title:  Even Indiana’s Republicans Are Trying To Erase Any Evidence Pence Ever Existed
text: While the entire nation is struggling with the question of who is worse, Donald Trump or Mike Pence, the state of Indiana is thrilled to be rid of the right-wing conservative Pence who was their governor until just a few weeks ago, and they re doing everything to erase his legacy and all of this is being orchestrated by the replacement that Pence picked.Governor Eric Holcomb was chosen by Pence as his lieutenant governor. Pence has often said that he s  a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.  Holcomb, on the other hand is definitely a Christian, but he s a lot more pragmatic and frankly, next to Pence, anyone seems moderate, well, except perhaps the man who currently occupies the Oval Office.In just these last three weeks, Holcomb has cancelled a contract that would have leased cellphone towers to an Ohio company which would have left Indiana residents to foot the bill for construction projects.He also pardoned a wrongly convicted man who served nearly two decades in prison.Holcomb also pardoned Keith Cooper, who was wrongfully convicted of robbery nearly 20 years ago, and declared a disaster emergency for an East Chicago neighborhood where residents have been forced to relocate because of lead contamination.Pence had declined to pardon Cooper before leaving office, insisting that he exhaust his legal options despite resounding evidence of his innocence. Pence s refusal to exonerate the 49-year-old Chicago man came despite a pardon recommendation from the Indiana Parole Board and an online petition urging Pence to clear Cooper s name that had collected more than 100,000 signatures.Source: IndyStarWhile Holcomb hasn t exactly turned Indiana into a liberal haven, he does support a local needle exchange. Pence didn t. Pence preferred to take the see no evil approach and pretend that if we pray hard enough and disapprove firmly enough, people won t do drugs and they won t get sick from sharing needles. That doesn t work. To be fair, though, Pence did eventually succumb, but he still opposed giving local officials the authority to enact such an exchange.Right before he left office, Pence vetoed two bills. One gave university police departments (you know, the ones who are so often charged with investigating sexual assaults and hate crimes) total secrecy and the other prevented the state from establishing stronger environmental regulations than the feds without the General Assembly s approval. Both vetoes were overridden.House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, called the turn away from Pence s policies  fascinating. The Mike Pence legacy came to a very quick end today, probably the shortest one in Indiana gubernatorial history,  he said.  We just saw his final two vetoes overridden. Gov. Holcomb made the very common sense decision to address the East Chicago lead problem, which has been our own Flint (Mich.) in the making. He pardoned an innocent man which seems basic human decency. And he allowed that bicentennial cellphone tower deal to die a cow s death here in the Hoosier state. Residents of Indiana aren t exactly hopeful that they ll turn blue, but it s interesting that Trump s (and Pence s) coattails seem to be non-existent, just a few weeks into the the administration. Trump is no leader and even other Republicans are beginning to see that.Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images 