Tillerson sounds sane and competent

[OKNancy]

We'll see.

ETA: This morning I read another positive story about him from a fellow Democrat.
Knew him from time in Boy Scouts and later his activities at Exxon ( said he promoted LGBT fairness there)

[coco22]

1. Another crook,thief,CONMAN..

[uponit7771]

5. +1, I've seen them talk like they were sane ... Enron CEO comes to mind. He was on crack

[uponit7771]

2. He also sounds like a person with tangible and close ties to Russia that can't be trusted. I've

... seen the stupid CEO who talks like an adult before, not impressed.

[coco22]

7. It looks good to the media..

compared to the POSTUS..

[uponit7771]

12. +1, He sounds sane next to a person who in a serious tone ask for better ratings for Arnold

[ananda]

17. That's why the seeming sane-looking are so dangerous!

This thinking about Tillerson is also the result of
multiple shocks and truly crazy demented clowns
occupying most of the WH.

He is not any more sane than the rest of them, but
he can put up a sane front.

[coco22]

41. On CNN they were saying..

he should be a comfort to the American people..to that I say

[brush]

55. Exactly. He's part of the Putin wing of our government.

[uponit7771]

56. +1, "Putin Wing"... PERFECT !!!!

[C_U_L8R]

3. We'll see.

If Tillerson is truly sane and competent, he'll be resigning by March.

[uponit7771]

14. +1, God ... I miss smart people on TV ... anyway we can get Obama back!? no?...shit

[SHRED]

4. By what standard?

[uponit7771]

16. +1, by the standard of quoting the Enquirer?... yeah, MiniPootin is not sane

[Motley13]

6. He can't last, he said we should have respect for others

[BeyondGeography]

8. Lots of people start out that way

[carpetbagger]

9. It happens

My father worked with Dick Cheney in the wayback, liked him, thought well of him. Died before he got to see what a schmuck the guy really was once unshackled. I hope he has the guts to stop the train before WW3.

[The_Voice_of_Reason]

10. I have to agree...

Far from a fan of Tillerson here, did not want him confirmed, but his opening speech was well delivered and reasonable...or maybe any speech would sound reasonable after listening to the Orange Menace for the past two weeks. As you say, "We'll see."

[Yupster]

21. It was a very tough speech

delivered in a folksy manner.

What I got out of it is that he knows the people in his new organization are not predisposed to support his initiatives. I think he made it pretty clear to them that there were going to be repercussions for not supporting the boss.

I was pretty impressed. This is a guy to be careful around.

[drray23]

35. I agree with your assessment.

If you listen carefully, these are the points that were buried in his speech :

1) we have to support president trump and respect each other . Translation: get in line

2) i will review the way the state department is run and make sweeping changes (he alluded to it when saying that current methods may be ild and inefficient).

3) everybody has to be accountable. This is corporate speech for "i will fire your ass" if you dont follow my orders to the letter.


He was talking to smart people, diplomats who will not have missed all of the inuendos .

[Yupster]

36. That's what I heard too

I was thinking of leakers too. I was thinking he was putting them on notice when he was talking about everyone being held accountable for their actions.

[Pachamama]

11. I just missed his speech to State Dept workers - What happened? Did he say something against

...the Little Man in the White House? Did he speak out against the Muslim Immigration Ban? Did he tell State Dept employees who signed the dissent cable must stay and ignore what White Hose said about leaving?

What did I miss?

[OKNancy]

13. not the first two, of course

but by inference yes on the third.

[Pachamama]

19. Let's ask those 1000 state department dissent cable signatories in 6 months if the inference was

....."correct"...

I see a mass exodus and purge coming...and a Foreign Service that has a loyalty oath that supersedes the Constitution and that their "personal convictions" must be in place with the Little Emperor....

[MoonRiver]

15. Tillerson is not demented. trump IS.

He may also have a shred of ethics, which is something we can, maybe, work with.

[Demsrule86]

40. He is a terrible person...look at the human rights aspect.

[MoonRiver]

42. I agree. Just saying that everything is relative.

Hillary should be making these picks,

[Demsrule86]

49. The first court pick is Obama's pick...the GOP stole it.

Thus no one except Merrick Garland should get the seat...I don't care if they break the filibuster...let them. But any Dem who helps with this is going to get primaried period.

[SticksnStones]

18. A silver tongued fox in the henhouse...

Follow the money...always!

How will Tillerson's net worth increase during his tenure at State?


Cheney did well with those quid pro quo wartime contracts ~

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/may/24/chris-matthews/chris-matthews-says-cheney-got-34-million-payday-h/

[SHRED]

20. I'm scratching my head at this post and some replies

I see no silver lining with this monster.

WTH are people here supporting him even a tiny bit?

This is what's wrong with our Party.

[DLevine]

30. Agree. I am baffled. nt

[uponit7771]

43. .... Syndrome. Being mentally sane gets rewarded now

[Motley13]

44. When you have an insane person in the WH, ANYONE looks good by comparison

[RandiFan1290]

50. Illuminating isn't it?

There has been a lot of trump defending this morning.

[truebluegreen]

52. +a brazillion

[Phoenix61]

22. Sad that sane gets brownie points

I'm sure he is competent in his role for Exxon, but I'm not sure how that will transfer to his current role.

[MgtPA]

23. So did Ted Bundy.

[SHRED]

24. Fuck Tillerson

And the Orange Pony he road in on.

[kstewart33]

25. This guy is wrong for many reasons.

Among them: A friend of Putin's who will lobby for lifting of sanctions. When that happens, Exxon Mobil will be free to secure a $500 billion contract with Russia for oil extraction. Oil $$$ are the main source of Putin's power.

He rejected State Department appeals not to take certain actions because they would threaten national security. Tillerson ignored them and acted anyway.

Boy Scout today? Hardly.

[unblock]

26. yeah, he's a mere sociopath.

that's a model of sanity by this administration's standards.

[old guy]

27. Normalize these people at your own risk.

They are not your friend nor do they care what happens to any of us. Think PROFITS.

[grantcart]

28. Tillerson has only one asset

That he can convince Trump of anything important.

For example
1) Don't listen to Bannon/Flynn
2) Stop the trajectory of war with Iran
3) End the ban on Muslims
4) Incentivise transformation away from fossil fuels.

He does these 4 things and we can talk.

[DLevine]

29. I'm sure he'll do a heckuvajob.

We are fucking doomed.

[enough]

31. Maybe if we can overlook the human rights charges, which have gotten very little notice.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/trumps-pick-secretary-state-rex-tillerson-linked-human-rights-abuses-indonesia

[hatrack]

32. So did Bernie Madoff, and Jeffrey Skilling, and Ken Lay . . . .

We'll see what happens in State in the next few months.

My guess - it won't be net positive for this country.

[MattP]

33. I think getting his stock dividends tax free was a big selling point on the job

[chelsea0011]

34. Ok, he may have sounded reasonable but his ties to Russia completely disqualify him to be SOS.

As Russia moves further into the Ukraine and Later Estonia, this bozo in charge will simply allow it to happen and with Tillerson as SOS, he will be a wallflower with no power. And maybe he would be happy to see Russia increase it's hold back in Eastern Europe. Who knows? And that'
s the problem.

[Yupster]

37. He didn't sound reasonable to me

He sounded like a tough administrator who knew it would be hard to change a huge organization, but he was going to give it a try.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

38. Tillerson is not the biggest problem we have

at all.

[Demsrule86]

39. He is not really.

He is an oil guy with no experience...he should not have been approved. I put those Democrats in my state who voted for him (Brown). Do not cooperate with the Republicans...give them what they gave President Obama...obstruction in all ways.

[logosoco]

45. I would question the sanity of anyone who wants to work under tRump.

And competent? Sure, but you could also say Charles Manson was a competent leader, since his followers did what he wanted.
When you put someone so high up in the oil business in the state department, you are probably going to see things getting done, but I am damn sure it won't be what is best for the people or the planet.

[Vinca]

46. If he was sane he wouldn't be tainting his reputation by being associated with Trump.

The history books will have a large chapter on the mentally unstable, totally incompetent "leader of the free world," and Tillerson's name will be included in the description.

[rock]

47. All con men are suave

Well, except Trump. Which I've never figured out. How does he fool anybody?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

48. His sanity is the least of my concerns about him.

It's his relationship with Mr. Putin that is greatly bothering me.

[truebluegreen]

51. Nothing against LGBT fairness

but there is nothing sane and competent about promoting and continuing the use of fossil fuels. The planet is burning up, for F's sake.

[dalton99a]

53. Most Big Corp CEOs sound reasonable in public

[alarimer]

54. He probably is, compared to Trump.

That's not a very high bar, though.