Heather Cox Richardson Letters From An American on Pence:

[applegrove]

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-4-2022?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1NTMyMzYyLCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0ODI1Mjk3NywiXyI6IlpQNXk2IiwiaWF0IjoxNjQ0MDQ1NTg1LCJleHAiOjE2NDQwNDkxODUsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yMDUzMyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.lreLi3Itf0KlwGUkJ2SoZpSUHskE3a-vWd21ZbufZVU


"SNIP......

Pence has been closely allied with the billionaire libertarian Koch family throughout his political career and likely hopes to be a 2024 presidential candidate with their backing. Short, too, is allied with Koch family interests, and according to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), foundations and trusts associated with the Kochs are among the deep-pocketed funders of the Federalist Society, where Pence made his statement. The oligarchical wing of the party is, perhaps, making a bid to regain control over the party in the hopes that the insurrectionists will crash and burn. 

Certainly, Trump loyalist Stephen Bannon recognized Pence’s words as a defection. On his podcast, Bannon addressed Pence, saying: “You are a stone cold coward…. My head’s blowing up.... I can’t take Pence…and Marc Short and all these Koch guys up there ratting out Trump up on Capitol Hill right now.”

I’m not one to romanticize our history, but it does seem worth noting that it was on this day in 1789 that the Electoral College unanimously elected George Washington the first president of the new United States. It seems that we might be able to choose better leaders than ones who are leaving us at the end of this day in 2022 with the truly legitimate political question: “Ratting him out for what?”

.......SNIP"

[wnylib]

1. Pence is trying to salvage the Republican party

by painting Trump alone as the bad guy. Pence, as presidential candidate, would be just as ultra RW conservative fascist, especially with Koch for his financial backer.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. A battle between the Koch federalists and the Trump cultists can only be a good thing IMO. Nt

[Walleye]

3. Yes, ratting him out, a telltale phrase.

They walk and talk like criminals, constantly seen in the company of criminals