Oleaginous

Despite his vast vocabulary and his love of baseball, I don't usually agree with conservative political commentator George Will. But when he referred to Mike Pence as "oleaginous," he got my attention. For one thing, I love "SAT words," as Will calls them, and for another thing, Mike Pence definitely makes me squirm. Defined as "oily" or "greasy," "oleaginous," according to Will, means "too smooth for comfort." If you've ever listened to Pence groveling at the feet of his boss, you'll agree with those definitions. Or how about this one: "exaggeratedly and distastefully complimentary; obsequious." Do you remember that Cabinet meeting in which each member had a chance to praise the new President? The cameras circled the room to record one fawning tribute after another, a pathetic display of obeisance designed only to boost the ego of the maniac in charge.

George Will has now named Pence "America's Most Repulsive Public Figure," an honor previously bestowed upon Pence's boss.

If there ever was a wolf in sheep's clothing, Pence is it. Shrouded in his extreme fundamentalist views (like not being in the company of a woman unless his wife is present), Pence's measured delivery sounds more like a sermon than political positing. And so he fools a lot of people. In a staged display of his holier-than-thou sense of right and wrong, Pence walked out of an Indiana Colts football game last fall because players kneeled during the national anthem. If you think that was a patriotic gesture on his part, that's your choice.

But consider this: last week in Phoenix, Pence lavished praise on Sheriff Joe Arpaio, calling him "a tireless champion of  . . . the rule of law" and declaring that he was honored by his presence. In case you have been living under a rock (or avoiding politics altogether because you can't stand it), Arpaio was convicted of contempt of court in July 2017 for refusing to stop his practice of racial profiling. Arpaio is most famously known for his creation of "Tent City," a seven-acre outdoor jail in the desert, where temperatures can reach 115 - 120 degrees. Arpaio himself referred to the prison as a "concentration camp." Additionally, his office ignored more than 400 sex-crime cases, many of them involving children. This is a man who champions the rule of law? This is a man deserving of your praise? Needless to say, the man pretending to be our President pardoned Arpaio.

So why did Pence honor Arpaio? To ingratiate himself with his audience, the ones who begin each rally with "Lock her up!"  As George Will points out, our politics have become purely tribal. Arpaio is on the same side as Pence, so he is worthy of praise; it's that simple.

"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal."  ~ George Will

And according to Pence and Arpaio and their leader, neither are all Americans.