Mike Pence doesn"t eat alone with women. That speaks volumes

Vice President Mike Pence Keynote Speech at AIPAC 2017

I have to hand it to conservatives: its 2017, and somehow they have Americans debating whether its appropriate to dine alone with a woman.

You see, this week a Washington Post article about Karen Pence revealed that the vice-president will not eat a meal with a woman other than his wife. Those on the right are commending Pences marital devotion and moral fortitude, claiming that such a rule is a smart defense against sexual temptation.

One conservative blogger questioned where there was ever a good reason for a married person to eat out alone with a member of the opposite s*x; the former CEO of the blog RedState chimed in to answer: Planning your spouses surprise party or funeral and that is it.

Why overwhelming sexual desire is only a danger over a plate of pasta, Im not sure, but perhaps this explains the noticeable lack of women in White House photos theyre all out to lunch!

While Republicans swoon over Pences supposed old-school propriety, the rest of us were simply reminded that you dont need to brag about grabbing p*****s to be a misogynist.

Never mind what it means for the (very few) women who work in the White House, who apparently cant count on business dinners or mentorship over a meal. The underlying message of a rule like Pences is the same one thats taught to teens in abstinence-only education classes: men cant control themselves when alone with women.

Its an insulting view of men, a limiting role for women were there to either entice or domesticate and an archaic take on gender roles more generally.

As the Black List founder Franklin Leonard noted, if Keith Ellison who is Muslim refused to dine one on one with women and used his religion to justify it, the political right would lose their minds.

While we were all fighting about Pences dinner plans, though, Republicans were hard at work attacking women and their rights while putting on a show of caring about gender justice.

The same week the first lady gave a speech at the state departments International Women of Courage Awards, insisting: We must continue to fight injustice in all its forms, in whatever scale or shape it takes in our lives, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, chastised the veteran reporter April Ryan for shaking her head at him. (Just last month, Trump asked Ryan if the those in the Congressional Black Caucus were friends of hers.)

While the president was asking a room full of women if they had ever heard of Susan B Anthony, the conservative Fox News host Bill OReilly was under fire for making a racist and sexist comment about the California congresswoman Maxine Waters hair and an Iowa legislator said that if a pregnant woman found out her fetus has died, she should carry the pregnancy to term anyway.

And while Pence trended on Twitter for his old-school sexism, what went largely unremarked on was that the vice-president cast the tie-breaking vote to push forward legislation that allows states to discriminate against Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers that provide abortion when giving out federal title x funds.

pence is a misogynist. We know it from his voting record, we know it from the things that hes said about womens rights and now we know it because of his odd personal rule not to dine with women alone. But lets not let one mans sexism distract us from his whole partys sexist agenda.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFSpKz9lZnNbU0uR-HakJgP2V6UZQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779445118377&ei=H27eWLDJDNfC3gH68KKwCg&url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/31/mike-pence-doesnt-eat-alone-women-speaks-volumes

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Pence and Prudence

.@Liz_Wheeler: Listen up, feminists. Mike Pence is faithful to his wife...

Ive heard numerous versions of this story, but Ill go with the one reportedly told by Dr. Abraham Twerski, a renowned psychiatrist and Orthodox rabbi. (Ive trimmed and paraphrased it a bit.)

The bearded Twerski goes to the airport in his Hasidic garb the hat, the long coat, the buttoned white shirt. Another Jew, this one modernly dressed, is annoyed by Twerski and unloads on him: Whats wrong with you? Must you insist on parading around in that medieval get-up as if it were Purim? Dont you realize how ridiculous you look? You bring nothing but scorn and embarrassment upon us Jews!

After letting the angry man continue for a while, Twerski says, I fail to understand what thee art saying. You do realize that Im Amish, dont you?

The modern Jews anger quickly turns to embarrassment. Oh, I beg your pardon, he says apologetically. I didnt realize that you were Amish. You look so much like those Hasidic fellows. You should know that I have nothing but respect for you and your people keeping to your ways without bowing to societys wills and whims.

The kicker comes when Twerski says, Aha! If I were Amish, you would have nothing but respect for me. But since I am a Jew, you are ashamed of me. Hopefully one day you will have the same respect for yourself that you have for others.

But thats not the moral of the story I have in mind.

The Washington Post ran a profile of Vice President mike pences wife, karen, and lots of people are outraged or repulsed that two Evangelical Christians do things that are fairly normal for Evangelical Christians to do. Specifically, Mike Pence apparently doesnt dine alone with women or attend events where alcohol is served if his wife doesnt accompany him. Perhaps this practice started when he was in Congress, a place where many a politician has ruined his marriage and career by not following such rules.

In response, theres been a lot of cheap mockery from prominent liberal writers and activists. Its an affront to working women! Hes a Christian weirdo! He thinks a meal with any woman will lead to s*x!

A lot of conservatives have leapt to the Pences defense and rightly so. Mollie Hemingway of the Federalist concentrated on how these rules help prevent infidelity: Good on Mike Pence for acknowledging these truths and knowing his limits.

I agree. But its worth pointing out that infidelity neednt be the issue. I doubt Pence would be a lothario save for those rules. Perhaps he followed them simply to reassure his wife?

Or maybe this is none of our business? That would certainly be the attitude of many liberals if Pence were a Democrat and had actually cheated on his wife.

Last summer, when Bill Clinton spoke about his wife at the Democratic convention (In the spring of 1971, I met a girl...), liberals gushed at the love story, and the rule of the day was that marriage is complicated and the Clintons ability to stay married (though practically separated) was admirable. Besides, Who are we to judge? no doubt Bill Clintons favorite maxim.

Its a very strange place weve found ourselves in when elites say we have no right to judge adultery, but we have every right to judge couples who take steps to avoid it.

But ultimately, I dont think the important double standard is about marriage or adultery. Its about traditional Christians.

If the Pences were Muslims and followed similar rules, as devout Muslims indeed might, I doubt thered be anything like this kind of liberal scorn.

Of course, thats unknowable. But liberals spend a lot of time and energy defending accommodations for religious Muslims burqas, veils, gender segregation, etc. that they would never make for committed Christians.

Part of it is coalitional. For instance, the feminist march on Washington the one with all those women wearing female-genitalia hats was co-chaired by Linda Sarsour, a committed Muslim who at times defends sharia law (including the Saudi ban on female drivers, for instance).

But part of it strikes me as a crude form of partisan bigotry born of a kind of self-loathing of Americas traditional culture. Orthodox Muslim views on women are exotically other and somehow courageous, like the imagined Amish traveler. Orthodox Christians are embarrassing, like the Hasidic one.

Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. You can write to him by e-mail at [emailprotected] or via Twitter @JonahNRO. Copyright 2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446305/mike-pence-wife-marriage-practices

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Mike Pence is a huge hypocrite on emails

Mike Pence: The Donald Trump I Saw Last Night Is The One I’ve Seen All Along | TODAY

I have some disturbing news to share: Republicans might not be as deeply committed to proper email management as you"ve been led to believe.

During the campaign, the entire Republican Party argued that despite Hillary Clinton"s copious qualifications for the presidency, it would be unconscionably dangerous to let her anywhere near the Oval Office because she had used a private email account while Secretary of State. Crowds at Republican events would chant "Lock her up!" whenever Clinton"s name was mentioned. In one debate, Donald Trump said to Clinton that if he were president, "You"d be in jail." With FBI director James Comey"s help, Trump and Republicans made Clinton"s use of private email the single most important issue of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Which is why this story from Tony Cook of the Indianapolis Star is so interesting:

"vice president mike pence routinely used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, at times discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues.

"Emails released to IndyStar in response to a public records request show Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor"s residence to the state"s response to terror attacks across the globe. In one email, Pence"s top state homeland security adviser relayed an update from the FBI regarding the arrests of several men on federal terror-related charges.

"Cyber-security experts say the emails raise concerns about whether such sensitive information was adequately protected from hackers, given that personal accounts like Pence"s are typically less secure than government email accounts. In fact, Pence"s personal account was hacked last summer."

Well fancy that. When Mike Pence was debating Tim Kaine and said, "it"s important in this moment to remember that Hillary Clinton had a private server in her home that had classified information on it," adding that "her private server was subject to being hacked" and "we could put cybersecurity first if we just make sure the next secretary of state doesn"t have a private server," did he consider adding that he knew what he was talking about since he used an AOL account to talk about sensitive security matters and had himself been hacked?

The parallels don"t stop there. According to the article, "Pence"s office said his campaign hired outside counsel as he was departing as governor to review his AOL emails and transfer any involving public business to the state." Which was exactly what Hillary Clinton did and what Pence and Trump so vehemently criticized her for. When Trump invited the Russian government to hack Clinton"s email to recover what had been deleted, it was those personal emails he was talking about.

And Pence is not the only one: Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump"s Environmental Protection Agency administrator, not only used a private email account to conduct official business as attorney general of Oklahoma, he lied about it during his confirmation hearings.

Perhaps now that this has come out, Republicans will stop pretending that the email "issue" was anything more than a club to bludgeon Hillary Clinton with, and the deep concern they expressed for cybersecurity was utterly insincere.

But this actually matters beyond the question of catching Republicans in the act of hypocrisy.

That"s because there are strong reasons to believe that the Trump administration is leaving sensitive information vulnerable, and may not be complying with the Presidential Records Act, which mandates that White House staff retain their communications including their emails.

In late January, we learned that top White House officials, including Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, and Sean Spicer, were using email addresses from the Republican National Committee with a private server! Once the story broke their addresses were deleted, but presumably had it remained secret, they would have continued to use them.

That"s not the only cybersecurity issue we still have to worry about. At the end of January, the New York Times reported that Trump was still using his old, unsecured Android phone, which is unbelievably reckless for the president of the United States. As Wired magazine put it , "All it takes is clicking on one malicious link or opening one untoward attachment either of which can appear as though it were sent from a trusted source to compromise the device. From there, the phone could be infected with malware that spies on the network the device is connected to, logs keystrokes, takes over the camera and microphone for surreptitious recording, and more."

According to some reports , the phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3, which is five years old and is no longer supported with security patches.

Now maybe steps have been taken to secure Trump"s phone, though the White House hasn"t said anything to that effect. And maybe his aides are in full compliance with the Presidential Records Act, though we do know that some staffers were using a messaging app called Confide, which deletes messages after they"ve been read (Sean Spicer was reportedly angry about the use of this app, since it could be used to leak to reporters without leaving any trace). Maybe this White House is taking both its legal obligations and the security of its communications with the utmost seriousness, and there won"t be any problems from this point on.

But have they given us any reason to believe that?

Paul Waldman is a contributor to The Plum Line blog, and a senior writer at The American Prospect.

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Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-mike-pence-private-email-account-20170303-story.html

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Mike Pence is fine -- and appearing on five TV news shows -- after runway scare

Gov. Mike Pence: It"s time for Republicans to come home

Running mates, particularly in this election, don"t get much attention. But when your plane skids off the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York, as happened to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday night, the TV news outlets come calling.

Pence on Friday got a lighter version of the"Full Ginsburg" treatment, so named for attorney William Ginsburg after he appeared on five major Sunday TV news shows to discuss his client, Monica Lewinsky, in the late1990s.

Pence appeared on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and Fox -- either in the studio or by phone.

"It was about 10 seconds of uncertainty," Pence told "CBS This Morning."

"[The plane] fishtailed a bit," Pence told ABC"s "Good Morning America", adding that his son, a Marine Corps aviator, likes to say that "every landing you walk away from is a good one."

"It seemed like the first responders were literally around the plane before we came to a rest," Pence told NBC"s"Today."

Pence was a game guest, modestly recounting the brief ordeal before touting Donald Trump"s presidential bid and deflecting controversial questions about voter fraud and violence.

He downplayed law enforcement concerns aboutpost-election violence on the CBS interview.

I really just don"t see it, Pence said.The people that are rallying around this team, rallying around our cause, love this country.

He said he trusts the voting process "very broadly"but pointed to "ample examples of fraud" before pivoting to a pitch for Trump.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-mike-pence-is-fine-after-runway-scare-1477657654-htmlstory.html

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Conservatives rally around Mike Pence for vice president

Governor Mike Pence Speaks At The NRA-ILA Leadership Forum (2016)

Ever since Trump won the Indiana primary, thus becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, folks have been speculating about his choice for vice president. Talk has centered mainly around Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie.

The tier just behind Gingrich and Christie has been occupied by Bob Corker and Joni Ernst. However, both now say they dont want to tapped.

Neither Gingrich nor Christie holds much appeal for many conservatives. Speaking for myself, Gingrich is too flaky and Christie too centrist. (Corker didnt appeal to me either.)

With Ernst apparently off the list, whom do conservatives favor?

In my view, Tom Cotton would be a great choice, assuming hes willing. However, many conservatives seem to be rallying around Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

In fact, when Ernst withdrew, she suggested Pence should get the VP nod. She told Politico:

I will admit that I am a Mike Pence fan. He is so well-rounded, served as a governor and I think hes a great conservative. So I dont think he could go wrong.

Jeff Roe, the manager of Ted Cruzs presidential campaign, also raves about Pence. Roe said of Pence:

I think hed be fabulous. Hed be a rudder on a somewhat erratic campaign and he would have the right balance of being a full-spectrum conservative, having executive experience and legislative experience. Hes one of the best choices Ive heard mentioned.

Trump has said he would like a running mate who knows his way around Capitol Hill. Pence served for ten years in the U.S. House, including a stint as chairman of the House Republican Conference.

The Koch brothers may also be backing Pence. Its no secret that the brothers are Pence fans. According to Stewart Lawrence of the Daily Caller, they have come to admire the former Indiana congressman for his fiscal conservatism, opposition to abortion and Obamacare, and support for energy deregulation.

Moreover, Pence regularly speaks at public and private events sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, the organization founded by the Kochs. Pence openly supports the organizations activities in Indiana and has publicly praised the Kochs for their contribution to this country and to Indiana, in particular.

Pence is also popular with evangelicals. Hes strongly pro-life.

With the support of evangelicals, the Koch brothers, and mainstream conservatives like Joni Ernst, Pence seems like a logical selection, assuming Trump wants to shore up conservative support. If hes looking to win over moderates and/or increase his appeal to women, Pence becomes a far less compelling choice.

Is Pence actually under consideration by the Trump campaign, though? Yes, according to Michael Caputo, a former Trump adviser who left the campaign in late June. Pence has got a lot of support among senior aides, Caputo says.

But what does the candidate himself think of Pence? Who knows? Trump will have observed (1) that Pence was slow to endorse Ted Cruz in the Indiana primary, despite pressure from conservatives to do so, (2) that Pence eventually did endorse Cruz, but weakly, and (3) that the endorsement carried little weight with Indiana Republicans. As noted, it was Trumps rout of Cruz in Pences home state that all but assured Trumps nomination.

What Trump made of all this is anyones guess. Mine is that Trump wasnt overly impressed. However, its probably the impression Pence makes in meetings with the candidate that will count the most. He certainly wont want to come across as low energy, for example.

Would Pence agree to be Trumps running mate? Caputo seems to believe so. I think Mike Pence already voted with his feet by going to visit with Mr. Trump, he says. Indeed, he may have voted with his mouth when he praised Trump even as he endorsed Cruz in April.

Trump-Pence. Ill say this much for that ticket: it beats Trump-Gingrich and Trump-Christie.

Source: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/07/conservatives-rally-around-mike-pence-for-vice-president.php

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