I listened to a bit of Tillerson's opening statement - this guy is the real deal. Just listening to him makes me understand how/why he was the CEO OF Exxon/Mobil. The U.S. will benefit greatly having Tillerson at the helm of the State Dept.

One comment he makes at the very end of his opening statement: "We will never apologize for who we are, or the ideals that we hold dear." Glad to hear him say that!

All nominees are prepped to say certain things that they have to say to make themselves look good.

Of all Trump's cabinet picks the Tillerson pick concerns me the most.

He is a political and corporate globalist - not good.

He was on the Board of the Boy Scouts and voted to approve homo scout leaders - not good.

Up until a few weeks ago he was a chummy chum buddy of Chekist KBG murderer thug V.V. Putin - not good.

He got behind the promoting of Global warming bs - not good.

He will probably be confirmed but I am going to be watching him like a hawk as will many other true conservatives out there.

Don't listen to what they say now. Look at what they've done in the past. Big global warming supporter for starters and establishment to the core. That would be enough but there is more. Trump has some really good nominees like Sessions and Mattis but Tillerson is more of the same old same old.

WM , you were typing while I was and you said what I was trying to convey but you broke it down much better than I did.

Yep in Huntsville I noticed yesterday, the word "boy" is no longer on the sign outside of the scout store. It just reads Scouts of America. That is not making America Great Again.

I expect a President and a SOS that is going to stand up to Putin's Russian and Soviet style revanchism in Europe. I don't give a crap about Syria and the Middle East - let the Russians waste blood and treasure there the stupid way we have the last many decades especially in Iraq.

But the Euro-Atlantic/NATO/Western Civilization relations and alliance is SACRED and must never be broken. This is *our* civilization - and the Russian Empire's perennial effort to break it must be aggressively and always resisted and pushed back. Yes, the Euro side must be forced to pay up their fair share of NATO, many already do and others are now increasing their defense budgets and NATO contributions as they see Trump correctly is not going to allow any free ride for Europe (which essentially subsidizes their socialism), but the Western Alliance is itself sacrosanct.

What conservatives need to understand is that while we may dislike a lot of things about Kasich, Rubio, McCain and Graham - they are 100% correct about Putin's Russia.

How could he be on the global warming band wagon and be the CEO of one of the largest fossil fuel companies on the planet?

https://www.google.com/amp/mashable.com/...android-verizon

From the article:
That's why as CEO, Tillerson moved to have the company acknowledge the central role that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions play in global warming, and advocated for a revenue neutral carbon tax as the most economically elegant solution to putting a price on carbon emissions.

During a speech before an oil and gas conference in London in October, for example, Tillerson said:

"We have long supported a carbon tax as the best policy of those being considered. Replacing the hodge-podge of current, largely ineffective regulations with a revenue-neutral carbon tax would ensure a uniform and predictable cost of carbon across the economy."

Highly recommend folks read the following piece, it is very accurate and spot on. Westerners, especially American simply do not know and understand Russians.


https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/victor-rud-art-whose-deal.html


Americans rarely study other people/countries etc. or travel outside the U.S. and automatically assume everyone in the world thinks the same - especially if they are white Caucasian people. People assume that since Russians are white people that they think like us. They do not! They think the *opposite* as Westerners! There is a reason that Sir Winston Churchill made his famous quote about Russia - "Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."

Russians are 24/7/365 hyper conscious of their ethno-national reality and identity and that they are not Europe and are not the West. They are always conscious of their own ethno/national/cultural/political/empire/civilizational reality. Just as the Chinese and the Indians are (except on steroids).

The vast majority of Westerners just do not seem to know and understand that basic and simple reality about the Russians.

Another critical thing to understand about Russians is something very peculiar that no other nation-state/people/empire/civilization has ever had: they see as a fundamental part of their *existence* and *identity* is to be **opposed** to another civilization - the West, and especially the leader of the West, the USA.

In other words, and all Russians know this, to BE Russian is to BE against the West and to especially BE against America, in every way possible.

The new prez and his SOS and national security team must be award of and understand these things. This is not simply a matter of "deal making". To Russians a "deal" is where they defeat an opponent on an issue/thing/matter. That is the Russian way of looking at international agreements and treaties. Even in business. To Russians there are only winners and losers. In everything. No treaty or agreement is ever expected to be honored by Russians by their side.

Rubio showed once again why he's not president. Trying to get Tillerson to admit Putin is a war criminal, come on. What a dip chit. Thats a good way for him to get started as Secretary of State calling everybody he'll be dealing with a criminal.

I feel like I'm in bizarro world. Any time a politician actually does the right thing that conservatives should cheer for, they get labeled traitors because they haven't pledged blind allegiance to Trump and his appointees. Putin is dangerous and Tillerson's past history is extremely troubling. He needs to be grilled on the subject and tell the truth even if it isn't popular.

I don't consider showboating to achieve a desired answer doing the right thing.

If you know something to be true and you know the other person knows it too, sometimes embarrassment is the only way to get them to admit it. It's very telling that your issue is with the guy trying to get the truth out rather than the one trying to hide it.

is it just tillerson or do you have these same feelings about Sessions, Pence and all the others Bill?
Rubio has consistently proven what he really is and was exposed in the primary. he is getting his 5min and everyone knows it.
I don't know Tillerson any more than you do. We both can read whatever is out there that is written by "whoknows". What I do know is that he can do no worse than Kerry and he will be better than who H would have put in.

Sorry to say this but you are not an educated man on world affairs and world history in general and Russia in particular. Typical American. Sorry to hit you on that but it needs be done. Lord knows it applies to most Americans including most conservatives.

Rubio's statements and line of questioning was/were 100% accurate and 100% spot on.


Foreign policy/international relations is and remains one of Rubio's strengths and strong points. It is one of Trump's glaring weaknesses. That is why his appointments in that area are so critical.

I agree Bill, there are a lot of pathetic blind Trump supporters out there. I am a Trump supporter but dam sure not blind. Your right, conservatives should be cheering the pointed questions that Rubio gave Tillerson today.

It is NOT "showboating". It is called serious questioning. And congressmen regularly use leading questions in order to test the witnesses credibility. That is what they are supposed to do - i.e, will the witness ADMIT THE OBVIOUS. If they won't it destroys the witness' credibility. And by applying the correct definition of "war criminal" it certainly applies to Putin on Grozy and Allepo. He also has ordered the murders of about 300 journalists and political opponents in Russia. And killed Litvenenko in London with polonium. And had Boris Berezovksy murdered and made to look like suicide.

Of course the problem we have there is that while (at least subsequent to WW2) do not turn cities into wholesale rubble we have bombed a LOT of cities in the Middle East and Serbia which killed a lot of innocent civilians.

Thanks for the history lesson. I'm well aware that Putin is a war criminal. But explain to me why it's beneficial for tillerson to call a man a war criminal when he could be having dinner with him in a few weeks trying to solve worldly problems.
I'm sure Rex Tillerson is smart enough to know that Putin is a war criminal. I admire him for showing restraint not to answer the stupid question.