Tillerson out.

They'll be replaced by the next best people, who will divest themselves of their investments, work for exactly a year, then leave and pick their investments back up without having to pay taxes.



ridski said:

They'll be replaced by the next best people, who will divest themselves of their investments, work for exactly a year, then leave and pick their investments back up without having to pay taxes.

I wonder if Tillerson’s remarks about Russia were to goad Trump into firing him since he’s already done his one year. Keeps his money, doesn’t have to work another day for the ‘moron’. 



LOST said:

An interesting development.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/14/rand-paul-opposes-mike-pompeo-state-461749?lo=ap_c1

We'll see. Paul usually huffs and puffs and ultimately backs down.


Trump is saying that Trump is the best person. The one and only one needed. All that is needed after that is lackeys to follow his dictates. 



dave23 said:



LOST said:

An interesting development.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/14/rand-paul-opposes-mike-pompeo-state-461749?lo=ap_c1

We'll see. Paul usually huffs and puffs and ultimately backs down.

But he will do the filibuster. Last one was just a warm up. He does always seem to make a statement and then fade away.

I liked his dad better.


Every decision is more disturbing than the last. Gina Haspel, proposed CIA director, oversaw a black site in Thailand where some of the worst torture of alleged terrorists took place.



dave23 said:

Every decision is more disturbing than the last. Gina Haspel, proposed CIA director, oversaw a black site in Thailand where some of the worst torture of alleged terrorists took place.

Lost posted this up thread. I look at that woman's face and I would never be able to imagine what those eyes have seen.


 

LOST

Mar 13, 2018 at 9:26am

And for Director of the CIA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Haspel



FWIW, our media is full of reports that our Foreign Minister Julie Bishop knew of the personnel changes hours before Tillerson did, via secret phone calls. 



joanne said:

FWIW, our media is full of reports that our Foreign Minister Julie Bishop knew of the personnel changes hours before Tillerson did, via secret phone calls. 

It was cowardly. Why not sit with the man when he heard Tillerson called him a moron. Tell him that whether he said it or not there is a perception that he does not like the style or policies and that they should consider ending the  term as soon as a suitable replacement is found. Then offer him the opportunity to come up with a face saving exit.



Morganna said:



joanne said:

FWIW, our media is full of reports that our Foreign Minister Julie Bishop knew of the personnel changes hours before Tillerson did, via secret phone calls. 

It was cowardly. Why not sit with the man when he heard Tillerson called him a moron. Tell him that whether he said it or not there is a perception that he does not like the style or policies and that they should consider ending the  term as soon as a suitable replacement is found. Then offer him the opportunity to come up with a face saving exit.

Sure, that makes sense, but we know that Trump doesn't do things the classy way. Moreover, you know he knows on some level that he is widely perceived as a moron. He is a Queens kid who wants to fit in with the Manhattan crowd, and he never will.


Unbelievable that she still has a job, much less that she's going to the director of the agency.  At this point, we need to accept that the mainstream of our country is A-OK with these heinous policies.  It's shameful, but we're all responsible now.

Morganna said:



dave23 said:

Every decision is more disturbing than the last. Gina Haspel, proposed CIA director, oversaw a black site in Thailand where some of the worst torture of alleged terrorists took place.

Lost posted this up thread. I look at that woman's face and I would never be able to imagine what those eyes have seen.




 


LOST


Mar 13, 2018 at 9:26am

And for Director of the CIA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Haspel



I will long maintain that one of the worst legacies of the Bush administration is how they normalized torture.  It has fundamentally changed American discourse and has turned us into an unambiguously evil nation.

Damn them. And a special damnation for the Cheney family.



dave23 said:



LOST said:

An interesting development.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/14/rand-paul-opposes-mike-pompeo-state-461749?lo=ap_c1

We'll see. Paul usually huffs and puffs and ultimately backs down.

All hat and no cattle.


Burn It Down, Rex -- Michelle Goldberg, NY Times

If Tillerson came out and said that the president is unfit, and perhaps even that venal concerns for private gain have influenced his foreign policy, impeachment wouldn’t begin tomorrow, but Trump’s already narrow public support would shrink further.

Germany now has an arrest warrant out for Haspel for war crimes.  



dave said:

Germany now has an arrest warrant out for Haspel for war crimes.  

A warrant was issued?


Correction: "The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights asked German prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant for Haspel for her role in the torture program."  This was also requested before, but there's more evidence now.  



dave said:

Correction: "The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights asked German prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant for Haspel for her role in the torture program."  This was also requested before, but there's more evidence now.  

I'm guessing that for Trump, that's a plus in her favor.  To be fair, probably not a negative to most of the Republicans and Democrats in Congress either.


D and R congressfolk have been torturing each other for so long you'd think they'd know by now it doesn't work and usually creates results opposite of those intended.



ml1 said:



dave said:

Correction: "The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights asked German prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant for Haspel for her role in the torture program."  This was also requested before, but there's more evidence now.  

I'm guessing that for Trump, that's a plus in her favor. ....

Based on that, Trump may withdraw her nomination for C.I.A. and put her in charge of the Federal prison system. That wouldn't even require confirmation from the Senate.



cramer said:

Pompeo has been named  to replace Tillerson.  Interesting take on Pompeo by Jim Cramer on CNBC. Tillerson represented the business community, Pompeo represents the intelligence community. Trump is concerned with theft of intellectual property by China, and Pompeo is better equipped to handle it (although that wasn't the main reason for Tillerson's departure.) 

Larry Kudlow is expected to be named as Gary Cohen's replacement. 

Pompeo represents the "intelligence community"? Pompeo is a conspiracy theorist, please do not use his name in the same sentence with "intelligence".


By the way, let's not forget that Tillerson destroyed the State Department. He was probably the worst Secretary of State so far (but he probably will not hold that record for long)


I agree.  Before we feel sorry for Rex, he did spearhead the complete dismantling the State Department.  It will take years or decades to rebuild if and when someone competent replaces Trump.

gerritn said:

By the way, let's not forget that Tillerson destroyed the State Department. He was probably the worst Secretary of State so far (but he probably will not hold that record for long)



Funny. The experts on MOL condemn and reject Haspel and the Intel community which should be the best source of information strongly support her

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/03/13/gina-haspel-trump-nominee-first-woman-leader-cia/419547002/

John Brennan, a former CIA director, told MSNBC the "very controversial" interrogation program Haspel was connected with was approved by President George W. Bush and deemed lawful by the Justice Department. 

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/clapper-trumps-pick-for-cia-director-is-a-tremendous-intelligence-officer/http://freebeacon.com/national-security/clapper-trumps-pick-for-cia-director-is-a-tremendous-intelligence-officer/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/14/politics/gina-haspel-leon-panetta-new-day-cnntv/index.html


If Brennan endorses her then Trump might withdraw her nomination considering what Brennan said about Trump.



BCC said:

Funny. The experts on MOL condemn and reject Haspel and the Intel community which should be the best source of information strongly support her


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/03/13/gina-haspel-trump-nominee-first-woman-leader-cia/419547002/

John Brennan, a former CIA director, told MSNBC the "very controversial" interrogation program Haspel was connected with was approved by President George W. Bush and deemed lawful by the Justice Department. 

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/clapper-trumps-pick-for-cia-director-is-a-tremendous-intelligence-officer/http://freebeacon.com/national-security/clapper-trumps-pick-for-cia-director-is-a-tremendous-intelligence-officer/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/14/politics/gina-haspel-leon-panetta-new-day-cnntv/index.html

There was  a time when "following orders" was not a defense.


Another view.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/03/18/rand_paul_will_do_whatever_it_takes_to_block_gina_haspel_and_mike_pompeo.html

"[The president] keeps appointing people around him who loved the Iraq War so much, that they're ready for a war with Iran next. And so I don't think you really want people who are eager for war to be running the State Department. You want a diplomat."

Paul also responded to Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who tweeted: "Gina Haspel has spent her career defending the American people and homeland. Rand Paul is defending and sympathizing with terrorists"

 "I think the Cheneys, both father and daughter, could spend a lifetime trying to justify the thousands of soldiers, thousands of Iraqis who died in the Iraq War, which was an unnecessary war, made the Middle East less stable, emboldened Iran, and really have been wrong about every foreign policy decision of the last four years," Paul said.  "Until they have proved that they know anything about the world, I think, probably, they ought to just be quiet."



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