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Friday, December 16, 2016

Is Rex Tillerson a Good/Bad Choice for SecState?

This article first appeared in Eagle Rising.


Today, I made one of those Hitler parodies that you see all over the Internet. I've made several. If you are not familiar with them, they use a clip from the German movie, "Downfall"/"Untergang") which portrays the final days of Hitler in the Berlin bunker. In the scene Hitler is being briefed by his generals as to the dire situation as the Russians enter Berlin. Unconcerned, Hitler says everything will be fine once General Steiner arrives with his army. He is then told that Steiner and his army will not be coming. It is this moment when Hitler learns that all is lost and he goes into a two-minute rage. It is the inspiration for  hundreds of "Hitler learns......" videos

So what does this have to do with Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of state?

Because in my crazy Hitler parody scenario, Hitler learns that he was not picked to be Trump's secretary of state.

Which brings me to Tillerson, a man whom I knew nothing about or even heard of before his name came up in the past week or so. Personally, I had been hoping for John Bolton or even Rudy Giuliani.

All I know now is that Tillerson is the CEO of Exxon-Mobil and has dealt with Vladimir Putin, which has given the Democrats ammo to attack him. How interesting to see the Democrats suddenly turn into Cold Warriors. Yet, I am all for a full airing on Tillerson's relationship with Putin. God knows we need someone who can deal with Putin without the US getting screwed.

So is it wise to pick a businessman to be secretary of state? I dunno, but was it wise to pick a US senator (John Kerry) or a former first lady/senator (Hillary Clinton)? No. They have been abject failures. Tillerson can't be any worse than those two.

Secondly, what's wrong with picking a successful businessman with experience in representing his company internationally and making deals that are beneficial to the company and its shareholders? Is Tillerson successful? Of course he is. If you are the CEO of Exxon-Mobil, you are a very successful and accomplished person. So let's give him a shot.

In closing, I have to say that Trump sure got his payback with Mitt Romney after all the mean things Mitt said about him. Imagine Mitt journeying twice to New York into the Trump Tower, hat-in hand, making his case for secretary of state only to come away empty-handed.

How smooth was that?






3 comments:

Siarlys Jenkins said...

And to think that four years ago Gary thought the world of Mittens.

Gary Fouse said...

I never "thought the world" of Mittens. I voted for him. Period.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

You spoke rather highly of him Gary. Not like this year, when you reluctantly announced your decision to vote for Trump rather late in the season.