A recent Washington Post article on second lady Karen Pence, wife of the vice president, revealed an interesting detail about what is their purportedly extremely close relationship. (And no, it's not that he calls her "Mother," which he does.) Mike Pence told The Hill in 2002 that “he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife and that he won’t attend events featuring alcohol without her by his side.” The internet flurried with comments praising Pence for "guarding" his marriage to laughing at him, speculating what some woman at a Chili's in Indiana did to poor Mike Pence over the happy hour hor d'oeuvres to freak him out forever. All of that nonsense aside, this matter is important. It's important for two reasons: 1. It shows that Pence's worldview contains a presumption that the company of women is primarily about sex, first and foremost. 2. More importantly, it shows that Mike Pence can't see a woman as a friend or a contemporary. Since Mike Pence is a heartbeat away from the presidency, as an American woman I find this appalling, and moreover, frightening and archaic in the extreme.
Huffington Post responded with its own two reasons for concern:
The way Mike Pence and his wife mutually define a respectful marriage is up to them. But there are two reasons that this revelation about the Pences’ relationship set off such a firestorm online. First, the religious guidelines that govern what “respect” means to the Pences are part of a system that works to prop up male power and keep women subordinate. And second, VP Pence is not just a man with a wife; he’s the first in line to replace Trump should he leave office for any reason ― which means that the way he views women in his personal life could have bearing on the way he sees American women writ large.
The most famous provision of the manifesto called for each man on the Graham team never to be alone with a woman other than his wife. Graham, from that day forward, pledged not to eat, travel, or meet with a woman other than Ruth unless other people were present. This pledge guaranteed Graham’s sexual probity and enabled him to dodge accusations that have waylaid evangelists before and since. [Note: Legend has it that Graham drafted his "manifesto" when he returned to his hotel room one night and a naked woman was sprawled across the bed, waiting for him. That makes sense, Whore of Babylon, etc.]
Yes, we all know that women are either temptresses or guardians of virtue, either whores or saints, we were all raised with that claptrap, and most of us have assumed over the years that that kind of attitude went out with the middle ages. Au contraire. Mike Pence and his ilk still think that way and they guide their lives according to those precepts and Pence has admitted as much to the Washington Post. Also, per usual, there is a double standard at work with men and women, because women professionals do not have any choice but to learn to work with men.
Huffington Post again:
The ability to refuse to be alone with someone who is not the same gender as you and still climb the professional ladder is a privilege that is simply not afforded to women. Imagine if Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris or Nancy Pelosi refused to attend political functions where alcohol was served without their husbands in tow to supervise them.
Imagine if they never took one-on-one meetings with potential campaign managers or fellow lawmakers who happened to be men. These women’s careers would have been over before they started. To be a successful woman in an industry where men still make up the majority of power brokers means working with men. It means fighting for a spot at the table, and accepting that, sometimes, you may be the only woman there.
This issue of Mike Pence’s dark ages view of men and women interacting would be of little note and even less concern if not for the fact that he is not only in line for the presidency as a matter of course, in the case of the incapacity of Donald Trump, but that the way things are going Mike Pence may in fact be called upon to be the next Gerald Ford. Jason Easley at PoliticusUSA said the following:
If Trump and some of his associates fall, the Beltway will -- as the saying goes -- want closure. D.C. will want to reassure itself that the system works and that the limited number of bad apples were discovered and purged. Insiders will want a comforting narrative -- maybe even a familiar narrative. And what could be more familiar, especially to old-timers, than the a sociopath president being forced out of office in favor of an earnest, seemingly guileless Midwesterner who appears to be as dumb as a box of rocks?
Mike Pence will get to be Gerald Ford in this narrative because the Beltway will want him to be Gerald Ford. Even though, unlike Ford, he'll have been with the sociopath president since the campaign, he'll be portrayed as a hayseed innocent corrupted against his will by a shady slickster, someone he loyally served only because he felt his country was calling him to serve.
Recall the headlines about Pence after Trump's Access Hollywood tape broke: "Trump's Shocking Crude Comments on Women Leave Pence Reeling"; "Mike Pence 'Offended' and Praying for Donald Trump's Family Amid Crisis Over His 2005 Lewd Comments." Oh, poor Mike Pence! This must be awful for him! (Not awful enough for him to leave the ticket, but whatever.)
Mainstream Republicans will embrace Pence because they'll assume he can professionalize the all-GOP government. Trump voters will accept him because he remained loyal. The mainstream press will finally have the old-fashioned Republican Daddy it craves. No one's going to want to be told that the crooks haven't all been purged. They'll just be so happy to tell us we're back to normal.
This scenario is entirely plausible. Despite the fact that Pence had to know about Russia and Rachel Maddow documented Pence's relations with Mike Flynn and the Russian issue to the nth degree and it was so obvious to one and all that Pence was lying, all that could get buried if the emotional need for "normalcy" overwhelms rational thought. Emotions overwhelming logic is the norm on this planet or we would not be in this political mess to begin with. If the grey day dawns when Mike Pence is actually elevated to the presidency, whatever joy might be felt at Trump's removal will be very shortlived. Pence, in his own peculiar way, is even more twisted and dangerous than Trump.
