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That's a tough one. The guy is such a scumbag, but repeatedly telling trump no and refusing to be above the law was a huge thing. I actually respect him for doing that.
Is he 100% off the trump train? Is it enough so he won't hold back? Hopefully his sense of honor for the country he seems to have will be strong enough to not hand waive things away.
refusing to break the law wasn’t a pious act— he just didn’t want to face the consequences. I think he might have if he thought he could get away with it. I just don’t think he’s as stupid or delusional as Trump, et al.
Nobody is saying that his act is pious. But saying that he will act as the other crazies is inaccurate.
And I don't even like the guy!
oh, no, I think you’re misunderstanding me— or maybe I should explain better. Pence certainly wound’t do any of this to help them but to help himself. I don’t think we can ever entirely know his motivations but can only approximate or triangulate them based on his past/current behaviors. Pence is a tremendously selfish and self-motivated person driven almost entirely by his own self-interest. He only seems to do anything at all if he thinks he can personally benefit— and, likewise, would not do something if it would be to his detriment.
So, if he does something like the other nutbags, their motivations wouldn’t be the same, just that he thought he could get something out of it. Likewise, he didn’t participate in the vote delegate bullshit Trump asked him to, not because he “believes in democracy” or the constitutional rule of law/transfer of power— it’s because he knew it was a harebrained scheme that would never work, and they’d all end up in jail or worse.
turns out it was the right decision.
Understood. Again, I don't like the guy, but the way you describe things, well, sounds typical of the average politician.
(Republicans like Boebert, Gaetz, etc are not the average politicians. They're way, way, way below that.)
Your average, Republican politician, perhaps… 
Thing is, I’m discussing an explanation for Pence’s behavior based on his specific past behavior in specific, rather unique situations. You’re offering a broad opinion based on a speculation of politicians in general. There’s a difference. 
Understood, kind commenter. Fair point.
He ain't no angel, like I said the guy is a scumbag. But he could have easily gone along with trump at any time, he chose not to. That seems to be extremely rare for people around trump to do.
I think you might be right in your last sentence. That's probably the defining attribute in play.
as I’ve said elsewhere, Pence didn’t go along with Trump because he’s not insane or an idiot. He knew better and is (and always has been) only in it of himself. It didn’t serve his interests and he has no real interest in helping Trump, and he knew it wouldn’t work and would land him in forever prison. It had nothing to do with doing the right thing.
Oh I agree with you on that.
It's going to be either really interesting if/when he takes the stand, or a complete waste of time.