Mike Pence thought he was nearing the end of his day. He’d spent the day on the Hill trying to lobby for a Bill that would all but destroy Planned Parenthood. He’d spent all morning in the Rayburn and Longworth buildings meeting with House members and most of the afternoon in the Hart Senate Office building meeting with Senators. He got a call from Mitch McConnell who asked if he could stop in for a few minutes before leaving. Pence looked at his watch, sighed and walked back down the hall to Mitch’s office.
Photo: newsmax.com
He was ushered back to the inner office and was surprised to see a collection of leading Representatives and Senators, some of whom he’d met with earlier in the day. Mitch McConnell said, “We need to talk to you Mike. It’s time!”
Photo: nytimes.com
Pence was certain he knew what Mitch meant but for clarity’s sake he said, “Time for what?”
“It’s the Russia thing” said McConnell, “we can’t control it any longer. The Post has the whole story and it’s running in the morning. They have everything, Manafort, Flynn, a couple others. They’re all gonna say Trump order them to work with the Russians. He’s done!”
“So what’s next… impeachment?”
Paul Ryan stepped forward, “Hell no, it would take a year and there’s no telling what he could do in that amount of time. Clinton was embarrassed but he rolled the dice and won. Nixon knew he couldn’t win and quit. Goddamn Trump will cling to the Presidency until the last hour and might start a war with Russia or China as a distraction.”
“So what, the 25th? It’s never been done” said Pence. “Walk me through it.”
Ted Cruz spoke up, “It’s up to you Mike. You have to declare that Trump is ‘unable to discharge the duties of the office.’ That should be easy enough to demonstrate. You inform Paul here and Orrin Hatch in the Senate. We get half the Cabinet to agree with you and he’s done. If he tries to fight that. Congress decides who ends up as President.”
Pence said, “What about Schumer and Pelosi?”
McConnell said, “Oh they’ll raise hell! We have to make the issue Trump’s mental health. If it’s about collaboration with Russia they’ll demand a new election and God knows which side the public lands on. Some of Trump’s base will stick with him no matter what. We can ram you through any votes in Congress. We’ve done all we can to keep your name clear in all of this. We’ll make you the hero that saved the Republic.”
“Like Brutus, eh?”
Ryan said, “What was he thinking anyway, dealing with Russia?”
Cruz said, “We knew he was a man with no morals or conscience. Maybe the question is, What were we thinking?
Pence said, “yeah… what were we thinking.”
Featured Photo: storify.com
