Trump Impeachment - Mike Pence To Take Over? [National Politics]
With all the yelling to impeach Donald Trump, most people may be wondering what the holdup is. Even the more sane liberals who said to “give him a chance” are getting a little sick of him. Now members of Congress are starting to at least think about it. The real truth is that a Republican majority in both houses means that impeachment proceedings are likely to move forward at a glacial pace if they even happen at all. However, those who are willing to quit yelling long enough to pay attention will inevitably wonder what Vice President Mike Pence will be like as president.
Would Pence make a good president? If you just go by the fact that he doesn’t vent his frustrations in an angry Tweetstorm when he can’t get everything he wants, he is at least likely to keep a level head even when a judicial ruling goes against him. Pence also knows when to compromise or at least back off of his original position, as evidenced by the fact that he worked with the Indiana legislature to walk back a religious freedom law after an outcry from LGBT activists. As the governor of Indiana, he’s had more time to get used to dealing with two other branches of government – something that Trump has never had to cope with before he became president.
It’s fair to say that he does care about those pesky First Amendment rights. The point of that religious freedom measure he signed as governor of Indiana was to make it so that business owners wouldn’t have to choose between following their consciences and fighting a lawsuit that could bankrupt them. At worst, the free market should handle the matter if the business owner feels like he or she should be allowed to pick and choose whom the business will sell to. The ability to choose who or what a business owner chooses to associate with should, at most, be considered a matter of risking a boycott. This isn’t creating a theocracy any more than inviting the Pope to make a speech before a joint session of Congress did. Pence was simply making a stand for the rights of business owners who may prefer to pass on a sale if filling the order would have meant promoting a message that they disagree with.
(And before some liberal starts screaming about sanctioning bigotry, massive sit-ins and boycotts are perfectly legitimate ways to fight back against a business owner who is just generally being a jerk. The whole point of a free market system is to make it possible for customers to choose where to spend their money.)
However, don’t count on Mike Pence being “promoted” to president because Trump was impeached anytime soon. While there have been some suggestions on what the articles of impeachment could actually look like, the actual articles are very likely to be introduced by a Democrat and then get bogged down in committee. Any impeachment effort will have to start in the House of Representatives and one thing that Representatives are very good at is dragging their feet on any given measure. The Senate may move a little bit faster but, again, don’t count on Trump actually being kicked out by a Congress that is controlled by Republicans.
It is fair to say that Democrats have had six months to get over their epic loss and haven’t yet. However, this will buy them some more time to realize that a successful impeachment won’t mean that Hillary Clinton will be sitting in the Oval Office for a few years yet – or ever, even if she does decide to run again.
Impeachment will mean that Pence will be president. He’ll be the one who can last longer in the Oval Office because he understands politics. He won’t be as disappointed if he can’t get everything he wants. Pence may be capable of acting as a more competent and level-headed president than Trump. That’s something that Democrats should think about before they make noise about kicking Trump out of office.
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