I don't care if he has diplomatic experience. Obama didn't. Hillary didn't. John Kerry didn't. If that is what we wanted, then John Bolton would be the way to go. I don't know that I have a problem with Tillerson either. Maybe he is just not what I was expecting. If Trump picks him, I think he is going to have to make clear what he sees in this guy that makes him a particularly good fit for this particular job. Trump may well be able to do that. But I think a lot of people are likely to be concerned that Tillerson's priorities may not be entirely clear. We may very well need to be more hardline with Russia than we have been, that is for sure. I don't believe that anyone is necessarily making the case that this will not be necessary. However, a lot of the problems we are having with Russia, we have brought on ourselves. Obama's botched attempt to turn the Ukraine to the West was a disaster, with the Russia eventually seizing the Crimea and Barack Obama standing there in front of the whole world with his ____ in his hand. Then the red-line episode in Syria, which Obama later walked back. Then he effectively outsourced the handling of the Syria situation to Russia, while maintaining our foreign policy at odds with theirs. Now Syria is a literal disaster area, with migrants fleeing towards Europe and major unrest being caused by that throughout Europe. Obama and his regime have played a central, tragic role in all of this. So the first thing is not to crack down on Russia, as convenient as scapegoat as they are for the Democrat's failures, especially the most recent one at the ballot box in November. The first thing we need to do is to stop conducting our foreign policy like a bunch of fools. This is where a super solid Secretary of State comes in, if we can find one. We certainly do not need any more political payback appointees in that position like Hillary Clinton clearly was. We should behave in a "friendly" manner towards all of the countries you mentioned above, at least as far as our personal interactions go. But our foreign policy needs to be crafted based on the interests of our country and the specific geopolitical circumstances the situation requires. With Russia, that will require as always intelligent strategies, firm boundaries, at times retaliation, etc.. They are not our "friend" or ally, but it is not clear to me that they necessarily need to be our enemy at this point in time either, even though Obama and his crew appears dead set on pursuing that course in part for domestic political purposes. Russia is a major international entity acting in their own interests, who has long experience and knowledge of us and our tendencies and tactics. We should compartmentalize this relationship and try to align those interests as much as we can, and that should include us rethinking our posture where that makes sense, not just them rethinking theirs. Then in those areas where we are not going to agree, a more adversarial arrangement in some cases will clearly be required. These two approaches (there are actually more than two) do not have to be mutually exclusive. We can compartmentalize and use the correct approach for the situation as circumstances require. This is where a highly skilled Secretary of State could accomplish some real wonders.
At these big oil companies it isn't about the persons capabilities. You need to be well liked and not rock the boat. Basically they have a manual for everything even how to size a pipe or turn a knob.
Kerry was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Clinton had a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Obama was never considered for Secretary of State, but was chairman of Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs. Obama also sat on a number subcommittees, including Homeland Security, Eastern Asian Affairs and African Affairs, to name a few. Perhaps you were thinking of Governors or State Senators. Members of congress, especially U.S. Senators have a substantial if only indirect role in diplomacy.
Also you know we won't invade them dirty Russkies, Nuclear Winter and all, but at least we can get the "defense" stocks pumped by a new Cold War. Sadly war and Cold War are pretty much the only types of Keynesian stimulus the conservatives believe in.
Only time will tell how he will do. He would have to work extraordinarily hard to be as bad as Hillary or Kerry. This cabinet has a lot of potential.
Even if I didn't already detest your politics, that ridiculous profile pic is a sin against all Houston fans of any sport.
I wonder if Tillerson will be using an unsecured, unknown, and possibly illegal private server to host his private email account for all State Department correspondence. Oh, have I got your attention, now?
No he will just sell us out to Russia. But at least he didn't lie about emails - that's far more important.
It's bizarre reading the excuses being made for Trump and Putin's theft of an American presidential election, as well as Trump's subsequent picks for major positions in his upcoming administration. Actually, it is beyond bizarre. Some of you obviously care more about the man than you do about your country.
good greif. please tell us how the election was stolen? By releasing podesta's real emails? This national temper tantrum by the left is just awesome to watch. Totally showing them for what they are. Russia and Trump schemed for years and came up with the perfect strategy to win the election by releasing Podesta's actual emails. brilliant.
Well they definitely tried to help Trump win. To what extent we do not know. But it's clear that Russia will shape U.S. Foreign policy for the next four years - if you can't tell that from Trump and his appointments, than you are really living under a rock. We now have a Secretary of State who is the biggest corporate oil man on earth running our foreign policy - one in which his predessor cost his company a billion dollars by sanctions on Russia. This is a guy who is loved in Russia and unknown by Americans. I guess when Trump talked about draining the swamp he really meant draining one swamp to make his much much bigger. Putin is POTUS
Politically, right now ties to Russia has been made an issue and will make confirmation difficult, even amongst Republicans. Objectively, experience dealing with Russia and the Middle East is a good thing. Outside of China, wouldn't those be the two most important areas of concern globally? There will be a strong campaign put forward for Tillerson, and I suspect a different, stronger perception of him will emerge. As for no government experience, that is certainly nothing new. Even at the SoS level, there have been many who did not have any previous government experience.
Good grief, this stupid meme again? Even though we took exactly NO oil in the referenced invasions? Not that Tillerson's ties to oil won't be an issue. It's kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't. It is Exxon's global empire that gives him the experience world wide to be SoS, but it will that same experience that presents this issue.
Not everything is a meme. Do you think Cheney's Halliburton background was not a contributing factor in Iraq 2? As for future oil grabs:
