cor. 14:20
20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

[Silver]

Trump even admitted he didn't want to do the hard stuff. He won't last much longer. Narcissists never do.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/maga ... .html?_r=2

How Donald Trump Picked His Running Mate
By ROBERT DRAPER
JULY 20, 2016

One day this past May, Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reached out to a senior adviser to Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who left the presidential race just a few weeks before. As a candidate, Kasich declared in March that Trump was “really not prepared to be president of the United States,” and the following month he took the highly unusual step of coordinating with his rival Senator Ted Cruz in an effort to deny Trump the nomination. But according to the Kasich adviser (who spoke only under the condition that he not be named), Donald Jr. wanted to make him an offer nonetheless: Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history?

When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.

Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of?

“Making America great again” was the casual reply.

Ultimately, Trump chose Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, not Kasich, to be his running mate. (Neither Donald Jr. nor Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman, replied to multiple requests on Tuesday for comment for this article. After the article was posted, Donald Jr. disputed the Kasich adviser’s account.) About this, both much and little can be made. On one hand, voters do not seem to care all that much about who the No. 2 is when they go to the polls. On the other, how a presidential candidate goes about picking that person offers an early look at the nominee’s executive style. In Trump’s case — based on the recollection of over half a dozen operatives and elected officials working with both the Trump campaign and potential running mates Trump considered — the winnowing of his initial wish list reveals a distinct blend of practicality, impetuousness and disengagement.

In the middle of May, Trump’s two top advisers at the time, campaign chairman Paul Manafort and then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, generated the initial list. It consisted of 16 names. They showed the list to the nominee in his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower. Trump perused it and, without suggesting any additions or deletions, nodded that it looked fine.

The two advisers then brought the full list to the Washington lawyer A.B. Culvahouse, who famously vetted John McCain’s running-mate list in 2008 and concluded that the eventual pick, Sarah Palin, would be “high-risk, high-reward.” The Trump list did not feature any wild cards like Palin. Only one person, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, was a nonpolitician, reflecting Trump’s long-expressed preference that his choice be someone who knew the ropes in Washington. Another, Jeff Sessions, was a known ally — but, as a senator from the red state of Alabama, brought nothing to the ticket.

Two were former primary opponents: Marco Rubio, whom Trump never formally asked (though both he and Manafort called Rubio frequently to discuss Florida politics); and Kasich, who was viewed with wistfulness by the Trump team as the perfect choice, but for the likelihood that he would be a prickly subordinate (as well as the nettlesome detail that Kasich seemed to have no interest whatsoever in the job).


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[Silver]

All according to plan...

Is Mike Pence betting it will all come crashing down on Trump?
By Sarah Posner July 10 at 3:19 PM
Washington Post

President Trump and Vice President Pence walk through the White House in Washington on June 22. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Vice President Pence is spending considerable time cultivating big-money Republican donors at small, private events, including hedge fund managers and executives from brokerage houses, chemical giants and defense contractors, Kenneth P. Vogel reports at the New York Times. Many of these events, whose participants are kept secret from the media and are omitted from Pence’s public schedule, have been taking place at the vice-presidential residence at the Naval Observatory, as well as other nongovernment venues.

While cultivating support from deep-pocketed business interests is nothing new in GOP politics, Pence’s activities raise the question of whether he is doing this for Trump-Pence 2020 — or for himself. As Vogel’s piece points out, Pence’s intimate confabs with wealthy donors and conservative power brokers “have fueled speculation among Republican insiders that he is laying the foundation for his own political future, independent from Mr. Trump.”

3 times Pence's statements have been discredited
From the Michael Flynn scandal to James Comey's firing, Vice President Pence has repeatedly had his official statements defending the Trump administration contradicted - sometimes by the president himself. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

All of this suggests something important about President Trump. Despite Pence’s protestations to the contrary, the vice president looks to be preparing for his own political future. Beyond this clear signal about his own political ambitions, Pence’s actions raise the question of whether he has lost confidence in Trump’s ability to come out of the Russia investigation unscathed.

This is not the first time that Pence, in his short tenure as Trump’s vice president, has sparked chatter about his political ambitions — unyoked from Trump. In May, Pence filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, forming his own political action committee, the Great America Committee, marking “the first time a sitting vice president has formed such a separate political arm,” NBC News reported at the time.

The Great America Committee is apparently not wasting any time. Vogel reports that last Thursday, it “held a reception for prospective donors at the Washington offices of the powerful lobbying firm BGR.”

In holding donor events, Great America Committee will do nothing to quell speculation about Pence’s intentions. When he first launched the PAC in May, Pence aides attempted to play down the move by saying its resources will be used to support Republican congressional candidates in the 2018 midterms. But that characterization didn’t diminish how unusual this was: Traditionally, vice presidents tap the resources of their party to support congressional candidates, rather than create their own fundraising organization.

It’s highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a first-term vice president to appear to separate his election activities, even if aimed at congressional races, from the president he serves. But the timing of Pence’s formation of the Great America Committee suggests the move may have something to do with judgments about Trump’s future, too.

Pence filed the paperwork on May 17, eight days after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, and the same day that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein appointed Robert S. Mueller III to be special counsel in the Russia investigation. Indeed, the two weeks before Pence filed the Great America papers were rife with some of the most explosive news stories about the Russia scandal to date.

To review: On May 8, former acting attorney general Sally Yates testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that the White House kept former national security adviser Michael Flynn for 18 days after she told the White House counsel that he was vulnerable to Russian blackmail. (Pence has always sought to distance himself from the Flynn affair: After Trump asked for Flynn’s resignation in February, Pence maintained that Flynn misled him about the conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, playing the part of the duped, but loyal, soldier.)

Then, after that Yates testimony on May 8, Trump engaged in probably the most self-destructive sequence of actions of his presidency. On May 9, he fired Comey. The next day, he met with Kislyak and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office, telling them that firing the “real nut job” Comey had eased “great pressure” on him from the Russia investigation. And the day after that, Trump admitted on national television that he had fired Comey because of the “Russia thing.” Finally, on May 12, Trump posted his tweet hinting that he may have recorded his conversations with Comey. (He hadn’t.)

One week later, Pence filed the Great America Committee papers, marking his break with the traditional arrangement for political fundraising between presidents and vice presidents.

The traditional arrangement is based on the expectation that the president and vice president will together run for reelection. But Pence’s activities seem to signal doubts about whether there will even be a Trump-Pence ticket to run in 2020. We are not yet six months into Trump’s term, and each new revelation in the burgeoning Russia investigation seems to heighten the possibility that Trump could either no longer be president, or at least no longer be a viable reelection candidate, in 2020.

Pence is perhaps preparing for just that potentiality. If he were confident that the Russia investigation is “fake news” or a “hoax,” as Trump has maintained, he would be hewing to the traditional vice-presidential path. Instead, he’s making his own plans — which may show just how worried he is that the Russia investigation is going to come crashing down on his president.

[Fiannan]

So who owns the Washington Post? Ever ask that?

[freedomforall]

Trump even admitted he didn't want to do the hard stuff. He won't last much longer. Narcissists never do. You should know!

Birds of a feather flock together