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Vice President Mike Pence addressed supporters during a visit to discuss health care at a roundtable at Tendon Manufacturing in Bedford, Ohio, on Wednesday.

On the evidence of a lifetime, Americas vice president is not a complex man. Instead he is three extremely simple ones: an incompetent ideologue, an obsequious toady, and a self-serving schemer.

When Donald Trump selected Indianas governor to run with him, local observers were dumbfounded. They knew Pence as a comically ambitious, rigid, and inept right-wing evangelical a climate-change denying, Darwin-doubting zealot who, before leaving Congress, had left no mark beyond his sulfurous opposition to reproductive and gay rights. And his accession to the governorship, meant to position him as presidential timber, had foundered on the fundamentalist verities that define his mental cul-de-sac.

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A signal embarrassment was his embrace of a religious freedom bill designed to propitiate business owners who wished to discriminate against gays. This antagonized the states business community at large, a setback exponentially amplified when, interrogated by George Stephanopoulos, Pence issued a tongue-tied nonresponse so mortifying that it rewards a look on YouTube. Shouldering Pence aside, the legislature reached a compromise to salvage Indianas reputation.

Facing electoral doom, this ostentatious Christian who calls his wife Mother and refuses to be alone with another woman prostrated himself to become Trumps running mate, the bridge between evangelicals and a blatant libertine. Trump, not Jesus, became Pences personal savior: Cravenly, Pence proclaimed Trump a model paterfamilias and man of deep faith. To cognoscenti, the reflexive alacrity with which Pence swathed Trump in pieties confirmed a surreal obliviousness to his own moral smallness.

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Even so, he swiftly elevated serial hypocrisy to unforeseen heights.

A quarter-century later after his beginnings as a talk show host, Mike Pence remains as small as his beginnings.

Pences duplicitous sequence of volte-faces began when Trumps Access Hollywood recording revealed his boasts of grabbing womens genitals. Perhaps sensitive to the perils of being left alone with females, Pence proclaimed: Theyll say this time they got him but Donald Trump is still standing, stronger than ever.

Less so Pence. Belatedly perceiving that Trumps misogyny had provoked mass revulsion, he canceled a campaign appearance before vanishing altogether, after saying that he could not condone [ Trumps] remarks true moral leadership, that but that we ... look forward to the opportunities he has to show what is in his heart in the debate the following night.

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That Pence was angling to displace the gravely wounded Trump was painfully obvious not least to Trump, who attacked self-righteous hypocrites . . . more concerned with their political future. When Trump survived the debate, Pence wallowed in renewed self-abasement. Proud to stand with you, Pence tweeted, and grabbed Trumps coattails once again.

His next oscillation came in the vice presidential debate. Resigned to second place, Pence began positioning himself for 2020, turning in a robotic appearance, heavy on right-wing talking points but exceedingly light on praise of Trump. Indeed, Pence contradicted Trump on Syria, Vladimir Putin, and how to deal with Russia overtly courting the Republican right. Little wonder that Trump expressed private discontent with his underlings performance, which exposed the calculus of a climber who expected Trump to lose.

But again Trump disappointed.

Instantly, Pence reverted to fawning puppet even by the standards of vice presidents. Joe Biden supported Barack Obama without ever losing his dignity or integrity; Pence had neither.

Miming a servile staffer Trumps preferred mode of behavior for his underlings Pence parroted Trumps moronic talking points and outright lies, nodding and smiling as Trump spouted self-contradicting nonsense. By all reports, he never complained when Trump concealed his knowledge of Mike Flynns lies to the FBI about Russia, allowing Pence to repeat them on talk shows. Nor did he bridle when Trump dispatched him to advance the pretext that James Comey was fired on Rod Rosensteins recommendation, then revealed his actual purpose to kill the FBIs Russia investigation.

It was utterly in character, then, when Pence kicked off the most excruciating display of synchronized sycophancy in memory the chorus of praise from cabinet members upon their first meeting with Americas Dear Leader. The greatest privilege of my life, Pence intoned in his church organ voice, is to serve as vice president to the president whos keeping his word to the American people. Sadly, perhaps it is.

But the palace contriver ever searches for vacuums. Because Trump knew no one in Washington, Pence curried favor with the right by helping seed the cabinet with conservative ideologues. And as questions about Trumps survival burgeoned anew, Pence launched his own political action committee while cultivating restive legislators.

Who is Mike Pence? Take your pick of three. But one thing is clear none of his personae are fit to be president.

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Mike Pence The servile schemer who would be president - The ... - The Boston Globe

Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday that he will have a new chief of staff.

Nick Ayers will take over the reins as the new top aide to the vice president, replacing Josh Pitcock, who has been with Pence in the role since the inauguration, Pence's office said in a statement.

Both men are longtime Pence confidantes, and Ayers is a known Georgia and national political consultant. He also served as campaign chairman for the Pence side of the Trump campaign.

A source close to the vice president said that the change of hands has been in the works for a while, insisting it not a shakeup, and the timing was to coincide with the congressional recess.

Ayers will start in mid-July in a transitioning phase.

The New York Times first reported the move, ahead of the official release.

"I will always be grateful for the foundation Josh laid in the office of the vice president and wish him every success in his future endeavors," Pence said of his outgoing staffer in the statement. "He will remain one of my most trusted advisors and cherished friends."

Pence praised Ayers' "keen intellect and integrity" and welcomed him into the new role.

Ayers, 34, graduated from South Cobb High School in 2000. He then went on to study at Kennesaw State University, where eventually earned his B.A. in Political Science in 2009.

Ayers had been a part owner of the conservative millennial-focused news website Independent Journal Review, but on Thursday the company's founder, Alex Skatell, announced that Ayers had "completely divested" himself, according to an employee at the site.

A source at America First Policies said that Ayers would be resigning from the board of the pro-Trump PAC, one of the many political groups that he's involved in.

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Vice President Mike Pence replaces chief of staff with Georgia man - Henry Herald

Attitudes reflect a work world shadowed by sexual harassment. In recent news about Uber and Fox News, women see cautionary tales about being alone with men.

In interviews, people described a cultural divide. Some said their social lives and careers depended on such solo meetings. Others described caution around people of the opposite sex, and some depicted the workplace as a fraught atmosphere in which they feared harassment, or being accused of it.

When a man and a woman are left alone, outside parties can insinuate about whats really going on, said Christopher Mauldin, a construction worker in Rialto, Calif. Sometimes false accusations create irreversible damages to reputations.

He said he avoids any solo interactions with women, including dining or driving, as does his girlfriend with other men. When he needs to meet with women at work or his church, he makes sure doors are left open and another person is present. Others described similar tactics, including using conference rooms with glass walls and avoiding alcohol with colleagues. Temptation is always a factor, said Mr. Mauldin, 29.

One reason women stall professionally, research shows, is that people have a tendency to hire, promote and mentor people like themselves. When men avoid solo interactions with women a catch-up lunch or late night finishing a project it puts women at a disadvantage.

If I couldnt meet with my boss one on one, I dont get that face time to show what I can do to get that next promotion, said Shannon Healy, 31, a property manager in Houghton, Mich.

Republican, more religious and less educated men were somewhat more likely to say such meetings were inappropriate.

Any rule about avoiding meetings that applied only to one sex, even if unspoken, would most likely be illegal, said Peter Rahbar, founder of the Rahbar Group for employment law. Such behavior is often cited in gender discrimination lawsuits, he said.

Working with The Times, Morning Consult, a polling, media and technology company, surveyed 5,300 registered voters in May. The survey did not ask about marital status or sexual orientation.

Over all, people thought dinner or drinks with a member of the opposite sex other than a spouse was the most inappropriate, with more people disapproving than approving. Lunch and car rides were less objectionable, but more than a third of people said they were inappropriate. Fewer than two-thirds of respondents said a work meeting alone with a member of the opposite sex was appropriate; 16 percent of women and 18 percent of men with postgraduate degrees said it was inappropriate.

In general, women were slightly more likely to say one-on-one interactions were inappropriate. So were Republicans, people who lived in rural areas, people who lived in the South or Midwest, people with less than a college education and people who were very religious, particularly evangelical Christians.

Younger women and those who say religion is important in their lives are more likely to say that activities done alone with men are inappropriate.

Yet the gender caution reaches across divides and into many workplaces.

Kathleen Raven, a science writer at Yale, considers herself to be progressive in many ways. But she does not have closed-door or out-of-office meetings alone with men, because she was previously sexually harassed. She also tries to avoid being too friendly, to ensure she doesnt give the wrong impression.

Women are taught to believe that we are equals while were growing up, and thats not a good message, said Ms. Raven, 34. We have to make a lot of efforts to protect ourselves.

Shelby Wilt, 22, of Gilbert, Ariz., said she and her boyfriend socialize alone with friends of the opposite sex. At work, though, it depends on the man. At the restaurant where she used to work, she would ask for conversations with certain men to take place in the kitchen, with others around. Its very much an instinctual call, she said.

If they were above 65, Republican or very religious, respondents were slightly more likely to say people should take extra precaution around members of the opposite sex at work. They were less likely if they were young, students, not religious or registered as an independent.

Organizations are so concerned with their legal liabilities, but nobodys really focused on how to reduce harassment and at the same time teach men and women to have working relationships with the opposite sex, said Kim Elsesser, author of Sex and the Office: Women, Men and the Sex Partition Thats Dividing the Workplace.

People who follow the practice in their social lives described separate spheres after couplehood. They said they wanted to safeguard against impropriety or the appearance of it and to respect marriage and, in some cases, Christian values. That often meant limiting opposite-sex adult friendships to their friends spouses.

Cindy McCafferty, 60 and Catholic, is single, but said she would do so in a future relationship. The Sixth Commandment is you dont commit adultery, and you dont want to do anything that would jeopardize that, said Ms. McCafferty, a mental health caregiver in Appleton, Wis.

Dennis Hollinger, president of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and an expert on sex and Christian ethics, said the practice goes beyond what the Bible requires.

All of us know our ethical and spiritual vulnerabilities, and the idea of establishing protocols to live out those commitments can be a good thing, he said. The negative side is this particular practice really can appear to treat women in really dehumanizing ways, almost as if they were a temptress.

Some people said the behavior simply did not reflect the world they live in. For Hannah Stackawitz, 30, a health care consultant in Langhorne, Pa., life without solo meetings with men is unimaginable. I do it every day, honestly, she said, as does her husband.

Theres no way that women or men can become their full and best selves by closing themselves off.

The Upshot provides news, analysis and graphics about politics, policy and everyday life. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our newsletter.

A version of this article appears in print on July 2, 2017, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: When Job Puts Sexes Together, Workers Cringe.

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It's Not Just Mike Pence. Americans Are Wary of Being Alone With the Opposite Sex. - New York Times

Today, President Trump signed an executive order to reinstate the National Space Council, an executive agency that will be tasked with guiding US space policy during the administration. The council, typically chaired by the vice president, is one that the US has seen before; it was first in operation during the 60s and 70s and then again under the George H.W. Bush administration, before being dissolved in 1993. Now, its back again, and this time with Vice President Mike Pence at the helm.

This will be Pences eyes and ears into our governments actions in space.

Other notable members of the executive branch will serve on the council as well, according to a draft of the order obtained by The Verge. Those include the secretary of state and the secretary of defense, as well as NASAs administrator though that positioned has yet to be filled permanently. The executive order lays out the main functions of the council, too, which revolve around making recommendations of space policy for the president and how to implement that guidance. It also calls for the creation of an advisory group, comprised of non-government workers and those in the industry to provide advice.

The councils purview includes NASA, as well as the US Air Force and intelligence community, which rely heavily on satellites for national defense. Basically this will be Pences eyes and ears into our governments actions in space, whether its NASA or the Pentagon, Phil Larson, a former space policy advisor for the Obama administration, tells The Verge.

The council's resurrection has been in the works since the campaign, when one of Trump's space advisors advocated for it. Pence confirmed in March he'd head the council, and a draft of the executive order to reinstate the group has been around since May, according to a report by Space News.

It's not yet clear what policy the council will implement. Two factions appear to have formed within the space community: "old space" and "new space." The "old space" group prefers the traditional way NASA has done business: the agency gives pricey contracts to government contractors, to develop vehicles that are ultimately overseen and operated by NASA. Its how the agency is making its next monster rocket, the Space Launch System, which is meant to take astronauts into deep space and onto Mars.

As for what type of policy the council will implement, thats still up for debate

New space advocates prefer a more hands-off approach, leaning on public-private partnerships. Under this model, NASA tells the private sector what service it wants and companies make pitches. This is the basic formula for NASAs Commercial Crew Program, which tasks SpaceX and Boeing with building spacecraft to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station. These types of contracts are usually fixed-price and are often hailed for being more cost-effective ways of doing business. But NASA doesn't own the vehicles and has less oversight in development.

It's unclear which faction will win on the counsel. Pence and his team seem to support public-private partnerships, Larson says. But the attendees at todays briefing about the council indicate old space may have an edge. The room was filled with legislators from Alabama, the state where the SLS is being developed. And representatives from most of the major private space companies were noticeably absent.

Of course, the council may just be an additional layer of bureaucracy that slows the making process it just depends on how itll be used. It could help break some of the log jams weve seen, instead of muddling through space policy right now, says Larson. But it will only work that way if space is a high priority for Pence.

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Mike Pence will now oversee US space policy - The Verge

Miami Herald

GOP's latest worry: White House turmoil dividing Trump, Pence staffs Miami Herald Republicans are growing concerned that the staffs of Donald Trump and Mike Pence are starting to feud, the latest trouble to hit a White House that has spent months battling crisis after crisis. They worry that any rift could be delaying decisions ... How Donald Trump Decides to Fire SomeoneNew York Magazine all 171 news articles »

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GOP's latest worry: White House turmoil dividing Trump, Pence staffs - Miami Herald