Pointless Mike Pence
In his narrative poem The Divine Comedy, 14th-century Italian sage Dante Alighieri reserved the ninth and deepest circle of his Inferno for those scoundrels who betrayed their comrades and leaders — Brutus, Cassius, Judas Iscariot, Satan himself.
A revised MAGA edition of The Divine Comedy might justifiably find space in that circle for people like Liz Cheney, Gen. Mark Kelly, and the editorial staff of The Bulwark. Although many would put former vice president Mike Pence in there as well, I would not.
I would argue for a lower circle still, a tenth circle. Although Dante did not say, as alleged, “The darkest places of hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis,” someone did, and it makes sense. After all, one can respect the traitor for taking a stand, however evil. But it is hard to respect those who, in times of moral crisis, sit on their hands.
Dark these hellish places may be, but in Republican circles, they are popular nonetheless. Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, the Bush family, half the staff of the National Review — they have been there for years. Pence is a late arrival.
Pence’s descent into the political nether world began on January 6, 2021. At noon on that fateful Wednesday, President Donald Trump began his speech on the White House Ellipse. In the speech, Trump pinned his hopes on the actions of Pence.
“States want to revote,” said the president. “The states got defrauded. They were given false information. They voted on it. Now they want to recertify. They want it back. All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people.”
From the crowd’s perspective, Pence was going to
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LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
