A Line-by-Line Breakdown of Mike Pence’s Master Class in Toadyism

Katy Waldman, writing for Slate:

Sacrificing results to values is one thing. The shameful spectacle of Pence, a U.S. elected official, toadying up to his fuming, incompetent boss as his peers nodded along felt like a glimpse from some dark totalitarian timeline. It was unreal: Cabinet members called together to fawn over their leader in the most obsequious possible terms, as he steamed in the center of the camera frame like a bratty starlet caught in a downpour, and the chyrons ran past with their tidings of tax-related disaster.

You really have to watch the video to appreciate just how obsequious the whole thing was. The word that sprang to my mind was lickspittle.

Dave Winer:

The speeches Repubs made today about Trump remind me of the speeches Iraqi members of the Ba’ath Party made about Saddam Hussein in 1979. He was having delegates taken out for execution. They were basically pleading for their own lives, with praise for Saddam.

The men in Iraq in 1979 groveled before Saddam Hussein because they literally feared for their lives. They were watching their peers be escorted to their executions. I don’t get why the men and women in Trump’s cabinet put up with this. Except for Pence — I get why he does it. It’s his nature.

★ Friday, 22 December 2017