Let’s face it. At this point, you either love Donald Trump or you hate him. It’s not a difficult phenomenon to understand. You either favor unworkable plans to solve problems that don’t exist, or you don’t. But I can’t bring myself to write another article about Trump. The mainstream media has done well enough by him (and failed the rest of us, miserably). Whether you are a liberal, conservative, or other (believe it or not, there are more than two schools of thought when it comes to politics), it is important to know who you are voting for or against. As a born-and-raised Hoosier, I’d like to explore Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence’s record.
Mike Pence was selected as Donald Trump’s running mate because he supposedly looks like a moderate next to the Donald. But look at Mr. Pence’s record. He is nothing but a Tea Party nihilist and baffled religious extremist. He is death for secularism.
As a Hoosier, I can tell you that Pence is not popular among his home constituency. One can hardly drive a mile without seeing two or three yard signs proclaiming, “Pence Must Go: your rights could be next”. This is due, in no small part, to Pence’s signing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, into law in Indiana last year. It protects those (particularly businesses) with “Genuinely held religious beliefs” against potential legal action for discrimination against the LGBT community. The law, which Pence signed behind closed doors, proved to be viciously unpopular with the people of Indiana. This includes the Republican Mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard. Pence arguably wasted precious time and resources in prioritizing this law, since Bill Clinton signed a federal law guaranteeing the same protections during his time as President.
More importantly, where does Pence stand on the issues concerning the United States, and especially the rational, secular community as a whole? It should probably go without saying that he is anti-choice. Pence has recently described condoms as “too modern and too liberal” for America. He also supported defunding Planned Parenthood as early as 2007. In 2002, when criticizing then Secretary of Defense Colin Powell for his comments in favor of young people taking steps to avoid contracting STDs, he erroneously said "condoms are a very, very poor protection against sexually transmitted diseases". Pence is a long-time supporter of abstinence-only education, a concept which has proven to be ineffective and without evidentiary support.
Pence thinks stem cell research is a sin. In 2001, he stated “…despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill”. In 2012, he conflated the Affordable Care Act with the attacks on New York and the Pentagon on 9/11. He is a man who operates completely devoid of facts or good intentions. He is a danger to Hoosiers and to the American public. Please take time to contemplate the idea that this is the man who is supposed to make Trump look better. This man is not what we need. As a Hoosier, I am happy that Pence is not running for re-election as governor. However, it is deeply disturbing to me, as someone who has seen that division and hatred that he breeds, to see him gaining popularity on a ticket with the other most hateful and divisive candidate to run for federal office in recent memory. If he loses, we will be rid of him, for a time. Please, give us Hoosiers, and yourselves a break.
