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> Pence could have big changes if Trump VP candidate
diggler
post Nov 11 2016, 10:00 AM
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(Back Home Again in) Indiana:

https://youtu.be/KZWj4dXXqnk

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diggler
post Nov 12 2016, 07:39 AM
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Vice President-Elect Mike Pence Speech at Veterans Day Ceremony in Edinburgh, IN :

https://youtu.be/Im39Ulm4V4c

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diggler
post Nov 16 2016, 08:05 AM
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UPDATE: Amid signs of transition trouble, Trump huddles with Pence

KEN THOMAS and JULIE PACE Associated Press

NEW YORK — Hidden from the public in his Manhattan high-rise, Donald Trump huddled Tuesday with Vice President-elect Mike Pence as he tried to fill out key posts in his Cabinet. But the transition team appeared to be straining under the enormous challenge of setting up a new administration.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, a respected Republican voice on national security issues, announced he was quitting the transition effort. An apparent clerical oversight effectively halted the Trump team's ability to coordinate with President Barack Obama's White House.

Trump himself broke with protocol Tuesday night by leaving Trump Tower without his press contingent. The transition team had told reporters and photographers there would be no movement by the president-elect for the rest of the day and night, but less than two hours later a presidential-style motorcade rolled out of the building, suggesting that Trump was on the move and leaving reporters scrambling.

Trump turned up at Club 21, a midtown Manhattan restaurant where he was having dinner with his family. Reporters were not allowed inside, and Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks asked that they respect that he was having an evening out with his family.

With no public statements from Trump on the transition itself, his allies engaged in an unusual round of public speculation about his potential appointments — including their own futures — as the president-elect and his aides weighed the nation's top national security posts.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani seemed to be angling for secretary of state. But Trump's transition team was reviewing Giuliani's paid consulting work for foreign governments, which could delay a nomination or bump Giuliani to a different position, according to a person briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Giuliani founded his own firm, Giuliani Partners, in 2001, and helped businesses on behalf of foreign governments, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. He also advised TransCanada, which sought to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and helped the maker of the painkiller drug OxyContin settle a dispute with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A Trump official said John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, remained in contention for secretary of state. Bolton has years of foreign policy experience, but he has raised eyebrows with some of his hawkish stances, including a 2015 New York Times op-ed in which he advocated bombing Iran to halt the country's nuclear program.

Businessman Carl Icahn disclosed on Twitter, based on conversations with the president-elect, that Trump was considering Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, and Wilbur Ross, a billionaire investor, to lead the Treasury and Commerce departments.

Pence, now running the transition team, ignored questions from reporters both as he entered Trump Tower, a thick binder tucked under his arm, and as he left six hours later. He took over from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who spent months running transition operations before his demotion last week.

The switch has slowed Trump's ability to coordinate with the White House. Pence has yet to sign a memorandum of understanding facilitating interactions between his team and Obama administration officials. Christie had signed the document, but Pence's promotion makes it invalid.

A person familiar with the transition efforts said different factions in Trump's team "are fighting for power."

Indeed, Trump effectively created two power centers in his White House even before taking office. He named Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and flame-throwing media mogul Steve Bannon as his chief strategist, but called them "equal partners." Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is also deeply involved in the transition, creating another layer of uncertainty about who is making decisions.

"That organization right now is not designed to work," according to the person close to the efforts, who like others involved in the transition, insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the internal process.

Former GOP national security official Eliot Cohen blasted Trump's team on Twitter, calling them "angry, arrogant." Cohen opposed Trump during the campaign, but in recent days, he said those who feel duty-bound to work in a Trump administration should do so. But he said Tuesday that after an exchange with Trump's team, he had "changed my recommendation."

Meanwhile, Trump made time to call New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to pass on his sympathies for the powerful earthquake there that killed two people. In the call, which was announced not by Trump's office but by Key's, the two also discussed New Zealand's economy and trade issues.

With Trump's team divided, emboldened Republicans on Capitol Hill moved forward with a united front. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a lukewarm Trump supporter during the campaign, unanimously won his GOP colleagues' votes for another term at the helm of the House. He told fellow Republicans he had Trump's support, and heralded "the dawn of a new, unified Republican government."

Democrats, reeling from sweeping defeats in the election, focused their ire on Bannon, a man celebrated by the white nationalist movement.

"If Trump is serious about seeking unity, the first thing he should do is rescind his appointment of Steve Bannon," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said. "As long as a champion of racial division is a step away from the Oval Office, it would be impossible to take Trump's efforts to heal the nation seriously."

Trump's team has defended Bannon and tried to put its focus on filling the top national security jobs. Trump's selections will be the first signals to anxious international allies about the direction he plans to take U.S. foreign policy.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a loyal Trump ally and immigration hard-liner, is said to be a contender for defense secretary.

Trump also is considering Richard Grenell as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, which would bring some experience and diversity to his nascent administration. Grenell, who served as U.S. spokesman at the U.N. under President George W. Bush, would be the first openly gay person to fill a Cabinet-level foreign policy post.

___

Pace reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire, Jill Colvin, Josh Lederman, Robert Burns and Erica Werner contributed to this report.
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diggler
post Nov 19 2016, 04:04 AM
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Watch: Mike Pence gets BOOED as he arrives for performance of 'Hamilton'

Chris Megerian

Mike Pence, the vice president-elect, took a break from planning the next administration on Friday night by attending the popular Broadway show "Hamilton."

Though Pence received a smattering of applause when he arrived, the New York audience mostly greeted the Indiana governor with boos.

The hip-hop musical about one of the country's founding fathers, with its multicultural cast and tale of immigrant pride, has been a favorite of liberals. One of its songs was first performed at the White House when creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was a guest of President Obama.

And when Friday's show ended, the cast shared a message to Pence.

"We welcome you and truly thank you for joining us here," said Brandon Dixon, one of the performers. "We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us."

Dixon added, “But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us."

https://youtu.be/GMp6WHWJHf4


QUOTE
On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump accused theatre-goers of having “harassed” Pence, writing on Twitter: “Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen!”

He also demanded an apology: “The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!”

http://bit.ly/2g7xD16

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Southsider2k12
post Nov 19 2016, 05:19 PM
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That is honestly pretty awesome. Not sure what he expected from that cast to be honest.
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diggler
post Nov 20 2016, 02:42 PM
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QUOTE
While it was a bold move by Pence –who is notably homophobic –to attend the play in the belly of the Broadway beast, many New Yorkers are not fans of the Indiana governor and expressed their displeasure.

http://bit.ly/2gqNhqJ

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diggler
post Nov 23 2016, 02:54 PM
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QUOTE
Trump is a Trojan horse for a cabal of vicious zealots who have long craved an extremist Christian theocracy, and Pence is one of its most prized warriors. With Republican control of the House and Senate and the prospect of dramatically and decisively tilting the balance of the Supreme Court to the far right, the incoming administration will have a real shot at bringing the fire and brimstone of the second coming to Washington.

http://bit.ly/2ge4Qu4

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diggler
post Nov 30 2016, 05:18 AM
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Trump nominates Pence ally to oversee health programs

Brian Slodysko Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — The architect of Gov. Mike Pence's Medicaid expansion in Indiana is expected to play a key role in determining how Republicans replace President Barack Obama's health care law.

Seema Verma, a consultant who helped design Pence's approach to the Medicaid program for the poor in Indiana, was named Tuesday as Donald Trump's choice to head up the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Republicans praised her nomination. President-elect Trump said in a statement that her decades of experience "will transform our health care system for the benefit of all Americans."

But supporters of the current health care law were less pleased. They oppose requirements that poor people pay for medical care, which is included in the Medicaid policy adopted in Indiana and is up for consideration by other Republican-led states.

"We're really concerned," said Judith Solomon, vice president for health policy at the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

Prior to Pence, Verma was a consultant to former Republican Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who pushed for a precursor to Pence's current Medicaid plan.

Her firm, SVC Inc., has been paid more than $6.6 million by the state of Indiana since 2011 for her Medicaid work, according to records.

In a 2008 blog post on the website HealthAffairs, co-authored with a Daniels' administration official, Verma outlined a philosophy that "melds two themes of American society that typically collide in our health care system, rugged individualism and the Judeo Christian ethic."

Indiana's Medicaid program "combines these diametrically opposed themes by promoting personal responsibility while providing subsidized health protection to those who can least afford it," she wrote.

The nomination, if approved, would give Verma a significant voice in the policies Trump's presidential administration chooses to pursue if he makes good on a campaign promise to repeal and replace the ACA.

Under Pence, Indiana accepted federal money made available for low-income heath care under Obama's law. But the state only took the money after the Obama administration agreed to an added twist: requiring poor people to pay nominal fees for the care they receive. Those who don't keep up on monthly payments, which can be as low as $4, aren't eligible for as many services.

In most states, the poor are not required to pay such fees.

In Kentucky, where Verma consulted for Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, the state has requested federal permission to require people on the state's Medicaid plan to pay monthly premiums, have a job or volunteer for a charity to remain eligible for health benefits.

Pence has said that requiring the poor to make payments for Medicaid means they are taking personal responsibility and have "skin in the game."

But some Republicans in his home state disagreed. Republican Indiana state Rep. Ed Clere, former chairman of a health care committee in the state's General Assembly, said requirements other than fees, such as quitting smoking or taking steps to improve personal health, also demonstrate "personal responsibility" and could be more cost effective in the long run.

"In my experience there was an unwillingness to expand the conversation beyond financial participation," Clere said.
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diggler
post Dec 1 2016, 11:37 AM
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Thursday, December 1, 2016: Live streaming coverage of President-Elect Trump and VP-Elect Pence's announcement at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis. Coverage begins at 2:00 PM. EST 12/1/16

https://youtu.be/hmuGjSwxFhc

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Jesse B
post Dec 1 2016, 07:44 PM
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QUOTE(Southsider2k12 @ Nov 19 2016, 05:19 PM) *

That is honestly pretty awesome. Not sure what he expected from that cast to be honest.


Maybe Dixon and other cast members should exercise their rights to vote. . .oh I guess they forgot to register but still want to preach to the choir, or in this case the VP-elect.
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diggler
post Jan 8 2017, 11:45 AM
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PENCE: Farewell, thanks for enduring Hoosier spirit

Mike Pence

As my time serving as your governor comes to a close, I would like to share a few thoughts about the last four years and what we as Hoosiers have accomplished together.

I am so proud of the people of Indiana. Hoosiers are known around America for being good and kindhearted people, always willing to help each other in times of need.

But as I learned while traveling across this country, our state also has become synonymous with fiscal responsibility, innovation and a growing economy.

Together we made great strides since that January 2013 day when I took the oath of office. We lived up to our reputation and worked hard to create a state that attracts investment and jobs. With the Indiana General Assembly, we cut taxes in each of the last four years. We held the line on spending, and with balanced budgets and record reserves, Indiana became the fiscal envy of the country. We rolled back burdensome red tape and made historic investments in education, infrastructure, innovation and reform.

We set a record for private-sector employment. Today, we have more Hoosiers working than ever before in the 200-year history of this state.

Indiana’s economy added more than 165,000 new private sector jobs, and our state’s unemployment rate has been cut in half.

Because of hardworking Hoosiers and our state’s competitive business environment, we secured commitments from companies that represent more than $15 billion in capital investment creating more than 90,000 future jobs.

Because our fiscal foundation is strong, the state has been able to partner with local communities through the Regional Cities Initiative to support quality of life improvements, attracting even more talent and investment in our cities. The state investment of $126 million will yield more than $2 billion in total investments — a great value for taxpayers — and will span more than 100 projects that include the redevelopment of downtown areas and waterways.

As the Crossroads of America, Indiana made robust infrastructure investments to meet the needs of our economy. In the last four years, we committed more than $2.5 billion in new funding for roads and bridges — without raising taxes. We also secured the first ongoing, new investments for local infrastructure projects.

Our innovative Healthy Indiana Plan is a national model of how to provide affordable health-care coverage to our most vulnerable citizens. Hoosiers are proving we can improve health care and drive down costs with consumer choices and preventive care without the federal mandates, taxes and fees.

With HIP 2.0, we also made great strides expanding treatment for those who struggle in the grip of drug addiction. This year, we broke ground on Indiana’s first mental health hospital in more than a generation.

In education, while investing record amounts in K-12 public education, we set aside millions of dollars to increase pay for good teachers. I'm especially proud we made historic strides to ensure our schools work for all children, regardless of where they start in life.

We became the first state in America to make career and vocational education a priority again in every high school.

I am especially proud to have signed legislation that, for the first time ever, provides public funding for quality pre-K education for disadvantaged Hoosier children. Our pilot program is opening doors for vulnerable children across Indiana and creating a framework for future investment in early childhood education.

Our focus on education is affecting student performance in the classroom. Thanks to the hard work of our kids, parents and teachers, graduation rates and test scores improved during the past four years all across the state.

The success our state has enjoyed is a product of the work ethic and ingenuity of businesses large and small, in the city and on the farm. Credit also must go to the men and women who serve our state at every level of government.

The greatest blessing of my life is my wife Karen Pence. In her service as first lady, Hoosiers have seen her love and devotion to Indiana throughout the past four years. Karen has impacted the lives of children and families in a lasting way. Her travels across our state as bicentennial ambassador and her charitable efforts supporting organizations in all 92 counties have touched hearts and inspired Hoosiers, and I will always be proud of her service.

I was fortunate to have at my side two dedicated lieutenant governors, Sue Ellspermann and Gov.-elect Eric Holcomb, who were full partners in every success of our administration. Credit also is due to the dedicated men and women of my governor's staff, the members of my cabinet and the thousands of state employees whom I had the privilege of working alongside the last four years.


With their integrity and work ethic, these state employees personify the best of public service, and it has been my honor to serve the people of Indiana with them.

I am grateful for the stewardship of the men and women of the Indiana General Assembly, especially Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long. These legislators enabled our state to become the fiscal envy of the country as we advanced innovative policies to improve the economy and well being of Hoosiers.

Most of all, credit belongs to you, the people of Indiana, who demanded a government as good as our people. We worked each day to fulfill the trust you placed in us.

While the work of the people will continue, I believe every Hoosier can be proud of the progress our state has made at the outset of our third century.

As my time as your governor comes to an end, I want to say thank you.

Thank you for giving me and my family the opportunity to serve the state we love.

As we prepare to assume new responsibilities in our nation's capital, we leave with grateful hearts knowing that everything we will ever do is owing entirely to the grace of God, my wonderful family and you, the good people of Indiana.

Wherever our service takes us in the promising days ahead, our hearts will always be here, where the moon shines bright upon the Wabash.

Until we come back home again, we pray God will continue to bless this great state and all who go by the name of Hoosier.
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diggler
post Jan 19 2017, 09:17 AM
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Party at Pence's: LGBT activists host dance party outside VP-elect's Chevy Chase rental

Steph Solis

A large crowd held a dance party near the Maryland home rented by Vice President-elect Mike Pence. The dance party's organizer said they were protesting Pence's policies on LGBT rights. (Jan. 19) AP

Brandishing rainbow flags and signs that read "Queer Love" and "Trans Power," scores of activists marched Wednesday night toward Vice President-elect Mike Pence's rental home in Northwest Washington, D.C.

Days before Donald Trump's administration is expected to take over the White House, activists planned what they described as the "Queer Dance Party at Mike Pence's House." They met around 6 p.m. ET outside the Friendship Heights Metro Station, where video footage showed them chanting slogans and holding LGBT pride flags as they made their way to the neighborhood where Pence and his wife, Karen, moved after the November election.


That didn't stop crowds from dancing and chanting through the liberal Democratic stronghold. Joanna Pratt, who has lived in a house across from Pence's rental since 1979, joined the dance party with her husband. She said she saw the crowd grow to at least a couple hundred of people, many carrying rainbow flags and dancing.

"We come in all shapes, sizes, colors, beliefs, and we need to respect our diversity," Pratt said. "The LGBT community has had a real struggle to be respected and be accepted, and that’s a sad statement on our country and our culture that they’ve had that struggle."

Pence, a former senator and the governor of Indiana, believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

In 2014, the governor's chief counsel wrote in a letter that Indiana would not recognize several hundred same-sex marriages that took place after a federal judge overturned Indiana's law banning it.

Pence drew ire from the LGBT and business communities in 2015 when he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law that allowed business owners to refuse certain services that conflicted with their religious beliefs (like, let's say, a Christian baker approached by a same-sex couple looking for a wedding cake).

And, although Pence has never explicitly advocated for gay and lesbian conversion therapy, he said during the 2000 congressional campaign that public dollars should go toward the practice (It appears on his 2000 campaign website, where he also stated he would oppose any effort to give same-sex relationships equal legal status as heterosexual marriages.)

LGBT rights advocates worry about what policies Pence would promote as vice president and how they would affect the LGBT community.

When word spread that Pence rented a home near them during the transition, neighbors welcomed the vice president-elect with a series of rainbow flags. Pratt came up with the idea and was surprised to see it catch on. She's counted more than 300 rainbow flags in the neighborhood since.

"I'm personally hoping our rainbow flags will continue flying for four years," Pratt said, adding that she's seen signs crop up for Planned Parenthood and other organizations whose agendas conflict with the Trump administration's. "I hope those will all stay up as long as we are represented by an administration who does not believe in those things."

Pratt and her husband aren't the only neighbors expecting resistance to Trump over the next four years.

"They're moving to a community that's overwhelmingly and unapologetically on the side of marginalized folks," Bradley said, "and they're going to hear from us long after tonight."

https://youtu.be/V54Aoo3R4OU

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post Jan 20 2017, 12:37 PM
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YUGE MISTAKE ohmy.gif

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post Jan 30 2017, 02:31 PM
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The time Gov. Pence tried to block Syrian refugees — and failed miserably

Kristine Guerra

About 4 ½ months ago, an attorney representing the administration of then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence stood in front of what amounted to a judicial firing squad.

“You are so out of it,” U.S. Appeals Court Judge Richard Posner told Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher, who was tasked with defending Pence’s decision to block aid to Syrian refugees coming to the state.

The state government already had lost the case in Indianapolis, where a federal district judge found that targeting only Syrians, but not refugees from other countries with the potential to produce terrorists, was unconstitutional and amounted to discrimination based on national origin. The state tried, unsuccessfully, to overturn the ruling.

During a hearing in September on the appeal, two judges seemed more than critical of the government’s arguments. Posner and Judge Frank Easterbrook, both of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago, fired barbs, at times sarcastically, at Fisher who argued — over and over, but not to the judges’ satisfaction — that the governor’s decision was a response to FBI Director James B. Comey’s testimony before Congress that there were “certain gaps” in intelligence about refugees coming from Syria.

“You don’t think there are dangerous people from Libya, from Egypt, from Saudi Arabia, from Yemen, from Greece and France and Germany, which have had terrorist attacks?” Posner asked.

Indiana’s new governor has dealt another blow to his predecessor’s efforts to keep Syrian refugees from coming to the state. Gov. Eric Holcomb ®, who was hand-picked by Pence to succeed him when he became vice president, said in October that he will continue to allow refugees to “find a safe haven” in Indiana, the Indianapolis Star reported.

[Trump says ‘all is going well’ on immigration order amid questions and confusion]

Critics say the legal battle in Indiana over Syrian refugees and President Trump’s executive order barring migrants and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations from coming to the country appear to have a common theme — painting an entire citizenry with the same brush. That’s contrary to legal principle, said David Orentlicher, a constitutional law professor at Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

“In terms of the principles of our laws, it’s the idea that you be judged as an individual,” said Orentlicher, a Democrat and a former member of the Indiana House. “You know, not because you’re part of a group. … To treat Syrians and Iraqis and Iranians the same is inconsistent with our principle, that we judge your guilt or innocence based on yourself, what you’ve done, not what others have done.”

Legal experts, however, say that the legal challenge Pence faced in Indiana was fundamentally different from what his new boss is likely to encounter as a result of the executive action — perhaps Trump’s most controversial directive so far.

Pence’s decision in Indiana, while also controversial, brought national attention to his conservative state. In an editorial published in the Star in November 2015, Pence defended his decision, saying his “highest duty and first responsibility is to ensure the safety and security of the people of our state.” But his actions were far more limited than Trump’s and did not appear to be an outright ban on refugees. Rather, his administration withheld money to prevent local agencies from resettling Syrian refugees who have already gone through a federal screening process.

The Indiana case also is unlikely to serve as a blueprint for how constitutional challenges to Trump’s order will play out in court, legal experts say. For one thing, federal law governs immigration and refugee issues, and state governments can’t interfere.

As president, Trump has broad authority over implementing immigration policies. The federal government has more discretion to make distinctions based on countries of origin than states do, said Richard Primus, a constitutional law professor for the University of Michigan.

President Trump signed an executive order halting all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days, among other provisions. Here's what the order says. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

President Trump signed an executive order halting all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days, among other provisions. Here's what the order says. President Trump signed an executive order halting all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days, among other provisions. Here's what the order says. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Trump’s unprecedented executive action applies to migrants and U.S. legal residents from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Green-card and visa holders who happened to be en route to the United States when the order was signed were detained at airports over the weekend as administration officials implemented Trump’s directive. Confusion remains over how expansive the order is. On Sunday, Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that green-card holders are not affected, contradicting what government officials had said earlier.

Parts of Trump’s executive action had already been put on hold by federal judges in New York, California, Virginia, Seattle and Boston. Scholars told The Washington Post’s Michael Kranish and Robert Barnes that the Trump administration is likely to face more legal challenges, including the argument that the president’s decision discriminates based on national origin.

In Indiana, U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt found that Pence discriminated by halting aid for Syrian refugees who had already passed screening by the federal government. She also wrote in her ruling last February that withholding funds meant to provide social services for refugees “in no way directly, or even directly, promotes the safety of Indiana citizens,” the Star reported.

“Why all Syrian refugees? Why does Indiana have a blanket screen?” Pratt asked Fisher during an earlier hearing, the Star reported.

The appeals court judges in Chicago heard the case several months after Pratt’s ruling. The heated exchange between Fisher and the two judges, Posner and Easterbrook, lasted for nearly 20 minutes.

While Fisher was arguing that discrimination “is not at play,” Easterbrook chuckled.

“When a state makes an argument that’s saying we’re differentiating according to whether somebody is from Syria, but that has nothing to do with national origin, all it produces is a broad smile,” he said.

Fisher kept repeating one main point — that Pence was relying on statements by Comey about the lack of information about refugees coming from Syria, and that no similar statements were made about people from other war-torn countries.

[Trump and his aides keep justifying the entry ban by citing attacks it couldn’t have prevented]

At one point, Posner asked if Syrians are the only Muslims whom Indiana fears.

“This has nothing to do with religion,” Fisher explained. “This has to do with what’s going on in Syria.”

“Oh, of course it does,” Posner snapped back.

“Oh, I object to that, your honor,” Fisher said.

“Look, if you look at the attacks, the terrorist attacks on the United States, 9/11, attacks in New York, Boston, San Bernardino, they’re all by Muslims. ISIS is Muslim. Al-Qaeda was Muslim. You understand that, don’t you?” Posner asked.

Posner, a Ronald Reagan appointee known for his forthright remarks, asked repeatedly why Indiana “singled out Syrians.” And, repeatedly, Fisher answered by going back to what Comey said about Syrian refugees.

“Look, I asked you whether the FBI director has said the United States is perfectly secure against foreign terrorists unless they’re from Syria,” Posner said.

“No, of course not,” Fisher responded.

[Jihadist groups hail Trump’s travel ban as a victory]

The rest of the oral argument was continuing the cycle of the same question and the same answer. After several back-and-forth jabs, Posner said, “Honestly, you are so out of it.”

In an opinion denying the appeal, Posner called the state’s case “a nightmare speculation.”

“The governor of Indiana believes, though without evidence, that some of these people were sent to Syria by ISIS to engage in terrorism and now wish to infiltrate the United States to commit terrorist acts here,” he wrote.

Posner’s words reflect some of the same criticisms and questions faced by the Trump administration.

“That is something that worries the Supreme Court when you take this kind of action that really interferes with people’s lives,” Orentlicher said. “They want the policy to be well-tailored to the problem. It should fit the problem well. That’s a very important consideration for the court, if it decides that there are rights that can be asserted.”

None of the terrorists responsible for fatal attacks on the United States in the past 15 years came from the countries identified by Trump’s order. For instance, 15 of the 19 attackers believed to have been involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were from Saudi Arabia. Others were born in Egypt, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and the United States.

Trump defended the order in a statement Saturday, saying it has nothing to do with religion and does not constitute a Muslim ban. The countries he named have been previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terrorism.

During the presidential campaign in December 2015, Trump called for a “total and complete” ban on Muslims entering the United States. Pence, who at that time was not yet Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in a tweet that banning Muslims is “offensive and unconstitutional.”
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post Feb 7 2017, 01:23 PM
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Looks like Pence played his role for DeVos today.
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post Oct 8 2017, 12:42 PM
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Vice President Mike Pence leaves Colts-49ers game after players reportedly KNEEL

Fox News

Vice President Mike Pence spoke out on Sunday about why he left a football game between the Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers, the same day it emerged that former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick reportedly is planning on standing for the national anthem if given a chance to play football in the NFL again.

"I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem," Pence tweeted

I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.

— Vice President Pence (@VP) October 8, 2017
Several 49ers players reportedly kneeled for the anthem on Sunday in Indianapolis.

At a time when so many Americans are inspiring our nation with their courage, resolve, and resilience...

— Vice President Pence (@VP) October 8, 2017
...now, more than ever, we should rally around our Flag and everything that unites us...

— Vice President Pence (@VP) October 8, 2017
While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I don't think it's too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem

— Vice President Pence (@VP) October 8, 2017
Pence later posted a statement which read, "I left today's Colts game because President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem. At a time when so many Americans are inspiring our nation with their courage, resolve, and resilience, now, more than ever, we should rally around our Flag and everything that unites us."

I stand with @POTUS Trump, I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our Flag and our National Anthem. pic.twitter.com/B0zP5M41MQ

— Vice President Pence (@VP) October 8, 2017
"While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I don't think it's too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem," he continued. "I stand with President Trump, I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our Flag and National Anthem."

We were proud to stand - with all our @Colts - for our soldiers, our flag, and our National Anthem 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/mkZiKMkPDD

— Vice President Pence (@VP) October 8, 2017
While a quarterback for the 49ers, Kaepernick sat or kneeled during the national anthem last season to bring more attention to the killings of black men by police officers.

The protests spread this season after the former San Francisco 49er was unable to sign on with another team.

According to a report by CBS' Jason La Canfora on Sunday, Kaepernick has been living in New York and working out privately in New Jersey with the hope of signing with a team this season.

After sitting down with Colin Kaepernick for several hours, @JasonLaCanfora says the QB is still actively trying to play in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/R9qTIZ7EQl

— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) October 8, 2017
"After sitting down with Colin Kaepernick for several hours, @JasonLaCanfora says the QB is still actively trying to play in the NFL," NFLonCBS tweeted Sunday, including a video.

"He's not planning on kneeling, he's going to donate all his jersey sales, and he's planning on standing for the anthem, if given the opportunity," La Canfora said in the video segment.

La Canfora posted a series of tweets Sunday about Kaepernick.

"Wanted to clarify one thing regarding @Kaepernick7. When I was asked about his whether or not he would sit or stand for anthem ..." he wrote.

Wanted to clarify one thing regarding @Kaepernick7. When I was asked about his whether or not he would sit or stand for anthem ...

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 8, 2017
"Standing for Anthem wasn't something that I spoke to Colin about sat," he added. "I relayed what had been reported about him standing in the future..."

Standing for Anthem wasn't something that I spoke to Colin about sat. I relayed what had been reported about him standing in the future...

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 8, 2017
"Reports about @Kaepernick7 standing for anthem had not been refuted," La Canfora wrote. "However, I cant say if they are true or not. Colin and I didn't discuss."

Reports about @Kaepernick7 standing for anthem had not been refuted. However, I cant say if they are true or not. Colin and I didn't discuss

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 8, 2017
In another message, La Canfora said, "Colin would have to address any future demonstrations. I didn't ask him if he would sit or stand. Our chat primarily about his will to play."

Colin would have to address any future demonstrations. I didn't ask him if he would sit or stand. Our chat primarily about his will to play

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 8, 2017
"I know @Kaepernick7 is fully committed to playing football and helping those in need. What he would do during the Anthem I do not know," he wrote.

I know @Kaepernick7 is fully committed to playing football and helping those in need. What he would do during the Anthem I do not know

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 8, 2017
The Associated Press contributed to this report, which is developing.
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post Jan 16 2018, 06:55 AM
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Pastor denounces Donald Trump, with Mike Pence in the congregation

The pastor at the church the vice-president attended in Maryland on Sunday said using the word ‘shithole’ was ‘dehumanizing’ and ‘ugly’

Guardian staff and agencies
Mon 15 Jan 2018 16.44 EST Last modified on Tue 16 Jan 2018 05.39 EST

A Maryland pastor denounced President Donald Trump’s alleged vulgar description of African nations from the pulpit on Sunday – while Vice-President Mike Pence was sitting in the pews of his church.

Maurice Watson, pastor of Metropolitan Baptist church in Largo, said remarks in which Trump reportedly used the word “shithole” to describe Haiti, El Salvador and African nations were “dehumanizing” and “ugly”.

WUSA-TV reported that Pence became red-faced at times during the sermon. In an email to the Associated Press on Monday, Pence’s office denied that.

Trump has denied using the word during an immigration discussion with congressional leaders in the Oval Office. On Sunday night he claimed to be “the least racist person”.

A Democratic senator who was in the room described Trump’s choice of words. Two Republicans who also attended the meeting contested that version of events.

The Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, told reporters on Monday: “I know what happened. I stand behind every word that I said.”

Trump tweeted: “Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting. Deals can’t get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military.”

In his sermon on Sunday, Watson said “whoever made such a statement” was wrong and should be held accountable, and said he had felt “led by God” to speak up. Many of his congregants come from African nations, he said.

Worshippers stood and applauded.
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diggler
post Feb 8 2018, 11:20 AM
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Update: Mike Pence Denies Requesting a Meeting With Openly Gay Olympic Figure Skater Adam Rippon

Controversy between the vice president and the U.S. Olympian started last month.

by HILARY WEAVER
FEBRUARY 7, 2018 2:58 PM

Update, 9:06 p.m.: In a statement sent Wednesday evening, Vice President Pence’s office called the report from USA Today false. It continues “The Vice President’s office did not reach out to set up a conversation with Mr. Rippon. As we’ve said before, the Vice President is supporting all the U.S. athletes in the Olympics and is hoping they all win medals.”

The original story continues below.

Mike Pence is headed to South Korea, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and lead the official U.S. delegation on Friday. As part of his trip, Pence also requested a one-on-one chat with openly gay U.S. men’s figure skater Adam Rippon, who, per sources for USA Today, turned him down.

Pence presumably wanted to meet with the figure skater because of an interview Rippon gave last month, when USA Today Sports’ Christine Brennan asked him how he felt about the news that Pence would be leading the delegation.

“You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?” the 28-year-old said. “I’m not buying it.” Rippon added that, should he be able to attend, he would prefer not to meet Pence in the traditional meet-and-greet between the official delegation and the U.S. athletes.

Pence was reportedly upset by Rippon’s comments. His press secretary, Alyssa Farah, sent Brennan the following message: “The vice president is proud to lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympics and support America’s incredible athletes. This accusation is totally false and has no basis in fact. Despite these misinformed claims, the vice president will be enthusiastically supporting all the U.S. athletes competing next month in Pyeongchang.”

Rippon told Brennan in January that he would not consider meeting with Pence before his events, but might do so when he is finished on the ice.

“If it were before my event, I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they aren’t a friend of a gay person but that they think that they’re sick,” Rippon said. “I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet somebody like that.”

He added then: “If I had the chance to meet him afterwards, after I’m finished competing, there might be a possibility to have an open conversation. He seems more mild-mannered than Donald Trump . . . But I don’t think the current administration represents the values that I was taught growing up. Mike Pence doesn’t stand for anything that I really believe in.”

Pence’s alleged support for conversion therapy dates back to a statement on the Web site for his 2000 congressional campaign, in which he advocated for “institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.” Pence, who has been vocal in opposing L.G.B.T. rights, has said very little himself about conversion therapy beyond that vaguely worded statement; the debate about what the statement actually meant is divided enough that PolitiFact rates Pence’s alleged belief in conversion therapy as “half true.”
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post May 5 2018, 05:55 PM
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McCain's inner circle planning on having Pence, not Trump, at funeral: report


BY MAX GREENWOOD - 05/05/18


Those close to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have told the White House that their plan for the Arizona Republican's eventual funeral is to have Vice President Pence attend — but not President Trump, The New York Times reports.

The funeral is expected to take place at the Washington National Cathedral, according to the Times.

But Trump, with whom McCain has had a tempestuous relationship, is not expected to attend the service, at least not according to current planning, the Times reported.


McCain was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer last year, and is undergoing treatment. Despite his illness, the senator has continued to visit with friends and field conference calls with his staff back in Washington.

Still, some of his associates have said that they want a "McCain person" appointed to fill his Senate seat in the event of the senator's death, according to the Times. Among the list of potential picks is McCain's wife, Cindy McCain.

McCain has also acknowledged that his upcoming memoir, "The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations," will be his last book.

That title, set to be released this month, reflects on his 2008 presidential campaign and the years that followed. It also includes an admission by the senator that he regrets not choosing former Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent, to serve as his running mate.

In his book and an upcoming HBO documentary, McCain says that his decision not to pick Lieberman, his longtime friend, was "another mistake that I made." McCain instead chose former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ® as his running mate.

He also recalls how his campaign advisers argued that picking Lieberman as his running mate would divide the Republican Party because of his political affiliations, according to the Times, which obtained a copy of the book.

"It was sound advice that I could reason for myself," McCain writes. "But my gut told me to ignore it and I wish I had."
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post May 10 2018, 02:37 PM
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Trump is no longer the worst person in government

By George F. Will

Donald Trump, with his feral cunning, knew. The oleaginous Mike Pence, with his talent for toadyism and appetite for obsequiousness, could, Trump knew, become America’s most repulsive public figure. And Pence, who has reached this pinnacle by dethroning his benefactor, is augmenting the public stock of useful knowledge. Because his is the authentic voice of today’s lickspittle Republican Party, he clarifies this year’s elections: Vote Republican to ratify groveling as governing.

Last June, a Trump Cabinet meeting featured testimonials offered to Dear Leader by his forelock-tugging colleagues. His chief of staff, Reince Priebus, caught the spirit of the worship service by thanking Trump for the “blessing” of being allowed to serve him. The hosannas poured forth from around the table, unredeemed by even a scintilla of insincerity. Priebus was soon deprived of his blessing, as was Tom Price. Before Price’s ecstasy of public service was truncated because of his incontinent enthusiasm for charter flights, he was the secretary of health and human services who at the Cabinet meeting said, “I can’t thank you enough for the privileges you’ve given me.” The vice president chimed in but saved his best riff for a December Cabinet meeting when, as The Post’s Aaron Blake calculated, Pence praised Trump once every 12?seconds for three minutes: “I’m deeply humbled. .?.?. ” Judging by the number of times Pence announces himself “humbled,” he might seem proud of his humility, but that is impossible because he is conspicuously devout and pride is a sin.

Between those two Cabinet meetings, Pence and his retinue flew to Indiana for the purpose of walking out of an Indianapolis Colts football game, thereby demonstrating that football players kneeling during the national anthem are intolerable to someone of Pence’s refined sense of right and wrong. Which brings us to his Arizona salute last week to Joe Arpaio, who was sheriff of Maricopa County until in 2016 voters wearied of his act.

[Jennifer Rubin: This is why Pence’s sickening embrace of Arpaio is so important]

Noting that Arpaio was in his Tempe audience, Pence, oozing unctuousness from every pore, called Arpaio “another favorite,” professed himself “honored” by Arpaio’s presence, and praised him as “a tireless champion of .?.?. the rule of law.” Arpaio, a grandstanding, camera-chasing bully and darling of the thuggish right, is also a criminal, convicted of contempt of court for ignoring a federal judge’s order to desist from certain illegal law enforcement practices. Pence’s performance occurred eight miles from the home of Sen. John McCain, who could teach Pence — or perhaps not — something about honor.

Henry Adams said that “practical politics consists in ignoring facts,” but what was the practicality in Pence’s disregard of the facts about Arpaio? His pandering had no purpose beyond serving Pence’s vocation, which is to ingratiate himself with his audience of the moment. The audience for his praise of Arpaio was given to chanting “Build that wall!” and applauded Arpaio, who wears Trump’s pardon like a boutonniere.

Hoosiers, of whom Pence is one, sometimes say that although Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky and flourished in Illinois, he spent his formative years — December 1816 to March 1830 — in Indiana, which he left at age 21. Be that as it may, on Jan. 27, 1838, Lincoln, then 28, delivered his first great speech, to the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield. Less than three months earlier, Elijah Lovejoy, an abolitionist newspaper editor in Alton, Ill., 67 miles from Springfield, was murdered by a pro-slavery mob. Without mentioning Lovejoy — it would have been unnecessary — Lincoln lamented that throughout America, “so lately famed for love of law and order,” there was a “mobocratic spirit” among “the vicious portion of [the] population.” So, “let reverence for the laws .?.?. become the political religion of the nation.” Pence, one of evangelical Christians’ favorite pin-ups, genuflects at various altars, as the mobocratic spirit and the vicious portion require.


It is said that one cannot blame people who applaud Arpaio and support his rehabilitators (Trump, Pence, et al.), because, well, globalization or health-care costs or something. Actually, one must either blame them or condescend to them as lacking moral agency. Republicans silent about Pence have no such excuse.

There will be negligible legislating by the next Congress, so ballots cast this November will be most important as validations or repudiations of the harmonizing voices of Trump, Pence, Arpaio and the like. Trump is what he is, a floundering, inarticulate jumble of gnawing insecurities and not-at-all compensating vanities, which is pathetic. Pence is what he has chosen to be, which is horrifying.
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