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How Rex Tillerson Turned The State Department Into a Ghost Ship
By Bob Dreyfuss - 5 hours ago
Rex Tillerson Turned the State Department Into a Ghost Ship - Rolling Stone
When Donald Trump tapped Rex Tillerson, then CEO of ExxonMobil, to serve as secretary of state, expectations weren't high. With zero experience in government or diplomacy, Tillerson got the job after winning the support of Steve Bannon, the iconoclastic former Breitbart News chief, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. From the start, he was widely panned for his close ties to the Russian oil industry, including one deal worth a reported $500 billion, and questions were raised about Tillerson's lack of familiarity about tensions with North Korea, the war in Afghanistan, the battle against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, or the Arab-Israeli problem.
Perhaps, then, Tillerson would find smart people to help him along? Well, no. Six months after taking office, Tillerson's State Department is populated by ghosts, with office after office empty, top positions unfilled, key ambassadorships unnamed. Under Tillerson's uncertain leadership, America's diplomatic expertise – its ability to bring experience to bear on knotty international problems, its facility for reconciling warring parties and conflicts from the Middle East to Asia – has been decimated. And that has given the upper hand to the Pentagon. Whereas Trump and Tillerson have announced plans to cut the budget of the State Department by one-third, the White House is seeking a bump of $54 billion for the Department of Defense.
"The militarization of everything is kind of taking place," Max Bergmann, a former senior State Department official under President Obama, tells Rolling Stone.
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So, Trump is preparing America for ENDLESS WARS :doh
'Make America Go To War & Kill Off Our Troops Again'uch:
Positions are unfilled because most trump appointees have not been approved by the senate
Positions are unfilled because most trump appointees have not been approved by the senate
It's possible that there're some facts you do not have.Positions are unfilled because most trump appointees have not been approved by the senate
Please.Wrong. Most positions are unfilled because there haven't been nominations. Please stop spouting off things that aren't true.
Positions are unfilled because most trump appointees have not been approved by the senate
from the several articles I have read, and don't know if they are correct but if they are, the appointments for nomination have yet to be requisitioned ...........
that would seem to be a failure of the Trump administration, more than anything else
of course, Trump knows NOTHING of government operation so, this does seem plausible, even a given
just more **** sandwich Trump ................
pretty sure the old bastard just wants a big ole ass ****ing war so, he can 'Make America Great Again' :roll:
Good. Government operations haven't worked so well. Cleaning house and making things more business-like can only help government.
It's possible that there're some facts you do not have.
[...not that anyone should ever let that keep them from forming and voicing political opinions—I know I don't let it stop me. ; )]
from the article in the OP, Trump and Tillerson haven't nominated people to go before the Senate
"According to a tracker compiled by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, Trump and Tillerson have yet to nominate candidates to fill more than 83 senior-level positions and ambassadorships, and that's only a partial count. At the level of assistant secretary – the folks who actually manage day-to-day diplomacy – out of 22 positions, only two people have been nominated, and one confirmed. Empty offices include assistant secretaries for Near Eastern affairs, South Asian affairs, European and Eurasian affairs, Western Hemisphere affairs, East Asian and Pacific affairs, African affairs, political-military affairs, arms control, population, migration and refugees, democracy, human rights, labor and many more.
...in Libya in 2012, ...Benghazi...attacked...American ambassador killed, there's no assistant secretary for diplomatic security [in Benghazi]"
Benghazi?
That sounds vaguely familiar.
What difference does it make?
Wrong. Most positions are unfilled because there haven't been nominations. Please stop spouting off things that aren't true.
Tillerson replacing Kerry is the greatest upgrade in the history of the State Dept. I'll leave it at that.
How Rex Tillerson Turned The State Department Into a Ghost Ship
By Bob Dreyfuss - 5 hours ago
Rex Tillerson Turned the State Department Into a Ghost Ship - Rolling Stone
When Donald Trump tapped Rex Tillerson, then CEO of ExxonMobil, to serve as secretary of state, expectations weren't high. With zero experience in government or diplomacy, Tillerson got the job after winning the support of Steve Bannon, the iconoclastic former Breitbart News chief, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. From the start, he was widely panned for his close ties to the Russian oil industry, including one deal worth a reported $500 billion, and questions were raised about Tillerson's lack of familiarity about tensions with North Korea, the war in Afghanistan, the battle against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, or the Arab-Israeli problem.
Perhaps, then, Tillerson would find smart people to help him along? Well, no. Six months after taking office, Tillerson's State Department is populated by ghosts, with office after office empty, top positions unfilled, key ambassadorships unnamed. Under Tillerson's uncertain leadership, America's diplomatic expertise – its ability to bring experience to bear on knotty international problems, its facility for reconciling warring parties and conflicts from the Middle East to Asia – has been decimated. And that has given the upper hand to the Pentagon. Whereas Trump and Tillerson have announced plans to cut the budget of the State Department by one-third, the White House is seeking a bump of $54 billion for the Department of Defense.
"The militarization of everything is kind of taking place," Max Bergmann, a former senior State Department official under President Obama, tells Rolling Stone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, Trump is preparing America for ENDLESS WARS :doh
'Make America Go To War & Kill Off Our Troops Again'uch:
Tillerson replacing Kerry is the greatest upgrade in the history of the State Dept. I'll leave it at that.
The GOP should just give up because governing is hard?And what would be the hurry, since Senate Dems are using cloture to block nominees? Repubs shouls just go nuclear already. But then leftist loons would just complain about that. :roll:
The GOP should just give up because governing is hard?
Seriously, though, the world did not go on pause while Trump gets our **** together.
The various things we've needed the State Department to do for the past two centuries—since 1789—needed doing yesterday, need doing today, and will need doing tomorrow.
Just because you are personally unaware of what all the State Department does, that doesn't mean our Founding Fathers were idiots when they created the State Department.
Just because Trump can't get our **** together like every other PotUS before him, doesn't mean that our Founding Fathers created an unnecessary bureau to handle international relations.
So, yeah, there's a hurry.
You may not understand what it is, but the "hurry" exists.
You are eager to change the subject aintchya?I think I follow you, but please enlighten us on the many successes of the Obama state department. Please start with uranium.
You are eager to change the subject aintchya?
Why is that?
Does it make you uncomfortable to know that our Executive branch ain't got our **** together half a year in?
It bugs the **** outta me.
But I have reached the point where I am finally able to talk about it.
Take your time.
It's different for everybody.
You'll reach the point where you're willing to talk about the Trump failures.
Just hang in there.
You'll see.
It'll take a while, but you'll get there.
One day you'll be able to talk about Trump's failures w/o having to bring up Obummer and Killary.
The GOP should just give up because governing is hard?
.
Good. Government operations haven't worked so well. Cleaning house and making things more business-like can only help government.
So, you must be in on all the morning security briefings. Which means you have a Top Secret Clearance, which means if you tell me, you'll have to kill me.
Fact is, you don't know ****, except maybe what you hear on CNN or some other equally reliable skag sack. When you can prove that we "ain't got our **** together a half year in," let me know.
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