Mike's better-late-than-never "I had no right" declaration

 He delivered it in the context of a speech he gave yesterday to the Federalist Society, and he gave it the appropriate touch of thunderous forthrightness, so that the national media would not fail to see it as the money line of his address. That's one of the signature licks he's been honing since high school, when he made a name for himself on the Rotary Club speech circuit.

The Very Stable Genius has already weighed in, calling Pence weak - no, make that WEAK! I have a feeling the fallout from the entire drool-besotted VSG cult will begin today. 

It will be interesting to see where the fault lines appear as that process gains steam. The money right now would be on it ending his political career, but as they say, a day in that realm is an eternity. Variables abound. 

He's getting applause from folks on the non-Trumpist right, and I suppose I can contribute a clap or two. I'm certainly not going to rise from my seat with any kind of full-throated hurrah, however. If there's one thing I can't stand about politics, it's the way some - and you see this on both the right and the left - are willing to take whatever they can get, to get all excited about an apparent change of course on the part of a political figure without looking into what led to it, and how sincere and permanent it is or isn't. 

Let us not forget that, when the Hollywood Access tape surfaced mere days before the 2016 election, Pence's wife Karen strenuously encouraged him to drop off the ticket, and wouldn't give him a congratulatory kiss on election night. ("Well, Mike, you got what you wanted.") As the new administration got underway, Director of National Security Dan Coats was increasingly uneasy about Trump's behavior and utterances, as was his wife Marilyn. Like Pence, they are Hoosiers and Pence had known them for years. In the book Rage, Bob Woodward recounts a state dinner at which Marilyn Coats and Mike Pence had a brief exchange of a how-can-you-sleep-at-night nature, and then were seated next to each other. She continued the conversation non-verbally, via eye contact, and Pence replied with a your-husband-and-I-must-stay-the-course countenance. 

More recently, when the Pences arrived back home on the afternoon of January 20, 2020, fresh from attending Biden's inauguration, Mike's first words on the Columbus Municipal Airport tarmac were an expression of gratitude toward the Very Stable Genius and Melania for all they'd done for America over the past four years. This, two weeks after the Capitol mob had chanted "Hang Mike Pence!" as they made their way through the building.

And let's note that his gig over the last year has been as a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, which seems to be following the Claremont Institute down the Trumpist rabbit hole. 

So while yesterday's pronouncement was encouraging to a modest degree, I don't think it's time for any welcome-back-Mike gestures. And if he gets eaten alive before he has a chance to gain a foothold in his new landscape, well, that's how karma works, Mr. Vice President.