In a recent editorial, the NCR editorial staff said that despite his flaws, former Vice President Mike Pence chose to do the right thing, both in January 2021 — and in his testimony to the grand jury that indicted former President Donald Trump for trying to derail the peaceful transfer of power. And for that, the country should be grateful. Following are NCR reader responses to that opinion with letters that have been edited for length and clarity.
Give me a break! Former Vice President Pence does one right thing in four years and he's lauded by your publication? Yes, he honored his oath of office — isn't that the norm? He did nothing beyond the norm, even if his action took courage in the face of Trump's intended sedition.
Pence stood solidly by every other dastardly action of that administration for four miserable years. He "led" the COVID Task Force when we lost hundreds of thousands of victims. Where was he when migrant children were abducted with no plans for reunification, when the EPA was gutted, when the Muslim travel ban was instituted, when Nazis marched in Charlottesville, when Black Lives Matter protesters were beaten, when veterans were derided, etc.?
He was standing with his mouth shut, right next to his boss. Pence is no one to be admired or congratulated for the one bad act he didn't do.
CYNTHIA LEWIS
Elk Grove, California
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It is a slow day in religion when you give ink to Mike Pence. While his stance on certifying the election was admirable, it was the only thing admirable in his four years of being Trump's political toady. I appreciate that he takes comfort from the likes of Quiet Cal; he is the modern iteration of a non-personality.
I have no doubt that he is a faith-filled man, but his role as an evangelical pitching his conservative faith to Napa Catholic Christocrats seems oxymoronic. It ignores the tight niche evangelicals place Catholicism in; not much room in Mike's lapsed Catholic bench for the average Joe and Jane in the pew.
Forgive me if I don't laud him for doing the right thing. After all, it was the right thing.
TED FURLOW
Medford, Oregon
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The majority of the American people recognize that the role then-Vice President Pence played on January 6 was the fulfillment of his ceremonial role to affirm the Electoral College vote count and nothing more. It is unfortunate that we seem inclined to celebrate someone who did what the Constitution required.
Granted, Pence seemed to have been under duress both from Donald Trump and possibly subject to physical harm by the insurrectionists who were enabled and encouraged by Trump himself.
Pence was at best a mediocre governor who was inspired to marginalize a segment of our population at the behest of otherwise religion-professing groups whose Christianity was subordinated to their homophobia. The backlash from his misdirected efforts cost the state of Indiana millions and convinced some employers that Indiana is not a worthy target for their investments.
I doubt Pence will gain momentum in the presidential campaign, in part due to the animus Trump supporters feel toward him, as well as the opinions the remaining electorate have toward Pence's tendency to place his religion before the Constitution.
CHARLES A. LEGUERN
Granger, Indiana
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The liberal right never misses an opportunity to praise white supremacist, LGBTQI-phobic enemies of the international working class and the poor for not being Trump. First Liz Cheney, now Mike Pence, the man who by being "Trump's enabler" co-presided over the fascist transformation of the Republican party!
It is imperative that anyone who genuinely cares about the anti-fascist struggle, who cares about the working class, about the underemployed, the unemployed, the undocumented, the unhoused, and those who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated — especially if they are non-white, trans or differently-abled — stop looking to right-wing liberals for leadership. Building the anti-capitalist-imperialist, class conscious, internationalist left is the only answer for oppressed people.
JEFFREY JONES
Hamburg, New York
