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Donald Trump To Announce Mike Pence As Vice-Presidential Running Mate (theguardian.com)

Donald Trump has selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice-presidential running mate. A senior GOP official, cited by many media outlets today (including the WSJ), confirmed the news, adding that the announcement will be made Friday. The Guardian reports: Pence brings several qualities to the Trump campaign that Republicans have found lacking, not least of which experience in government. The 57-year-old spent 12 years in Congress, including two years in a leadership role with the House Republican Conference. He was elected governor of Indiana in 2012, and gained a degree of national notoriety that's to a controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which he signed into law and then wanted revised, after many argued it would allow discrimination against LGBT people. A Trump-Pence ticket could send a message to Republican dissenters who feel they cannot support a candidate who has proven inconsistent on guns, abortion, LGBT rights and other social conservative issues. Just before the Indiana primary election, the staunchly conservative governor endorsed Ted Cruz, Trump's leading opponent and a far-right senator from Texas.An anonymous reader shared a BuzzFeed article on Pence today. The article digs into some of the opinion pieces Pence has penned over the years. In one such article, Pence wrote that "smoking doesn't kill." "Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill," he wrote. In another piece, he argues that Carbon Dioxide "can't be the cause of increased global temperatures" because it is "a naturally occurring phenomenon in nature..." not an unnatural one.

29 of 413 comments (clear)

  1. Indian? by bws111 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Editors, do you do anything???

  2. Meh by tripleevenfall · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Reaction from conservatives and Republicans on this will be little to zero excitement.

    Pence shriveled up in the face of the challenges in his state when the religious freedom act came under assault, and he really bears no marks of being a person who could be sold as a moderating influence to Trump.

    However, I suspect that Trump has left himself with few friends and fewer qualified choices, so this is what the Trumpsters get. Mike the Generic Guy.

    1. Re:Meh by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually that isn't implausible. It is possible that Trump is really doing this to put a final nail in the coffin of the Republicans as a Democratic "operative".

    2. Re:Meh by Grishnakh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Trump wasn't elected by "fascists", for the most part. He was elected by white, working class people who finally woke up and realized that the mainstream Republican policies weren't working for them, and the mainstream GOP politicians were just lying to them and pandering to them.

      Unfortunately, instead of just abandoning the GOP altogether, they picked the one guy in the GOP (who conveniently joined the GOP just before the election cycle) who told them what they wanted to hear, and really isn't a very good candidate.

      But they were right to be angry at the mainstream GOP.

      Unfortunately, despite all the (rightful) populist anger, we're going to wind up with two absolutely terrible candidates running in November, one who's part of the party that always pushes Big Business but voices support for populist policies (that probably won't help, like building a wall), and another who's part of the party that claims to be for the common main but is clearly sold out to Wall Street and private prisons.

    3. Re:Meh by Rakarra · · Score: 4, Informative

      What was he before?

      Trump was a Republican from 1987 to 1999, a member of the Independence Party from '99 to '01, a registered Democrat from 2001 to 2009, switched to independent, in 2011, and then Republican in 2012.

      Source

    4. Re:Meh by ShaunC · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There's also the fact that about half the names released so far that are speaking at the RNC are either Trump's family or sports "stars" like Dana White and Tim Tebow.

      That side of the campaign sounds more like Camacho 2016 with each passing day. Tell me this exchange doesn't sound familiar.

      • President Camacho: Now I understand everyone's shit's emotional right now. But I've got a 3 point plan that's going to fix EVERYTHING!
      • Congressman #1: Break it down, Camacho!
      • President Camacho: Number 1: We've got this guy Not Sure. Number 2: He's got a higher IQ than ANY MAN ALIVE. and Number 3: He's going to fix EVERYTHING.

      It sounds like every single platform statement Trump has come up with.

      • Press: What is your stance on $ISSUE_X?
      • Trump: We're talking with the best people, smart people, real high energy people, and you're going to love what we do about $ISSUE_X!

      I'm growing weary of politicians using 1984 as a playbook, but I'd really prefer not to see Idiocracy used as one, either.

      --
      Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
  3. Nice previously researched spin in the "article" by CajunArson · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's what Mike Pence said word for word in his so-called "denialist" and "anti-science" article:

    This is not to say that smoking is good for you.... news flash: smoking is not good for you. If you are reading this article through the blue haze of cigarette smoke you should quit. The relevant question is, what is more harmful to the nation, second hand smoke or back handed big government disguised in do-gooder healthcare rhetoric.

    And he was right.

    --
    AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
  4. Bleah! by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Informative

    I just googled Mike Pence's legislative history and he is bloody awful!

    Totally against abortion, "[2011] remove the mandate on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee to focus on maximum employment", against same-sex marriage, does not want gays and similar to have equal rights, remove restrictions on campaign contributions, reduce taxes on the rich...

    ...the list goes on and on.

    He is no friend of the people .

    1. Re:Bleah! by cdrudge · · Score: 4, Informative

      Over his 12 years in Congress, he was the primary sponsor for 63 bills. 18 made it to committee. 0 made it out to the floor even for consideration. He was useless in Congress. He was harmful to Indiana. If the pattern continues, he'll be awful as VP even with token powers.

    2. Re:Bleah! by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's a really dumb interpretation of laws allowing transwomen to use the women's bathroom where they won't be attacked by ignorant Conservative men, and transmen to use the bathroom where they won't frighten women. I mean REALLY dumb, like even worse than the absurd Conservative propaganda in the issue.

  5. Good pick. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pence is just as nuts as Trump which is good... for Trump. If Trump picked a good VP and somehow got elected, someone might try to assassinate him just to get the VP in place. Way to double down on the insanity! ;)

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  6. Trump will succeed because... by GrBear · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In my opinion, Trump will succeed not because of his political prowess, but because of who he resonates with.

    People are tired of the elite ruling, making decisions based on cronyism and who lines their pockets. Trump isn't afraid to call them out.

    The elite don't seem to understand that the non-elite vastly outnumber them, and are tired of their voices no being heard or making a difference.

    Will Trump being president be a disaster, probably.. but at least it would shake things up and make the elite take notice how easily they can be replaced by the unsatisfied masses when the option presents itself.

    1. Re:Trump will succeed because... by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So Donald Trump and Mike Pence aren't one of the "elites"? They are both multimillionaires. The only people that Trump "resonates with" are white trash.

    2. Re:Trump will succeed because... by beelsebob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      People are tired of the elite ruling, making decisions based on cronyism and who lines their pockets. Trump isn't afraid to call them out.

      Right... because Trump isn't a multi-billionare elite looking to do nothing but line his own pockets...

    3. Re:Trump will succeed because... by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't believe in a savior. Hillary is terrible, but Trump is a real real bad joke. He isn't even conservative. He is just playing a bunch of morons for attention.

    4. Re:Trump will succeed because... by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How does that not make him a part of the ruling class?

      Because all the actual, real members of the ruling class hate him. There are plenty of people as rich or wildly richer than Trump. Unlike many of them, he hasn't been hip-deep in real politics all his adult life. He's a fairly successful person with an outlook on life that is shared by millions of people, and an awareness (say, halfway through his life) that his own success could be bolstered by adding "entertainer" to his box of tricks. But if he's "ruling class," then so is Michael Jordan, Steven Spielberg, Taylor Swift, Richard Branson, or JK Rowling. "Running in the same circles" isn't even vaguely like being, say, a Clinton.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  7. hoping the campaign can share some info by nimbius · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think this is an excellent choice, and sure to help Trumps candidacy but on an unrelated note i hope the Trump team can lend a little insight into a common american problem:
    you see, ive spent 2 years polishing a giant turd in my backyard, but i cant seem to figure out how to get it to shine. I put it next to a pretty woman, no deal. I set it next to an ugly stack of papers about Benghazi, but that didnt work either. I even took my turd and used it to smear other turds to make them seem less shiny than my turd...but im not entirely clear that did anything since nobody seems to like any of the turds.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:hoping the campaign can share some info by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Funny

      You're not using the right toupee.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  8. Re:Nice previously researched spin in the "article by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 4, Informative

    The relevant question is, what is more harmful to the nation, second hand smoke or back handed big government disguised in do-gooder healthcare rhetoric.

    *Takes deep breath free of cigarette smoke*. I'm going with back handed big government since I'm not being killed by someone replacing my breathable oxygen with carcinogenic smog against my consent.

  9. Re:Nice previously researched spin in the "article by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    it might soon be legal to smoke marijuana but not tobacco.

    You say that like it's a bad thing.

    --
    Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
  10. Re:Nice previously researched spin in the "article by thaylin · · Score: 4, Informative

    there is plenty of evidence to support it. And if it is harmful to me then I have a right to live and you dont have a right to smoke around me. You can smoke anywhere you want, just not around me.

    --
    When you cant win, ad hominem.
  11. Re:would have voted for Trump had it been Gingrich by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 4, Informative

    >For all his faults, Newt accepts climate change and calls for "green conservativism",

    Which makes him totally unacceptable to Republican voters. They don't care about the hypocrisy, or extremism, but they do care if someone threatens their collapsing delusional worldview.

    The wacky things Republicans say and do make a lot more sense if you view them as a failed subculture, desperately trying to hold off the collapse of their propaganda and superstition based worldview for as long as possible. Choosing religion and pandering hoax-media over evidence is a dead-end, and on some level they know it.

  12. Indepent thinker by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah I am sure you hate Obama because of his "flip-flop on telecom immunity". You guys are so transparent. You hate Obama because of "flip flopping" but Bush was great, right?

    Actually, I hate Bush more.

    Taking the country to war under false pretences, torturing prisoners... that's a lot of sin to wash away.

    Obama caved to the establishment and is generally ineffective, but he hasn't done anything that rises to that level of evil.

    I'm an independent thinker, not a party hack.

  13. Re:Nice previously researched spin in the "article by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The funny thing is that Conservatives don't even really oppose big government, they just want it to be a big, harmful, theocratic government. It's government that helps people that they object to. They're fine with treating The Handmaid's Tale as an instruction manual.

  14. Re:Homosexuals by cdrudge · · Score: 4, Informative

    As a Representative, he co-sponsored an amendment to prohibit same sex marriage. He voted against the Employee Non-Discrimination Act because it would prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation. He voted to oppose prosecuting hate crimes based on orientation. He voted against repealing of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. As governor, he allow businesses to discriminate based on orientation before RFRA was amended.

    It's pretty clear that he has made hostile actions towards LGBT in what he's introduced, supported, or signed into law. As a politician, I'd say that qualifies more has hates LGBT rather than disagrees with LGBT.

  15. protip about quoting. by edittard · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Anything marked as a quotation should be lifted verbatim.
    Exception: If you add something (such as an explanation or clarification) it should be in square brackets.
    Exception: If you omit something for brevity, mark the missing section with an ellipsis in square brackets.
    Exception: If you spot a grammatical error and you want to draw attention to it, add [sic] after it.

    Original Grauniad article:

    He was elected governor of Indiana in 2012, and gained a degree of national notoriety thanks to a controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act [...]

    Slashdot summary:

    He was elected governor of Indiana in 2012, and gained a degree of national notoriety that's [sic] to a controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act [...]

    As soon as you start frigging around with tenses, pronouns, voices or any other form of paraphrasing, even a tiny bit, it ceases to be a direct quote and should NOT be marked as one. This is Journalism 101.

    --
    At the bottom of the /. main page it says 'Yesterday's News'. Well they got that right.
  16. Re:would have voted for Trump had it been Gingrich by kqs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, I think he did.

    I suspect that Gingrich doesn't think Trump has any chance of winning. However, he and Trump both know that former republican candidates for both P and VP make crazy-large amounts of money on the conservative talk circuit. Republicans seem to pay very large amounts of money to listen to failed candidates speak. Democrats do too, but it seems to be less-crazy amounts and fewer venues, and the people usually have more credentials than "failed to become president".

    (I personally think that that was the only reason Trump ran, and that he as surprised as everyone else that he's in this spot.)

  17. Re:Nice previously researched spin in the "article by kqs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Indeed. The Republican Party Platform, as of now, wants government to:
        * Regulate the porn industry and control what you're allowed to see.
        * Regulate who you can marry.
        * Regulate what operations your doctor can do on you (especially if you are a woman).
        * Regulate what bathroom you can use.
        * Spend more and more on the military.
        * Pay for it all by cutting taxes, mostly on the wealthy.

    Not what I would call small government.

    But they want to be sure that fewer people have health care, so they have that going for them, which is nice.

  18. Re:Irish Catholic by macs4all · · Score: 4, Informative

    I can't find anything really negative about him,

    How's this for a start?