“I believe in an America where a separation of church and state is absolute.”—John F. Kennedy. “The heroes of my childhood were Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy... but I was inspired by the ideals of our 40th president [Ronald Reagan] and became a Republican.”—Mike Pence. Yeah, sure; let’s take another look at that. Something seems amiss with your known church/state attitude and the statement of your early hero JFK. And readers can judge for themselves the quotes I’ve included with the illustration above. As controversy over Donald Trump continues and his popularity rating has dropped to about 38%, some people pause to ask: “Whom would we have for president if he is impeached and removed from office?” Of course, the constitutional order of succession would hand the presidency to Vice-President Mike Pence. And if he then died or went adrift mentally, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan would move into the White House. And the horror would continue. Republicans of the current ilk seem determined to privatize all forms of social assistance—from Social Security, Medicare and health care in general, and on down . . . to get it all off the back of the government. They then could just sit back and play with such things as tweaking subjugation of the hoi polloi, industrial subsidization and military adventures. . . and destruction of the environment. Meanwhile, it’s bad enough that Pence was personally hand-picked by Trump as his running mate—largely as a sop to the extreme religious right. Pence is a textbook theocrat—and it’s doubtful there’s anyone more opposed to separation of church and state than he. Recently, following the recent mass-death shootings in Las Vegas and Texas, his solution was a call for prayer. Never a thought to any form of gun control. So we have Trump the plutocrat and Pence the theocrat—sort of situation where God supports the rule of the wealthy. So much for throwing the money-lenders out of the temple. Pence also is all but violently opposed to gay rights, to LGBT. While still governor of Indiana, he managed to hastily get passed a controversial bill and signed it in secret. It allowed businesses, organizations and individuals to deny LGBT families critical services simply based on a religious objection. It was only after people around the country—athletes, companies and ordinary individuals—began fighting back that the Indiana legislature was forced to water down the legislation, and Pence reluctantly signed a new bill into law. For more detail, see: http://time.com/4576513/mike-pences-hateful-laws/ Trump and Pence are a strange pair on their attitudes toward women. Trump admits to grabbing them by their genitalia and has “traded up” on wives a couple of times. Pence is fanatic about avoiding women other than his wife. He does not make women friends. In a 2002 interview he said if he attends an event where alcohol is served and “people are being loose,” he prefers that his wife be present and standing close to him. In the March 31 issue of The New Yorker, Jia Tolentino described this sexual-separation phobia as reminiscent of Southern-Baptists: “Men and women are meant to serve God in a contained, organized partnership. Intimacy of any sort leads to sexual temptation; a man’s wife is the only woman outside of his birth family who should rightfully play a meaningful role in his life.” See: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/mike-pences-marriage-and-the-beliefs-that-keep-women-from-power After 26 people (including 8 children) were slaughtered in the Texas church, Pence responded to families: “We grieve with you and stand with resolve against evil.” After the massacre of 58 people in Las Vegas, Pence observed in an interview how great it was those who died had sung “God Bless America” just before they were fatally shot. “We’re united in our resolve to end such evil in our time.” Syndicated columnist Timothy Egan (New York Times) pointed out Nov. 13, that since Pence talked about ending the evil of such horrors as the Las Vegas slaughter, more than 900 more Americans have lost their lives to guns. After the Texas shootings, Pence told families: “We are working with leaders in Congress to ensure that this never happens again.” Oh sure! He’s no more believable than Donald. He lies almost as regularly. PolitiFact has rated 48% of his statements false or mostly false. He is a corporate tool and has declared Global Warming a “myth.” So picture Pence in place of Trump. What would we gain? A president who‘d spend far less time on the golf course, someone who wouldn’t spend every waking moment bragging about himself. But still not a person with any knowledge of or respect for middle America . . . one devoted to the likes of the Koch Brothers, the fossil fuel industry and those parts of the Christian religion that seem to support his personal philosophy in some way. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, who has accused the Kochs of buying undue influence, particularly on environmental policy—Koch Industries has a long history of pollution—said of their alliance with Pence: “If Pence were to become President for any reason, the government would be run by the Koch brothers—period. He’s been their tool for years,” he said. Even Steve Bannon is alarmed at the prospect of a Pence Presidency. He said, “I’m concerned he’d be a President that the Kochs would own.” Oppression, inequality and misery would continue with Pence—just under a slightly-altered facade. Where would be our way out of this madness? The most effective option in the foreseeable future is to address the make-up of the U. S. House and Senate—muscle up the Democratic presence there during the 2018 mid-term elections. As it is, there’s not much of a shot in the Senate, for instance, at getting a vote to override a presidential veto of some law placed before Donald by the legislative branch. But at some point, that may be the comeuppance he needs. Forcing him to accept the reality that there’s more to his job than golfing, tweeting, issuing executive orders and basking in the pomp of brief visits with foreign heads of state. His biggest takeaway from his Asian tour seemed to be the ceremonial respect shown him (about which he promptly boasted in his ever-narcissistic way), a respect he’s not getting a lot of here around home these days. Our local opportunities in this regard are limited. Our state already is heavily true-blue on the political side. But we still can support close races beyond our own boundaries—in other states. A few dollars here, a few dollars there. I, for instance, have contributed my financial bit for the moment to Democrat Doug Jones in the special election (Dec. 12) in Alabama to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy created when Trump appointed Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general. You all must have read or seen the news of late about the GOP aspirant Roy Moore. This election is hugely significant with Trump’s tax plan having made it through the House and is going now before the Senate. As 2018 arrives and moves along toward the mid-term elections, I’ll be looking at Democratic candidates across the country recommended by the likes of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Patty Murray and others. It all adds up when enough people get involved. While he was in Congress arguing against marriage equality, Pence stated that being gay was a choice, and that "societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family." In short, Pence said that gays and lesbians being able to marry one another would lead to disastrous outcomes in society. Reporter Jane Mayer (The New Yorker) wrote that the president joked during a meeting about gay rights that a visitor shouldn’t bother asking Pence’s opinion because, Trump reportedly said, “He wants to hang them all!” Mayer also reported (last month) that Trump mocked Pence behind his back for his religious beliefs and asked people who met with him if Pence made them pray. Pence currently has the deciding vote in the event of a tie in the U. S. Senate. . .