The man who could be king

“I don’t know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance.”

Mitt Romney said that. Mean and nasty aren’t terms typically used to describe Mitt, so it’s significant, because if Trump were to win, J.D. could become president within a couple of years. Who doubts he’d be delighted to invoke the 25th Amendment? Wrapping himself in fundamentalism and Christian nationalism, Vance is a conscience-free opportunist; and whereas that also describes Trump, with Vance, it’s intentional. Unlike Trump, J.D. is smart. Not a pathological liar like Trump, who seems unable to help himself, Vance is a silky liar who chooses to be. Witness his 180 on Trump’s suitability for the presidency. A poseur willing to say anything to gain advantage, he knows exactly what he’s doing. And, also unlike Trump, he can form words into a coherent sentence.

Like these, when asked whether Trump lost the election: “Not by the words I would use.” Wow. To Vance, words are meaningless except as weapons aimed at the ill-informed. It’s the Humpty Dumpty theory of language. (tinyurl.com/dumpty4u) And these, intended to deceive gullible MAGAs: “Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their minds in the wake of the 2020 Covid situation?” Excellent question, Senator. Did she? When? How? Got receipts? Just asking questions, right?

More words: “Kamala Harris, who has tried to arrest everything from pro-life activists to her political opponents … used the Department of Justice as a weapon against people.” Again: When? How? What’s the proof? (Never mind: MAGAs don’t require or even want proof. Just saying it is enough to convince.) From Trump, such blatancy is baseline. Bizarre and disgusting, but expected, predictable. From Vance, who, it’s presumed, can tell a lie from the truth, this mountain of mendacity is even more disqualifying than Trump’s. The hands of someone knowingly pushing premeditated lies so unabashedly ought not be within reach of the levers of power. Or that red button.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/schwab-the-man-who-could-be-king/