Donald Trump continues to amaze Americans and the rest of the world. Yes, the Americans have failed to keep the Trump jokes to themselves. The entire world is watching. Particularly Canadians. Lots of them not only understand the strange American dialect but they share the same time zones.
But this past week of hot summer days got to us. Did we really hear an on-again, off-again, on-again choice of Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence as running mate for Donald Trump? This is the guy who made Indiana the laughing stock among the blue-stocking crowd. He is the guy that signed into law Indiana’s bigotry law letting business discriminate. (It was law until some large businesses threatened to leave the state.)
It used to be that the vice presidential choice was supposed to add some balance to the ticket. Mike Pence just took the Republican ticket off the deep end. Pence is no peace offering to the middle ground.
The only way Pence is different from Trump is that he goes to church. Other than that he is a lackey for the billionaire Koch brothers and might improve Trump’s fund-raising. What he does not bring to the ticket is balance. His political career is a litany of anti-labour, anti-renewable energy, anti-gay legislation. The only issue he disagrees with Trump on is trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and North American Free Trade.
Since Vice Presidents are required to be seen but not heard, Pence could be the perfect running mate. Trump will be quite capable of sticking his feet in both their mouths. And frankly, Pence adds nothing to the ticket nor is he likely to have any influence on the campaign. You might not be all that impressed with Trump’s brains but he at least has more going for him than his running mate.
We were hoping that Trump would choose former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Imagine the jokes on that relationship? Mind you we have to admit that Huffington Post beat us to the headline reading: Mike Pence: Sarah Palin without the charisma.
But the fun really starts in the coming week. The Cleveland site for the Republican National Convention is already set up as an armed camp. With people allowed to go armed in public in Ohio, police dressed as storm troopers, truck bomb traps surrounding the convention site and the National Guard on standby, what could go wrong?
-30-
Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]