Opinion: Does anybody know what Mike Pence’s real values are?

To the editor: The headline, “Vice President Mike Pence stays loyal to Trump, but it could come at a cost,” should have read “has come at a cost.” There’s not a bigger phony in Washington right now than Vice President Mike Pence.

He touted his Christian values during the campaign and currently does so as vice president, and yet he defends a man whose morals sink below anything that Jesus would view as acceptable.

Pete Seat, an Indiana Republican Party official, is quoted as saying about Pence, “He understands he has a job and his job is to be a loyal soldier.” Yes, the vice president has decided who his commander in chief is, and it’s not Christ.

Pence should step down from the moral high ground and just show us who he truly is.

Steve Grimm, Fountain Valley

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To the editor: Your report tells how President Trump’s initial Cabinet meeting afforded Pence an opportunity to showcase his role as Trump’s preeminent cheerleader. With Pence providing the cue, that meeting quickly degenerated into a festival of sycophants gushing praise on their dear leader.

As shown in news outlet videos, Defense Secretary James Mattis, seated at Trump’s left, appears to have been the sole Cabinet member made genuinely uncomfortable by this obscene spectacle.

If only an honest, honorable military veteran like Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, were charged with providing adult supervision to this surreal administration. Trump obviously won’t get that from Pence.

Mel Farber, Pacific Palisades

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