Mediaboss Marketing

Last week, the Washington Post profiled second lady Karen Pence, a devout Christian and devoted wife who is, as the story put it, her husbands prayer warrior, gut check and shield.

Ashley Parker, the reporter, noted that Vice President Mike Pence once had told The Hill, a political newspaper and website, that he never dines with women alone, nor does he attend functions without his wife if alcohol is being served.

This tidbit popped off the page like a spark from a burning log. Twitter, which is always highly combustible, exploded.

Was this a sign of marital devotion and respect? Or a signal that the Pences dont trust Mike Pence to be alone with a woman? Or perhaps dont trust a woman to be alone with Mike Pence?

I figured this fusty-seeming practice must spring from the couples well-known religiosity.

They were married in the Catholic church, later became evangelical Christians and frequently talk about their faith. Mike Pence often describes himself as a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.

Some people said the vice president simply was following the Billy Graham rule created by the famous evangelist in 1948, when he was on the road proselytizing. Graham and his male colleagues vowed to avoid situations that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion.

Removing temptation (in the form of women) from men is a staple of many patriarchal faiths. A straight, married man will not be tempted to stray if he does not spend time alone with an unrelated woman. Of course, it wont stop a man from lusting in his heart. But thats not the organ were worried about, I guess.

There is actually a more important principle at stake here, and one that transcends the Pences or anyone elses bond.

In the eyes of the law and the government, women are equal to men. They are deserving of the same workplace opportunities that historically have presented themselves to men.

If professional women and men cannot be alone together, women are the ones who will pay a price. They will not have the kind of mentoring that promotes workplace advancement. They will not develop the same kinds of relationships with bosses that their male colleagues do.

They will lose out.

I believe this is gender discrimination, said Kim Elsesser, 52, a UCLA lecturer on gender and psychology who founded a proprietary quantitative hedge fund at Morgan Stanley after graduating from Vassar and MIT. If you dont go out to dinner with a woman, its hard to have a woman be your campaign manager or your chief of staff or whoever you need to regularly meet with.

Now, maybe Im just a garden variety Jezebel. But I, a single woman, often spend time alone with married men in the course of my work.

I buy them coffee. I take them to lunch. Sometimes, temptress that I am, I even drink wine with them at dinner.

Often, when I am downtown, I will beckon a married male colleague into my office. (I have so many to choose from!)

We say nothing until I close the door. We sit down. We look straight into each others eyes.

And then we talk about work.

::

In 2015, National Journal conducted an anonymous survey asking women about their experiences as congressional staffers. Were there any advantages to being a woman? Had they ever experienced sexism?

Advantages were mostly superficial, according to the responses. One woman said she was treated better by security guards than her male colleagues. Another said that Republican congressmen seemed to like to have women as spokespeople.

But the disadvantages were stark, particularly when it came to issues like being alone with their male bosses:

In her 2016 book Sex and the Office, Elsesser coined the phrase sex partition to describe this dynamic.

Its an artificial barrier between men and women at work, she said. Male subordinates who can spend time alone with their bosses are going to develop deeper relationships.

Obviously, said Elsesser, when it comes time for promotions, who is going to get them?

::

While weve been engaged in a discussion about whether its appropriate for men to avoid being alone with their female colleagues and subordinates, weve also been awash in new tales of bad male behavior over at the Fox News Network.

Last weekend, the New York Times published a front-page investigation into harassment allegations against Fox star Bill OReilly. It reported that five women had reached settlements totaling $13 million with the network or OReilly personally. (At least two of the networks settlements, the Times reported, were reached after Fox removed longtime Chairman Roger Ailes in the wake of sexual harassment claims by two dozen women.)

One thing that struck me about these stories were the comments Ive read, Elsesser said. They say: Women are upset because they are getting sexually harassed, and now they are upset that this guy [Pence] is avoiding interactions with them. You just cant make them happy.

So are men damned if they do and damned if they dont?

Short answer: No.

Longer answer: Hell, no. Women want to be treated as workplace equals, and they dont want to be sexually harassed. If you are a man and this strikes you as unfair, ambiguous or damning, perhaps you dont belong in the workplace at all.

More columns

For more on politics

View post:
Mike Pence won't dine alone with a woman who's not his wife. Is that sexist? - Los Angeles Times

After slamming President Trump over decades old sexual assault allegations Monday night, Daily Show host Trevor Noah tore into Vice President Mike Pence over a Washington Post report that he doesnt eat alone with women other than his wife.

So many conservative Republicans what do they do? Noah asked. They spend all their time bashing Muslims for how they treat women and yet they seem to be perfectly fine over here with Sharia Mike whos going like no women alone with me one on one, nothing.

I understand its hard for people to see Mike Pences action as sexism but heres a hypothetical: what if a female senator wanted to discuss legislation at dinner with Mike Pence, right, Noah said, He wouldnt do it unless theres a chaperone?

Thank goodness women have Trevor Noah to point out instances of sexism. Never mind that women who worked with Pence for years have written articles defending his personal decision to respect his marriage in this way, arguing that it never held them back.

Noah then proceeded to make a series of off-color jokes speculating as to some of the reasons Pence might not want to be alone with women other than his wife.

Is he afraid that theyll just start banging in the middle of dinner? Noah speculated. How irresistible does Mike Pence think he is? Is he just sitting there like theres no way we can be in this room and not have sex. How do you think my hair got so white? I f*cked the color out of it.

Judging by media reactions on Twitter, Noah is not the only person who is struggling to understand how Pence could set boundaries to honor his marriage that arent the equivalent of Sharia law.

Sincere question. How is this different from extreme repressive interpretations of Islam ("Sharia Law!") mocked by people like Mike Pence

Nuke 'Em: On Judicial Nominations, GOP Must Punish Democrats for Decades of Unprecedented Escalation

Read more from the original source:
Trevor Noah Calls Mike Pence 'Sharia Mike' Because He Won't Dine Alone with Women that Aren't His Wife - Townhall

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - Top White House officials met moderate and conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday in an effort to revive a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Key members of the administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, invited a group of moderate Republicans known as the "Tuesday Group" to the White House. Pence then went to Capitol Hill to meet the Freedom Caucus, a group of House conservatives who last month derailed a healthcare bill backed by President Donald Trump.

The White House would like to see a revised bill come up for a vote as early as week's end, before the House breaks for a spring recess, and the text of the new proposal could be ready some time on Tuesday, lawmakers said.

"It was clear the president would be very happy come Friday to have this passed," said U.S. Representative Chris Collins, a member of the Tuesday Group and a Trump ally.

RELATED: American Health Care Act

20 PHOTOS

American Health Care Act

See Gallery

UNITED STATES - MARCH 9: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., conducts a presentation in the House studio of the American Health Care Act, the GOP's plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, March 9, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 07: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price compares a copy of the Affordable Care Act (R) and a copy of the new House Republican health care bill (L) during the White House daily press briefing March 7, 2017 at the White House in Washington, DC. Secretary Price answered questions on the new healthcare bill during the briefing. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks to the media about the American Health Care Act at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 13: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price (L) and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney talk to reporters following the release of the Congressional Budget Office report on the proposed American Health Care Act outside the White House West Wing March 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. Price said 'We disagree strenuously' with the findings of the CBO report about the Republican's attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks at a news conference about Congressional efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 10: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (4th L) delivers remarks at the beginning of a meeting with representatives of conservative political organizations to discuss the American Health Care Act in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building March 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price led the meeting that included representatives from the Cato Institute, Tea Party Patriots, the American Conservative Union, Freedom Works, the American Legislative Exchange Council and other conservative groups. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks to the media about the American Health Care Act at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 10: (L-R) U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump greet House of Representatives committee leaders (L-R) House Budget Committee Chairwoman Diane Black (R-TN), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-WA) and Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) before a meeting to discuss the American Health Care Act in the Roosevelt Room at the White House March 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. The proposed legislation is the Republican attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks to the media about the American Health Care Act at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price speaks about efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare and the advancement of the American Health Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

A copy of Obamacare repeal and replace recommendations (L) produced by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives sit next to a copy of the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price addresses the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

(L-R) U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and U.S. Representative Greg Walden hold a news conference on the American Health Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

UNITED STATES - MARCH 14: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., attend a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center to voice opposition to House Republican's health care plan, the American Health Care Act, March 14, 2017. The event featured testimony from patients and doctors who benefit from the Affordable Care Act. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

UNITED STATES - MARCH 14: From left, Dr. Alice T. Chen, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Maggie Hassn, D-N.H., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., attend a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center to voice opposition to House Republican's health care plan, the American Health Care Act, March 14, 2017. The event featured testimony from patients and doctors who benefit from the Affordable Care Act. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks at a news conference about Congressional efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 08: House Energy and Commerce Committee staff members work during a markup hearing on the proposed American Health Care Act, the Republican attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill March 8, 2017 in Washington, DC. House Republicans were rushing the legislation through the powerful Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means committees, aiming for a full House vote next week. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 07: House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) (R) and House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) (L) arrive for a news conference on the newly announced American Health Care Act at the U.S. Capitol March 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. House Republicans yesterday released details on their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, with a more conservative agenda that includes individual tax credits and grants for states replacing federal insurance subsidies. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) looks on as US Secretary of Health and Human Service Tom Price (R) points to a print-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and a copy of the new plan introduced to repeal and replace the ACA during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on March 7, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 07: House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) (L) and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) (R) answer questions during a news conference on the newly announced American Health Care Act at the U.S. Capitol March 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. House Republicans yesterday released details on their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, with a more conservative agenda that includes individual tax credits and grants for states replacing federal insurance subsidies. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

HIDE CAPTION

SHOW CAPTION

"This could move fairly quickly," he said.

Just 10 days ago, House Speaker Paul Ryan was forced to cancel a vote on a bill to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, when it was clear he could not deliver the votes needed for it to pass.

The defeat was a big political setback for Trump and fellow Republicans in Congress who were elected on pledges to repeal and replace former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.

Freedom Caucus members said the Republican bill was too similar to Obamacare, while moderate Republicans balked at some of the changes conservatives sought.

Trump attacked Freedom Caucus members on Twitter late last week for their opposition to the bill and threatened to work to defeat them in the 2018 congressional elections.

SEE ALSO: Cambridge set to vote on impeachment investigation against President Trump

At the weekend, he struck a more conciliatory tone, tweeting early on Sunday: "Talks on Repealing and Replacing Obamacare are, and have been, going on, and will continue until such time as a deal is hopefully struck."

After golfing with the president on Sunday, Republican Senator Rand Paul, a sharp critic of the Republicans' previous healthcare bill, also expressed renewed hope the healthcare bill could be revised in a way that picked up support from the conservative and moderate factions of the Republican Party.

Paul told reporters he was "very optimistic that we are getting closer and closer to an agreement repealing Obamacare."

KEY PROVISIONS

Pence and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus laid out the administration's revised healthcare plan during a 40-minute meeting with Freedom Caucus members, said Congressman Mark Meadows, the leader of the conservative group.

Meadows said he was "intrigued" by the new plan, which would allow states to opt out of some of Obamacare's mandates, possibly by obtaining waivers.

"We're encouraged ... but would certainly need a whole lot more information before we can take any action either in support or in opposition," Meadows told reporters. He expected to see a detailed draft of the proposal within 24 hours, he said.

RELATED: Donald Trump's first 100 daysin office, a photo for each day

75 PHOTOS

Donald Trump's first 100 days in office, a photo for each day

See Gallery

US President Donald Trump takes the oath of office with his wife Melania and son Barron at his side, during his inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he leaves the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters after delivering remarks during a visit in Langley, Virginia U.S., January 21, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump shows a letter from former President Barack Obama at a swearing-in ceremony for senior staff at the White House in Washington, DC January 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up the executive order on withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while signing an executive order to advance construction of the Keystone XL pipeline at the White House in Washington January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaks as U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence, center, and John Kelly, secretary of U.S. Homeland Security, stand during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington, D.C. U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. Trump acted on two of the most fundamental -- and controversial -- elements of his presidential campaign, building a wall on the border with Mexico and greatly tightening restrictions on who can enter the U.S. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Bloomberg

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks briefly to reporters as he arrives aboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 27: British Prime Minister Theresa May shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump in The Oval Office at The White House on January 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. British Prime Minister Theresa May is on a two-day visit to the United States and will be the first world leader to meet with President Donald Trump. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (R), speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Activists march to the US Capitol to protest President Donald Trump's executive actions on immigration in Washington January 29, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order while surrounded by small business leaders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. Trump said he will dramatically reduce regulations overall with this executive action as it requires that for every new federal regulation implemented, two must be rescinded. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 31: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Robert J. Hugin, Executive Chairman, Celgene Corporation, as he meets with representatives from PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC. According to its website, PhRMA 'represents the country's leading biopharmaceutical researchers and biotechnology companies.' Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co. looks on from left. (Photo by Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images)

Rex Tillerson, U.S. Secretary of State for President Donald Trump, left, speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listen after the swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. Tillerson won Senate confirmation as secretary of state after lawmakers split mostly along party lines on President Trump's choice of an oilman with no government experience but a career negotiating billions of dollars of energy deals worldwide. Photographer: Michael Reynolds/Pool via Bloomberg

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 2: President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence meet with Harley Davidson executives and Union Representatives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday, Feb. 02, 2017. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at West Palm Beach International airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend the 60th Annual Red Cross Gala at Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

US President Donald Trump watches the Super Bowl with First Lady Melania Trump (R) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (L) at Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Florida on February 5, 2017. / AFP / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump receives a figurine of a sheriff during a meeting with county sheriffs at the White House in Washington, U.S. February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., left, listens during a meeting at The White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Trump defended his power to put limits on who can enter the U.S., saying it shouldn't be challenged in the courts even as a three-judge panel weighs whether to reinstate restrictions on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Pool via Bloomberg

U.S. President Donald Trump watches as Vice President Mike Pence (R) swears in Jeff Sessions (L) as U.S. Attorney General while his wife Mary Sessions holds the Bible in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is greeted by U.S. President Donald Trump (L) ahead of their joint news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pose for photos with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akke Abe at Trump's Mar-a-Lagoresort in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 11, 2017 prior to dinner. / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a joint news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump listens to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speak at meeting with teachers and parents at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump (2ndR) and first lady Melania Trump greet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara (L) as they arrive at the South Portico of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 15, 2017.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump announces Alexander Acosta as his new nominee to lead the Department of Labor during a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump walks with his grandchildren Arabella and Joseph to Marine One upon his departure from the White House in Washington, U.S., February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump acknowledge supporters during a "Make America Great Again" rally at Orlando Melbourne International Airport in Melbourne, Florida, U.S. February 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump turns into Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida U.S., February 19, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his new National Security Adviser Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (L) and that acting adviser Keith Kellogg (R) will become the chief of staff of the National Security Council at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida U.S. February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 21: (AFP OUT) President Donald Trump tours the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture on February 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty Images)

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney (L) listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak during a "strategic initiatives" lunch at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a meeting with experts on addressing human trafficking at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S. February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump leaves after a dinner at Trump International Hotel in Washington, U.S., February 25, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 26: AFP OUT President Donald Trump delivers brief remarks before a toast during the annual Governors' Dinner in the East Room of the White House February 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. Part of the National Governors Association annual meeting in the nation's capital, the black tie dinner and ball is the first formal event the Trumps will host at the White House since moving in last month. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: U.S. President Donald Trump poses with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the Oval Office of the White House, on February 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images)

US Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R) applaud as US President Donald J. Trump (C) arrives to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC, USA, 28 February 2017. REUTERS/Jim Lo Scalzo

U.S. President Donald Trump looks up while hosting a House and Senate leadership lunch at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump tours the pre-commissioned U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding facilities in Newport News, Virginia, U.S. March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (from L), U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and White House advisor Jared Kushner, thanks fourth-grade students for the "Happy Birthday Florida" card they gave him as he visits their classroom at Saint Andrew Catholic School in Orlando, Florida, U.S. March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 04: US President Donald Trump waves from his vehicle as he stops while being driven past supporters near his Mar-a-Lago resort home on March 4, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. President Trump spent part of the weekend at the house. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 05: President Donald J. Trump walks across the South Lawn towards the White House on March 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump is returning from a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. Florida. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser-Pool/Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stand together after speaking on issues related to visas and travel after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban order in Washington, U.S., March 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Beside a painting of Hillary Clinton, U.S. President Donald Trump makes a surprise appearance in front of a tour group at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 8: First Lady Melania Trump arrives at a luncheon she was hosting to mark International Women's Day in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March. 08, 2017. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: US President Donald Trump greets Dorothy Savarese, CEO of Cape Cod Five Mutual Company, during a National Economic Council listening session with the CEOs of small and community banks, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on March 9, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump talks with Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) during a healthcare meeting with key House Committee Chairmen at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

POTOMAC FALLS, VA - MARCH 11: President Donald Trump has a working lunch with staff and cabinet members and significant others at his golf course, Trump National on March 11, 2017 in Potomac Falls, Virginia. (Photo by Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images)

A boy looks at a man dressed in the likeness of U.S. President Donald Trump as ultra Orthodox Jewish men dressed in Purim costumes take part in the reading from the Book of Esther ceremony performed on the Jewish holiday of Purim, a celebration of the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther, in Jerusalem March 12, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

U.S. President Donald Trump is applauded by his cabinet as he signs an executive order entitled "Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch" in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman enter the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Read more:
Trump aides, Mike Pence talk with Freedom Caucus, GOP over healthcare bill - AOL

Vice President Mike Pence spoke Saturday in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

A NEBRASKA SENATOR once said of a Supreme Court nominee, So what if hes mediocre? [The mediocre] are entitled to a little representation. But in Mike Pence mediocrity is overrepresented. Not even Donald Trump commends this intellectually blinkered, right-wing provincial as Americas Savior.

He began as a talk show host in 1994 in small-town Indiana, fulminating about the global warming myth, the perfidy of Washington, and the verities of an evangelical Christianity menaced by cosmopolites. Piety swiftly merged with pragmatism: ambitious for office, Pence learned what worked an antichoice, antigay agenda served up with reckless rhetoric couched in a pose of rectitude. He informed his audience that Clarence Thomas was being lynched, and that despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesnt kill. A quarter-century later, Pence remains as small as his beginnings.

Advertisement

The flexibility of his conscience surfaced in his first race for Congress. He used campaign funds to pay for his mortgage, car, credit card, golf, and groceries. To smear his opponent, he sent a mailer depicting lines of cocaine; ran an ad portraying an Arab sheik; and spread a story that the Democrat was selling his farm to a nuclear waste facility. Only after losing, did Pence deploy an ostentatious show of guilt.

Once in Congress, he joined the Tea Party and displayed a rigid intolerance for anything outside the crabbed confines of evangelical conservatism. He attacked sex education and reproductive choice with the zeal of Savonarola, decrying stem cell research, the use of condoms to prevent STDs, and organizations whose services included abortion. To further this agenda, he proposed changing the definition of rape to forcible rape and shutting down the government as a tactic to defund Planned Parenthood.

Get Arguable with Jeff Jacoby in your inbox:

Our conservative columnist offers a weekly take on everything from politics to pet peeves.

His apotheosis came as Indianas governor: a statute barring women from aborting fetuses with grave chromosomal damage; exposing doctors who assisted them to prosecution for wrongful death; and requiring that aborted fetuses be buried. A federal court swiftly struck it down.

Turns out Mike Pence also used private e-mail for state business.

His war against LGBT rights is unyielding. He called banning gay marriage Gods idea. He advocated diverting money for AIDS research to ex- gay therapy programs. He fought legislation to protect gays from job discrimination and hate crimes, and opposed gays serving in the military.

As governor, Pence spearheaded a religious freedom law allowing business owners to deny service to LGBT citizens. Struggling to defend this, he gave an incoherent interview to George Stephanopoulos which exposed his excruciating inability to transcend robotic talking points. More than narrow, he looked dense.

Advertisement

Equally mindless was his opposition to a needle-exchange program, provoking an outbreak of HIV-AIDS in an Indiana county. But then Pence exudes myopia. His fealty to the NRA is craven and comprehensive. He questions climate change and the theory of evolution. He tried to bar Syrian refugees from entering Indiana. In the cul-de-sac of his mind, he plays to the only audience he knows people who think like him.

Increasingly, Indianans did not. By 2016, his reelection campaign was flagging, his normally polite constituents booing him in public. Locals were stunned when, bereft of attractive options, Donald Trump reluctantly offered him a shot at ultimate power. For Pence, this was a gift from God; for others, a revelation of character.

Shamelessly, he combined obsequious testimonials to Trump as leader, family man, and Christian with transparent calculation. Particularly revealing was Pences oscillation between toady and schemer in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape.

At first, he crowed that Trump was still standing stronger than ever. But as revulsion for Trumps serial groping mushroomed, Pence rediscovered his moral compass, intoning prior to one of the presidential debates, We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunities he has to show what is in his heart [in tomorrow nights debate]. Whereupon he vanished.

His calculus was transparent: Pence would await Trumps performance before defending him, poised to resign from the ticket or replace Trump at its head. But Trump survived. Proud to stand with you, Pence tweeted, then attacked Bill Clinton for moral turpitude.

Thats Pence. His public persona reeks of smarmy sanctimony every untruth, evasion, and vacuous bromide delivered in a portentous pipe organ voice accompanied by squints, nods, and shakes of the head which, Pence clearly imagines, convey a pious gravity. The effect is that of an unctuous church elder selling pyramid schemes to credulous parishioners, never doubting he is doing Gods work. Every self-serving self-deception reveals the depths of his shallowness, the breadth of his hypocrisy.

His salvation is not ours.

Read more here:
Mike Pence and the rise of mediocrity - The Boston Globe

Vice President Mike Pence may now live thousands of miles away from Indiana, but his home state is still reckoning with his legacy.

On Friday, a federal judge blocked an Indiana law requiring women seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound at least 18 hours before they undergo the procedure. The state failed to present any convincing evidence that the law did what the state said it did: preserve fetal life and womens mental health by convincing them not to have an abortion, found U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.

Pence signed the law, which had been in effect since July 2016, when he was still Indianas governor. It mandated that women in the state visit their abortion provider at least twice once for an ultrasound and in-person counseling with state-mandated information about abortions, and once to obtain the abortion itself.

In a 53-page ruling, Pratt found that the state failed to prove that making women view their ultrasounds let alone making them view it 18 hours before undergoing an abortion made them rethink their decision to get an abortion.

Pratt said that Indiana also failed to justify mandating that women make two separate trips to abortion clinics. For low-income women already struggling with the prospect of paying for an expensive abortion, Pratt wrote, forcing them to also pay for travel, lost wages, and possible child care was just too much.

The Indiana law kept at least nine women from getting an abortion because they couldnt afford to make two trips to the clinic, including a woman who couldnt leave her special needs children that often, according to the lawsuit.

The burdens it creates on women seeking to terminate their pregnancies which are significant even if not overwhelming dramatically outweigh the benefits, making the burdens undue and the new ultrasound law likely unconstitutional, Pratt wrote.

Indiana is far from the only state to have such a requirement. Thirteen other states also require women go to in-person abortion counseling hours or days before actually getting an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Some 26 states also have regulations controlling ultrasounds and abortions, and three require that an ultrasound be performed at least 24 hours before an abortion.

But this ruling may signal a change in how courts approach those laws. Thanks to Whole Womans Health, a landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down Texas abortion regulations, states now have to prove that their restrictions actually do what they say they do.

There may be more of these laws that get struck down, explained Elizabeth Nash, a Guttmacher Institute senior state issues manager. Because oftentimes all we get from the state is an assertion that the law protects womens health and the law protects fetal health. And there isnt much in the way of evidence that these laws are necessary or even achieve their stated goals.

Still, few states have faced legal battles over ultrasound and abortion counseling provisions, and there are only so many attorneys who can fight the myriad abortion regulations across the country. It might be that [lawyers] may see these as real burdens and barriers, but they might not have the bandwidth to challenge all of them, Nash said.

Follow this link:
Mike Pence just had one of his abortion laws blocked in Indiana - VICE News