I think Tillerson knows exactly what he is doing. He wants that giant oil deal with Russia, the one that is currently blocked by sanctions. Remember, he authored and brokered it when he was “Mister Big Oil”. He stood, and probably still stands to make a stupid amount of money if it ever got through.
Tillerson got a massive payout from the ExxonMobil board when he resigned to become SoS, $27 million IIRC. I thought even at the time that it was less a lump sum pension than a retainer for future services.
Yes to all this. Tillerson’s personal interests and Putin’s interests coincide, which is why Tillerson is Secretary of State. Confirmation: Trump certainly didn’t appoint Tillerson because he wanted to for his own reasons—after all, Tillerson clearly fails the ‘flatter Trump’ test:
If Pence became president and had to meet with Angela Merkel, would he have to bring his wife along? Even if they were discussing sensitive information?
Probably. In the evangelical fundie society, that’s what pastors do whenever they meet with a woman, their wife goes along with them. Although, sometimes, it’s okay, to be alone with one if you leave the door open.
Is it usual for presidents to meet alone with people? Don’t they always have a bunch of lackeys standing behind them? Pence should just hire his wife as his chief unpaid coffee-getter, with top level national security clearance. Like Trump did with Evanka.
Rick Perry, Secretary of Energy, speaking of coal production: “Here’s a little economics lesson, that supply and demand. You put the supply out there and the demand will follow that.”
Er, does that mean that if I start making buggy whips that people will start driving buggies again?
I’m almost positive they teach those Aggies better’n that, even the Animal Science majors. Texas A&M should reclaim that sheepskin they issued to Mr. Perry.
It deserves mentioning that Perry’s two predecessors under Obama were Stephen Chu, a Nobel laureate who ran the Berkeley Lab; and Ernest Moniz, a long-serving MIT physics professor who ran that department for several years. I’m sure Perry did an excellent job competing against Vanilla Ice on “Dancing with the Stars,” but it would be awesome if we had someone smart and competent handling our energy policy and nuclear weapons.
The sheer incompetence of this administration, from top to bottom, is breathtaking. One thing I thought Trump might be able to do is delegate responsibilities. Even that is too much work for the silver-spoon prez.
