Rex Tillerson Trump' Choice For Secretary of State

rugcat · Dec 10, 2016

Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson is Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of State. Among other things, Tillerson is close to Vladimir Putin, having received the Order of Friendship for his work with the state controlled Russian oil company Rosneft.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-news/wat...or-secy-of-state-829919811953?cid=sm_tw_msnbc

So. The head of Exxon Mobil, with close Russian ties is now to be our secretary of state. Coincidentally, the Russian government interfered with our election to assist Donald Trump.

Exxon Mobil made a huge deal with Rosneft ( 500 billion, I believe) that fell apart when the US imposed sanctions on Russia after their excursions in Crimea in the Ukraine. What do you think the chances are those sanctions will now be lifted? Tellerson, who owns much Exxon stock stands to increase his wealth by millions upon millions of dollars if that original deal goes through.

I said before the election that I didn't believe most people fully understood just how bad Donald Trump was going to be if elected. He has far outstipped even my own worst expectations.

Roxxsmom · Dec 10, 2016

Wow that's ballsy considering that the CIA has just concluded unequivocally that the Russians did interfere in our election process with the clear intent of electing Trump. But as he has proven time and time again, what would embroil another politician in career-ending scandal, if not get them indicted, just makes him bolder and more popular with his supporters.

blacbird · Dec 10, 2016

Trump's proposed cabinet is not only the wealthiest ever assembled, it's also the least qualified and strangest ever assembled.

caw

clintl · Dec 10, 2016

I think if he goes through with Tillerson as his pick, the Senate rejects it. McCain and Graham are not at all happy with the pick, if their remarks on the NBC Nightly News tonight are any indication, and if they vote against him, all it takes is one more Republican to vote him down. My prediction - Trump twiddles his thumbs for a few days, and then someone else emerges as the front runner.

blacbird · Dec 10, 2016

clintl said:
My prediction - Trump twiddles his thumbs for a few days, and then someone else emerges as the front runner.

Candidates having equal qualifications:

Bruce Willis
Vince McMahon
Ted Nugent
Kid Rock
Sean Hannity
Ken Ham
American Pharaoh
. . .

caw

princessvessna · Dec 11, 2016

I wonder if they're doing a strategic leak to help promote the idea of fake news. Over on Twitter (ah, Twitter), someone in the transition team said no announcement until next week. People responded by saying they could only trust @realdonaldtrump since the rest was clickbait and fake news. Responses like that. If they choose someone else in the end, they have more "proof" of that.

Roxxsmom · Dec 11, 2016

blacbird said:
Candidates having equal qualifications:

Bruce Willis
Vince McMahon
Ted Nugent
Kid Rock
Sean Hannity
Ken Ham
American Pharaoh
. . .

caw

Also, any randomly picked third grader. And Leo (my cat).

RedRajah · Dec 11, 2016

Cats wouldn't tolerate Trump's shit and they refuse to kiss his ass.

Roxxsmom · Dec 11, 2016

RedRajah said:
Cats wouldn't tolerate Trump's shit and they refuse to kiss his ass.

This. Plus, the feline habit of coming up behind people on the sofa and chewing on their hair wouldn't end well with Trump.

J.J.PITTS · Dec 11, 2016

Roxxsmom said:
Wow that's ballsy considering that the CIA has just concluded unequivocally that the Russians did interfere in our election process with the clear intent of electing Trump.

Is this the same CIA whom concluded unequivocally Saddam Hussein had WMD? Since that time, has been hammered continually by the Left over dropping the ball? http://nation.time.com/2012/09/06/iraq-how-the-cia-says-it-blew-it-on-saddams-wmd/

MaeZe · Dec 11, 2016

Roxxsmom said:
This. Plus, the feline habit of coming up behind people on the sofa and chewing on their hair wouldn't end well with Trump.

Your cat chews on peoples' hair?

RightHoJeeves · Dec 11, 2016

J.J.PITTS said:
Is this the same CIA whom concluded unequivocally Saddam Hussein had WMD? Since that time, has been hammered continually by the Left over dropping the ball? http://nation.time.com/2012/09/06/iraq-how-the-cia-says-it-blew-it-on-saddams-wmd/

Ha, good point.

MaeZe · Dec 11, 2016

J.J.PITTS said:
Is this the same CIA whom concluded unequivocally Saddam Hussein had WMD? Since that time, has been hammered continually by the Left over dropping the ball? http://nation.time.com/2012/09/06/iraq-how-the-cia-says-it-blew-it-on-saddams-wmd/

Not exactly but I suspect a debate about it here would go nowhere. It's closer to GW Bush, et al, influencing the CIA and taking intelligence the CIA said was doubtful then presenting it to the public as "a slam dunk".

RedRajah · Dec 11, 2016

MaeZe said:
Your cat chews on peoples' hair?

My cat grooms my husband's hair.

rugcat · Dec 11, 2016

MaeZe said:
Not exactly but I suspect a debate about it here would go nowhere. It's closer to GW Bush, et al, influencing the CIA and taking intelligence the CIA said was doubtful then presenting it to the public as "a slam dunk".

Yes, that debate will never be resolved.

Republicans have long insisted they were misled by inaccurate information. Some, like Dick Cheney, still insist the information they received was accurate, but he's pretty much alone in that.

I think most unbiased observers have come to the conclusion that the Bush administration cherry-picked -- they played up information that seemed to support what they wanted to hear and dismissed equally compelling information that did not fit into their agenda.

That's the whole point of the anger directed at the Bush administration – that they distorted information received from intelligence services to push policy objectives they had already decided on.

This appears to be quite different. There is apparently no question but that the Russians were behind the hacking. The different opinions are simply about what the Russian motivations might have been, and if that can ever be known with any certainty.

One thing that is certain is that Putin hates Hillary Clinton and is rather supportive of Donald Trump -- and extremely fond of the new Secretary of State, recipient of the Russian "Order of Friendship."

blacbird · Dec 11, 2016

MaeZe said:
Your cat chews on peoples' hair?

She's not alone. I do, in fact, have this incredibly charming Siamese female cat who likes to do this.

caw

Alessandra Kelley · Dec 11, 2016

J.J.PITTS said:
Is this the same CIA whom concluded unequivocally Saddam Hussein had WMD? Since that time, has been hammered continually by the Left over dropping the ball? http://nation.time.com/2012/09/06/iraq-how-the-cia-says-it-blew-it-on-saddams-wmd/

Is it? Who was in charge of the CIA then, and who is in charge of it now?

MaeZe · Dec 11, 2016

Alessandra Kelley said:
Is it? Who was in charge of the CIA then, and who is in charge of it now?

Exactly.

And people are ripe to believe the CIA was behind the Iraq WMD lie and of course, the Trump camp knows all too well how to exploit that little convenient wedge.

J.J.PITTS · Dec 12, 2016

Alessandra Kelley said:
Is it? Who was in charge of the CIA then, and who is in charge of it now?

Am I to understand we only trust the CIA or any other government agency if 'our' guy is in office?

raburrell · Dec 12, 2016

You trust them if they present a cogent and logical case for whatever evidence they're presenting.

Ergo, Iraq, no, as was the assessment of other informed individuals at the time. And there were plenty of dissenters inside the various agencies (which is why Scooter Libby outed Valerie Plame)

On Russian hacking, yes, because academic researchers have been saying the same thing for months. And this is supposedly a broad consensus agreement across the various agencies.

There's nothing partisan here. Trump just continues to make it look like he has something to hide.

edutton · Dec 12, 2016

blacbird said:
She's not alone. I do, in fact, have this incredibly charming Siamese female cat who likes to do this.

caw

My daughter's cat tries to groom any of us dry when we get out of the shower... and one of our first generation of cats would do the same.

edutton · Dec 12, 2016

J.J.PITTS said:
Am I to understand we only trust the CIA or any other government agency if 'our' guy is in office?

I read that more as, if there's completely different leadership (and there have been multiple leadership changes at CIA over the intervening years), how differently might that make the agency function?

J.J.PITTS · Dec 12, 2016

edutton said:
I read that more as, if there's completely different leadership (and there have been multiple leadership changes at CIA over the intervening years), how differently might that make the agency function?

Does that automatically mean they function 'better'?

Or does it depend on the results one is searching for?

rugcat · Dec 12, 2016

J.J.PITTS said:
Does that automatically mean they function 'better'?

Or does it depend on the results one is searching for?

Ir would be easier to have a productive discussion if you would simply state clearly whatever the point is you're trying to make, instead of using faux Socratic one line questions and forcing people to guess what it is you're trying to say.

Of course, if you actually spelled out what you think you would then have to defend it. That's not quite as much fun.

raburrell · Dec 12, 2016

J.J.PITTS said:
Does that automatically mean they function 'better'?

Or does it depend on the results one is searching for?

This sort of faux logic really isn't believable from the PEOTUS, and even less so when you parrot it secondhand.

Rex Tillerson Trump' Choice For Secretary of State

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