Pompeo's record as a hawk is a severe understatement. He lacks integrity, as shown by his willingness to bend facts and push an aggressive, war-happy agenda. He is not just manipulative, he's good at it. On his own record, he should not be approved. Combining his desire for aggression abroad with the easy ability to play on Trump's desire to show strength through aggression, we have an immediate threat to peace in the world, at our own hands. Approving this clearly unfit person clearly subsumes checks and balances in our government for what, exactly?
8
Rex Tillerson has betrayed Putin by criticizing Russia and supporting UK in taking action against Russia for killing the British resident by chemical agent. I do not know where Pompeo stands regarding Russia. It is very scary that he stands on the issues very close to Trump? I am happy that Tillerson was fired because he decimated the state department. He downsized his department to such extent that we do not have formidable diplomats any more. He made America lonely friendless and very weak diplomatically. Pompeo has impressive resume with his qualification and experience with ruthless partisanship and has soft corner in his heart for Russia. The position of CIA director may change him and put his country above his party and loyalty to boss.
God help us. Where do these people come from?
4
Note the byline. The author is a retired career CIA officer! This isn't just liberals preaching to the choir. We are in very dangerous hands.
6
How odd...a President appointing a Secretary of State who agrees with him on foreign affairs. I mean, look at how different John Kerry's views were from Mr. Obama's.
MC -- VERY fair point. However, Obama had no fewer than 17 Republican political appointments. Trump started with 5 -- Flynn (who certainly didn't feel like a Democrat during the 2016 campaign) and Cohn are gone, Kushner is his son-in-law, leaving only 2 (Deputy SecDef and Peter Navarro). Trump has also literally made no attempt to appeal to the over 50% of the country that didn't vote for him and his approval numbers support the idea that he has led exclusively by appealing to his base. Someone like that needs more countervailing views (in ANY area of government) to lead an entire country more effectively. Thus far, Trump has shown less than zero interest in doing this.
4
Congress better be clear on who declares war before trump and Pompeo bring us to the brink.
4
Look at the bright side. He won't be CIA director any more.
2
The big problem with not only our intelligence at the CIA, since the start of the Bush administration, and before, is their inability to think prevention, secure cockpit doors on all airlines before 9-11, and they all failed, miserably. That said, why during the last almost 14 months that Mike Pompeo was CIA Director, wasn't Britain warned about what Russia was up to with nerve agents, taking revenge, and or being a thorn in the flesh to Britain, the only country standing in the way of Putin's reach, and power, now that he seems to have Trump under his thumb? That is the question that needs to be asked at his hearing confirmation.
3
So how can country with so much talent in the fields of technology, education and healthcare allow so much chaos to take place in the White House? Thank you corporate America, for your unrelenting support of the GOP! We're now deep into the Twilight Zone.
5
It is a sure sign of damage to a democracy if the leader is moving people into his inner circle who do not have their own views but are only loyal to the chief in command.
They don't work for Trump, they should work for the US.
Trump is creating an inner circle with people as most Mafia bosses or dictators would.
Using his family and only very close trustees tells you a lot about what the administration is really doing.
And that is not something a democracy would do.
If this were China, no problem.
But in this case, public elections would also become a costly but irrelevant item Trump could finally dismiss.
Upps, he has already been talking about that too....
2
Making America great, uh huh.
2
Pompeo is a borderline sycophant which is a dangerous trait when accompanied by a position of power. Time will tell the tale on the combo with the President. Congress will be tested on the stiffness of their spines.
5
What spines are you talking about? Congress has already been tested, and has failed abysmally.
3
Pompeo has had a suspicious aura since his Congressional testimony, which bared his disdain for being questioned by anyone not in his far right camp. His beliefs are terrifying (check out ontheissues.org).
Does he fit in with Trump? Of course he does, but when people are leaving or being forced out in droves, what would drive a man to coddle a completely inept Manchurian politician? What is his end game? His worldview suggests something dark, when what we need is a ray of sunshine. God help us all.
2
I think it's past time that we admit there are no adults in the room. It is imperative that people vote in November. It's looking more and more like the only thing that can salvage this wreck of an administration is an "adult" Congress..
3
What difference does it make? All key decisions by Trump prove to be wrong headed. Now he can express his admiration for torture by appointing a madame of torture to the top job at The Company.
If America finishes one or two terms of Trump without being attacked on it's mainland by weapons of mass destruction we will know that it really doesn't matter how disastrous our president performs.
We will also have another opportunity to change the structure of the executive branch to a prime minister and a parliamentary system. This could still include a president over the prime minister if necessary. The key is to eliminate the electoral college which allows unqualified people like Trump to be elected.
The irony is that the framers designed the electoral college system as a device to screen out the Trumps and deny the most ignorant voters from selecting the president. The electoral college did just the opposite and gave the least qualified candidate the job!
1
Rex Tillerson was not allowed to be effectual.
2
The recent unceremonious dismissal of Rex Tillerson at the helm of America's diplomacy fills me with regret that Emmanuel Macron did not have the guts to demand the return of the Statue of Liberty to France....
I am sure no one in the Reagan Administration could have imagined the degree of decadence which both American government and American society have adopted as part of the new normal. It was during the Reagan years when the statue's torch was refurbished by a French atelier in time to celebrate the bicentennial of the US Constitution. An absurdly cruel memory today. Yes, America's 'back' - back to the Middle Ages !
1
This is rather amazing. Mr. Pillar should try examining with an objective eye the attitudes and actions of former DCIs such as Allen Dulles and Richard Helms. Will Pompeo really be worse than the men who overthrew democratic governments in Iran, Guatemala, and Chile? The problem isn't Mike Pompeo, or rather he's just part of the problem. The problem is the American ruling class, and indeed the voters who put people like Trump and Pompeo in power. A former CIA operative complains about the outgoing CIA director -- an example of the pot calling the kettle black. Essentially, Pompeo and Pillar represent the same twisted mindset.
Pssst... Hey Don, Robert Mueller and Stormy Daniels aren't going away.
2
Remember a year ago when we collectively gasped at Tillerson’s appointment? “This guy? Who got a medal from Putin for a deal he cut with Rosneft and Igor Sechin?”
Those concerns about standard-fare corruption, self-dealing, and conflicts of interest now seem quaint—only 14 months later!
1
Koch Brothers got their man and fellow Kansan in State.
I have never heard a reasonable solution to walking away from the Iran nuclear non-proliferation deal. Opposition to this deal has focused on punishing Iran for terrorist activities and support. The fact Iran was developing nuclear weapons does not seem to register with opponents of the deal, nor the high probability Iran will restart their nuclear efforts if the deal is trashed.
Since their opposition makes no sense relative to balancing nuclear holocaust against terrorist activities, it may be due to intentions not revealed to the public. In my view, someone wants a war.
1
A wanna be dictator.
So the man who might head the State Department thinks that the solution to the Iran deal is war and the solution to the North Korean crisis is yet another war and the proper way of engaging with Russia is to at least threaten war.
Since we are already waging a war against the planet Mr. Pompeo doesn't have to add the earth itself to his hit list.
The real question is what do the American people want? Down want more wars? Do we doubt our ability to negotiate and de-escalate tensions? Do we really think that the function of the UN is to pass resolutions for American's to engage in more wars?
Most importantly, do our senators and congress members even care what we think about international affairs? They should, because it's working class kids who end up fighting and dying in these wars and it's you and I that end up paying for them.
5
Pompeo supposedly graduated first in his class at West Point.
From this we can conclude that West Point does not inculcate morality or wisdom, much less educate. Time to shut down this institution that is an echo chamber for the idea that military force is always the solution in today's world.
4
The new book, Russian Roulette by Isikoff and Corn describes the Kremlin's interest in Trump's appointing a Secretary of State that would not be hard on Russia and would remove the sanctions on it. The Kremlin opposed Romney. Lo and behold, Trump left Romney dangling and appointed Tillerson. Russia and Tillerson were very familiar with each other from Tillerson's dealings on behalf of Exxon-Mobil. They were more familiar with each other than were Trump and Tillerson with each other. It is not clear on whose recommendation Tillerson got the nod given his entire lack of experience in government or diplomacy. The question to me is whether Trump obtained Russian approval of Pompeo to be Secretary of State.
1
Trump and his impulses do not need a boost from anyone. Tillerson found putting on the brakes to be frustrating for him and Trump. He seems determined to go his on way, listening to his inner voices rather than soliciting advice from a range of options. Pressure does funny things the mind and body. This pressure cooker might be close to exploding.
"Mr. Pompeo is a staunch defender of Mr. Trump and echoes his preferences"
How strange and unacceptable. A president has the audacity to appoint someone who supports his policies.
1
Trump's "policies" consist of con jobs from tariffs to tax cuts meant solely for use as applause lines at his next Adoration Rally.
Those have not been asleep for decades will have noticed that Presidents of either political persuasion select cabinet members whose views are similar to their own, and who support rather than undermine Presidential policies. No President wants department heads who go their merry way with no regard for the President's goals; it also works that way in the corporate sector.
Trump's goals do not go beyond personally "winning", being endlessly lauded, and smothered wih praise by toadies. While they also are required to back Trump in his lies, and his quest to be totally unaccountable for his administration's chaos and failures.
1
Astonishing. A president who seeks a SecState who is on the same page as he regarding U.S. interests and how to defend them. Whatever is the world coming to?
Of course, if you’re a Democrat, you might regard anyone in that position as unqualified or even dangerous who doesn’t disagree with Trump and who doesn’t seek to serve as an effective counterweight to HIS views on what constitute American interests, or how to defend them. I guess I understand THAT. But … we tried that, didn’t we? And Rex Tillerson has now gone fishin’.
I’m not a strong defender of Mike Pompeo in a non-political role, either. Yet Trump clearly isn’t looking for a viceroy on foreign affairs but a facilitator of his policies, and he’s not the first president to do that.
But this op-ed is a globalist’s argument to name a globalist as SecState. That doesn’t appear to be in the cards, so I have to wonder at how narrow the intended audience here for this argument is meant to be. And, for the life of me, I see no arguments here that might be compellingly targeted at the only guy who has a vote (other than a Republican Senate, that isn’t going to deny Trump his Pompeo).
We’re only one-fourth (and possibly one-eighth) into an historical American political discontinuity: the Trump administration. Once Trump has done what he became that discontinuity to do, we return to more normal space-time, in which a Democrat and globalist in that role might be just the ticket.
Wake me up when that happens.
2
Three thousand years of written history and some people still think that the world has always been like it is today so a little turning over of things is needed to clear out the irrelevant stuff so that all can make a fresh start. Trump understands nothing but a well ordered world that exists he knows not how nor why, and he can do a lot of damage.
2
I like you comment except for the last paragraph... Trump in 2020!
I have grave concerns about Pompeo because seems as intellectually weak as D. Trump. I am at a loss to understand how the author of this article (as well as a few commenters) call him an "ideologue" or "ideologically driven"--like Trump. Trump is no ideologue. He is self-focused and emotionally immature. His decisions are spur-of-the-moment impulses, not ideologically-based conclusions. Give me an actual ideologue any day over the narcissistic and thoughtless bullies who are currently running our government.
9
This happens right before the Saudi prince is coming. Then Netanyahu. Pompeo wants to go to war with Iran and probably is a true believer. Meaning he believes Israel must be whole before Christ comes back. This man is a disaster. And war with Iran could very well change the world as we know it. Who knows what countries will be drawn in and who will line up against us. Israel is also taking a big chance because Iran has enough fire power to destroy most of the state in a first volley. These men are bent on watching the world go up in flames.
8
They are not bent on watching the world go up in flames. They are bent on profiting as the world get hotter (via their keepers, the Koch brothers) and as the US aggressively asserts itself through intimidation and actual actions against others. A bully is not a diplomat and Trump has no time for any views not his own, and certainly no diplomacy. Trump attempts to achieve his goals through sheer force and intimidation, as he doesn't have the patience to listen to anyone who disagrees with him, foreign or domestic. Pompeo will manipulate Trump's worst impulses. Senate approval of Pompeo is a vote for unnamed military aggression and war.
W and his lieutenants thought war with Iraq would be a cakewalk. And look how that turned out! Iran is a whole different world. Iran would be formidable. But Pompeo and Trump are probably convincing themselves it will be a 'cakewalk'. And Jesus is on their side.
It really makes me angry how they disrespect Jesus by using him as an excuse.
1
While many of us may be cheering the ouster of Rex Tillerson, we must bear in mind that Pompeo will simply be another toadying sycophant - or perhaps worse (as this column suggests), he actually believes what Trump believes. But this is about much more than replacing a Cabinet appointment. It is one more step Trump is taking to ensure his iron-fisted control of this country.
Either way, in Pompeo, we will have nothing more than a toadying lackey helping Trump continue to trash our international standing and leadership. He is now the head of the State Department to tell Trump one thing -- that he agrees with everything Trump says and does. We need to understand that in dismissing Tillerson and hiring Pompeo, Trump is consolidating his power to the point that he is answerable to no one. And if Pompeo can't do that job, Trump will find an even more disgusting sycophant to do so.
Trump understands that his rabid base ensures his survival, and this Republican Congress will never cross him. With each firing of anyone with an independent mind, he cements his sole control over this entire nation.
We need to start calling this regime what it actually is -- a dictatorship. What Trump has done to our nation in just a little more than a year is horrific. This latest "appointment" is yet one more example. And as long as we are content to tolerate Trump's consolidation of power by hiring the likes of Pompeo, Kelly and others, his coup will soon be complete.
14
Too close to Trump is the same as being too close to a black hole.He is sucking the spirit out of America.
10
It seems with Pompeo that partisanship trumps everything else. Since he is known as a foreign policy hawk, if he becomes a wimp in responding to Russian cyber aggression and remains a supporter of Trump in the face of damning evidence from the Mueller investigation, then we'll know he's just another Trump toady sellout. Pompeo is not an A or even a B team pick as Secretary of State. In other words he fits right into the Trump cabinet.
7
Pompeo is a Tea-party disaster. He managed to flourish in the CIA boys club with his pugilistic gonzo political stance, but he has no business getting anywhere near diplomacy. He got his job by sucking up to Emperor Donald the Dumb, and that team is disastrous. They will be a wrecking crew destroying the United States' foreign policy even further. The only worse person would be John Bolton--but Oh No! Bolton is also going to be in the White House if rumor is true. With Stephen Miller, Pompeo, Bolton all in the Trump echo chamber we are setting a scene for utter disaster and devastation. Time to move to Canada.
12
Fine. Let these two idiots drive this administration farther into a ditch.
4
Trump is gradually putting together the team that suits his self absorbed nature, men who will praise him and not challenge him by questioning his proposals nor subjecting him to so many facts that his head explodes. A team of compatible comrades who won't stress him out with a lot of stuff about which he becomes bored quickly. A team of soothing characters for the self proclaimed genius and most gifted President since Pat Paulson.
6
I do wish that this op-ed and nearly all of the comments on it were false. Unfortunately they are true.
5
Pompeo seems to be a political hack who thinks that there are simple answers to the challenges facing the U.S. If anyone displeases the U.S., just do something intimidating and whoever it might be will surely comply. No Talleyrand nor Metternich in his nature. Must have done too much boxing at the Point as a cadet.
5
Any Republicans in the House or Senate out there spent any time reading about Germany's 20th century history? Any of you? Oh well, go back to your Ayn Rand and Norquist. Oh don't worry, after the US voluntarily implodes to become a third world country with a giant nuclear arsenal, you won't be remembered kindly, if there are any of us to remember you at all
9
Mike Pompeo is going to be an absolute disaster as Secretary of State. He will, if confirmed, carry the title, but he remains a backward ideologue from a backward state—Kansas—and is completely in the pockets of the state’s effective owners—the Koch Bottles.
Rex Tillerson, certainly, was a fish out of water—gasping for air and wriggling painfully under The amused contempt of a president who thoroughly misjudged the ExxonMobil executive as a handy tool for dealing with Vladimir Putin. Perhaps Donald Trump sought not so much a diplomat—his education and background would find nuance and patience anathema—but as a conduit to the Russian president for...what? To reassure Comrade Putin that they were now, formally “on the same page?” If so, why, and for what?
Secretary-designate Pompeo rose to political notice as a tool of the Kochs and the hard right. He was savagely critical of the 2015 Iran nuclear accord; one wonders if the reason(s) animating his hostility were the 44th president and his hue or a sincere anxiety about what muzzling Iran’s nuclear capabilities might mean—in the long view—for both America and the Middle East.
Kim Jong-un will no doubt have been fully briefed on Mr. Pompeo’s adamantine stance on America’s intransigence re: North Korea’s nuclear program, one, by the way, far more advanced and sophisticated than Iran’s. How Messrs. Trump and Pompeo address this nightmare will go a long way toward determining the kind of world we’ll inhabit for the next 50 years.
9
This is part of Trump's strategy to fire Mueller or to challenge any charges against him Mueller might make. He now has the Republicans in the Congressional Judiciary Committee's "conclusion" that there was no collusion with Russia, and he is stacking his cabinet with sycophants who are willing to do his dirty work, including rejecting 250 years of the rule of law in this country. We are getting closer to a confrontation that will decide whether the institutions of democracy are dead or alive.
69
Instead of a light at the end of this Trump tunnel, we seem to be going down deeper and deeper into an abyss. His slogan of "Make America Great Again" gets more Orwellian every day.
5
I didn't agree with Rex Tillerson on much, except for how he described the president. But we will miss him, that's for sure. Rex should go home and be relieved that he will no longer be part of this regime, especially when the stuff hits the fan.
4
If Pompeo is truly a terrible choice for Secretary of State, then it up to Congressional Democrats to make that apparent during the hearings. We need all the Democrats questioning Pompeo to demonstrate the tenacity of Senator Elizabeth Warren.
6
They say that Mike Pompeo's worldview is more closely aligned with Trump's but Trump's idea is America first. That's not a worldview. A worldview would require Trump to think more comprehensively and we know that isn't the way he thinks.
From what I've read, it appears that Pompeo is just another Trump sycophant and reactionary, which means that Trump will prevail and decide foreign policy the way he does domestic issues, by whimsy.
5
"Mr. Pompeo has likened Iran to the Islamic State." Is not Iran an Islamic republic? Does it not go by that very name officially? Are not women compelled to cover their heads in public and arrested when they do not? Is Iran not the arch-enemy of Israel? Has Iran not tried to expand its influence in the Middle East through proxy organizations that share its Shiite faith? Would the Islamist government of Iran not want to control and influence much of the Middle East? Except for its Shiite faith, Iran seems to share many traits and goals of the Islamic State. The comparison is therefore apt.
With Tillerson gone, that 2 down (Cohn and Tillerson) and 2 to go (Mattis and McMaster). Trump as President was somewhat restrained by these 4. With 2 down, we're a lot closer to a scenerio like the Guns of August and may actually be in a major war with the Iranians and/or the North Koreans and/or the Russians and/or the Chinese in the next few months. Yep, the Donald may actually get us all blown up just as we all feared when he was elected.
6
As a young man I entertained the idea that the countrys direction was mostly influenced by a half dozen billionaires convening in a high rise boardroom monthly. Though looking out for their own interest these men and maybe women knew that destruction of our democracy and world standing would be bad for their wealth building. It fit with the idea that Rex Tillerson was forced on trump after the election by this group to prevent major chaos. Well now that fantasy is history. I fact it may just be the complete opposite. Pompeo is a madman straight out of the Koch playbook. Next this regime will fire General Mattis and maybe General Kelly. Chaos will descend.
3
Pompeo is an extremely ambitious man with an ill-disguised yen for force and supremacy. He will tolerate many, many flaws in Trump to promote himself, but it remains to be seen what will happen if he ever perceives Trump's demands as a serious threat to anything he really wants. Meanwhile, it also remains to be seen what constraints he will try to impose on his boss if the latter grievously harms the true security and needs of the American people, as Trump has done with his utter contempt for the attitudes of the Europeans on the Iran issue. I share a big degree of alarm at Pompeo's nomination. I hope the Senate grills him to the core when he plays the agreeable supplicant in the hearings on his nomination.
40
Grilling isn't required so much as "Just vote no".
2
Of course the New York Times think anyone that agrees with Trump is a bad pick for any administration post! It’s a wonder that the Times is not advocating that Hilary Clinton should be Trump’s pick for Secretary of State. The reality is that Trump has proven he knows what he’s doing concerning North Korea and he needs a Secretary of State that will follow his lead. That maybe a little scary for some on the left but now is not the time for status quo diplomacy. The occasion is piled high with challenges and we need people like Trump and his pick for Secretary of State to step up and rise to the occasion...history is being make here.
3
Trump is persuasive. That's not the same thing as being "right". He's shown a penchant for either stretching or totally ignoring the truth when in the midst of a sales pitch (or a tweet). You may have no trouble with that kind of behavior, but many others do. Policy based on false premises seldom works in any meaningful way. What I find even stranger is that so many who support him think he's a "straight shooter". You don't have to do much research to find his past reveals him to be anything but. He truly puts the 'con' in conservative.
12
Actually, nonsense is deepening,and sordid history is being made. I pray that our nation will be able to repair the damage!
What has Trump done to prove his competence in dealing with North Korea? Circulate rumors of a possible summit? Nothing new, no results yet.
Let us hope the Senate will rally to reject the Trump nominees for Secretary of State and the CIA.
9
Actually, Trump accepted Kin's offer which Obama, Bush, and Clinton all had rejected because they could not be sure that Kim nor his father could be trusted not to turn it into a mess. Trump jumped at the meeting even though the South Koreans who brought the offer recommended checking into it carefully. Trump is not any thing but a carnie.
8
Mini-Me will be our new Secretary of State.
3
Donald Trump wants puppets who applaud him like the subjects of Kim Jong-Il do.
6
He's a Koch aficionado and a Trump sycophant. He utters in concert with Trump's bellicosity, and fits better as a celebrity in a local bar.
13
Fits better as a celebrity is a Star Wars bar...
1
Also too close to Dick Cheney, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and any other apologist for torture we've witnessed.
6
One can almost FEEL the proverbial Dogs of War grow stronger and more impatient, as they are fed red meat and plenty of it by the good-ol Nukem High boys of the Trump junta. A war with either North Korea or Iran would be simply dissastrous in nearly all respects, and with the former, there is a non-negligible chance that one or both parties could use nukes, which would have been quite unthinkable until that fateful day when a Russian-backed buffoon became the leader of the most powerful and the most dangerous country on the planet. It is too late for the forces of Common Sense to stand around wringing their hands and crying "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?? How did it come to this?" Progressive forces in the USA and around the world must take a bold and hopefully effective stand against this insanity, or something far worse than the Iraq war may occur, perhaps in a terrifyingly short time-frame.
10
Don't boo, vote!
5
The most important qualification is to be unqualified. That and a eagerness to lick trump's boots.
5
Damage control is all we can hope for these days.
4
I had to read up but I am impressed with Mr. Pompeo's civilian, military, academic, business and congressional backgrounds. Armed with all this education and experience, ...I'm ...I'm ... hesitating to say what I'm thinking but maybe you can read between the lines. I can only say, "Congratuations on your pending nomination , Mr. Pompeo".
1
This article takes valid criticism of Mr. Trump to absurdity. The Secretary of State and the President need to be close by definition.
2
"The Secretary of State and the President need to be close by definition." By whose definition? Even Trump claims to like conflict and differing points of view. He lies, of course, but that is what he always does. The point of the article is the more trump yes-men in the administration the worse for the world.
5
The Secretary takes an oath to the Constitution and to act on behalf of the people. When the President is acting like Trump any Secretary who supports him and never contradicts is breaking the oath of the office.
First and foremost, let's be clear about one thing -- if Mike Pompeo wasn't standing close to Trump on eveyy issue, he would have never gotten the job.
Take it from there.
6
Just when you thought it couldn't get any more dangerous!
5
America has become one of the most reactionary and unthoughtful countries under Trump with a horrific nationalistic foreign policy. With Pompeo in charge of the decimated state department, I fear that the Iran nuclear deal will be reversed as is Trump's desire and that our world will implode with a greater possibility of war and chaos. Just frightening to contemplate!
8
"...clearly Mr. Pompeo’s priority is to protect the president — not the integrity of American elections." In other words, he is as crooked as a dog's hind leg. An ethical person would run the other way, quit, or hide out. And we all know Trump has a great talent of picking the "best" people.
7
Pompeo has spent months manipulating Trump during the daily intelligence briefings and it has paid off. He is an ideologue and an intelligent politician, a dangerous combination. Let's hope the Dems take over Congress and are able to monopolize Pompeo's time in hearings , as his Benghazi "witch hunts" did to a prior Secretary of State. May keep him from doing damage to world peace and diplomatic relations.
77
Hello world, here's the America coming at you; Kansas tea party member, zero respect for the separation of church and state, climate change denier (Koch puppet), and, most significantly, a straight up sycophant who puts party before country. This is the same office that was held by George Marshall and John Foster Dulles. How fast we have fallen.
14
This will be an unholy alliance for sure. We'd better get used to teetering on the brink.
I personally detest Pompeo because he's a Koch puppet, a political ideologue, and a hardline my way or the highway.
His allegiances also seem to lie less with the country and more to the people his ambition is beholden to.
The world is now a far more dangerous place, and we should all be alarmed.
13
This is bad news for the country and the world."
I agree totally, I think America is getting closer to a war situation with North Korea with the appointment of Mike Pompeo. The meeting with Kim Jong Un may never happen. Even if it happens, I am worried. Mike Pompeo is not a diplomat, the "rocket man" of North Korea is not an idiot like Qaddafi, he is not going to give up his nukes because of Mike Pompeo's threat. Americans have to be ready for another war, "fire and fury" with North Korea.
16
The Democrats simply can't succumb to inter-party fighting and surrender the House in November. If they capture the house, at least they will have the committee chairs, which means they can investigate any and every department.
Please don't succumb to the "there is no real difference" arguments, or dismiss any Democrat who wins a primary and proceeds to the general election. Democrats need to regain control of at least one house.
17
I think Trump realized Tillerson wasn't moving quick enough and Trump is running out of years to achieve his goals. Hell, he said he would wipe NK off the planet. Pompeo, from this article suggests, may just give Trump the go-ahead.
2
One unqualified person leaves a position to be replaced by another unqualified person. More and more power goes to the only constant, Mr. Trump, who's only constant as defined by the chaos around him. Is this winning? Is this the kind of "Making America Great Again" Mr. Trump's supporters voted for? Shouting, chaos and incompetence?
Mr. Pompeo, as an ex-intel person is the WORST choice for State. Winston Churchill said "'Jaw-Jaw' is always better than 'War-War.'" Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Pompeo seems he'll shoot first and ask questions never. Which means we'll probably have a war in time for the plea that we not change horses in midstream for the 2020 elections.
When the American-flag draped coffins start rolling off the planes -- as they will -- put a MAGA hat on top of each of them, and direct the parents and loved ones left behind to grieve to Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan's office.
Thanks, Trump voters. I'm glad your resentment of anyone who isn't a white male Christian 'Republican' will now, guaranteed, get American Troops killed. Maybe your stupidity finally having a body count will get through to you that you're being conned by a bully and a blowhard who treats you like rubes and makes you pay for the privilege.
131
Amen.
1
This makes mad dog even more important. From the best and the brightest to the worst and the dumbest.
11
You know, Pompeo isn't stupid like Trump. He graduated first in his class at West Point. That's damn scary. Especially if one combines the smartness, the fervor for war and the right wing christianity all merging together.
There will be war. No doubt....UNLESS the American People really say no. There's an outside chance that will happen. November is a long way off. War could come first.
2
Pompeo is NOT in any sense a diplomat. He is a rampant Tea-party xenophobe. He is also an ignoramus on foreign policy. His main credential is his sycophancy.
61
Yes, sycophancy followed closely by his desire to be a bully in the rest of the world. "Less listening, more telling" will become "no listening, more dictating" - absolutely aligned with how Trump works.
1
changing chairs at imbecile central
23
Trump never wanted anyone around him to challenge his decisions so Pompeo makes for a perfect fit. While most presidents are smart enough to realize that having someone to challenge their thinking is a valuable asset, not this president. He is clearly now remaking his Cabinet to suit his arbitrary tactical thinking and actions. Pompeo's job will be to create strategies that conform to Trump's tactics. While most of us are accustomed to just the reverse happening, not so for this president.
Consequently when we get confused over what Trump is trying to accomplish, wait for the Cabinet members to explain. Waiting for the president will be a fool's errand.
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Those who have not been asleep for decades will have noticed that Presidents of either political persuasion select cabinet members whose views are similar to their own, and who support rather than undermine Presidential policies. No President wants department heads who go their merry way with no regard for the President's goals; it also works that way in the corporate sector.
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Ugh. Where have the great men gone??
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And what about the credibility of M. Obama, the great pretender, and his so called red lines.
The world is a dangerous place where naive and weak people are quickly discarded.
Look at the stupid "pivot diplomacy" of Hillary or the not less stupid "Reset button", I prefer powerful bullies who love their country to impotent in fashion liberal leader.
I can tell you, first hand, that France is a doomed country, going to the drains at a very high speed because we didn't have leader like The Crazy Donald!
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I often wonder what would happen if the rest of the world suddenly decided that we had become too much of a threat and turned on us. Our policies have caused a lot of damage and a lot of grief through the years. Mr Pompeo represents our worst tendencies and having someone like him in a position that's supposed to be about diplomacy sends a very chilling message to the rest of the world.
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If we live to see 2020, it will be a miracle. This administration appears to be careening toward catastrophic consequences. I just pray the world can handle it.
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Just when I hoped it couldn't get any worse . . . .
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Mr. Pompeo has some very disturbing religious views. The following is a small excerpt from a Jan. 6, 2018 NYT Sunday Review.
"Mr. Drollinger believes that social welfare programs “have no basis in Scripture,” that Christians in government have an obligation to hire only Christians and that women should not be allowed to teach grown men. He lays out his thinking in a 2013 book, “Rebuilding America: The Biblical Blueprint.”
Mr. Drollinger was an early, passionate supporter of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy. The “institution of the state” is “an avenger of wrath,” he explains, and its “God-given responsibility” is “to moralize a fallen world through the use of force.” Apparently, President Trump excels in these biblical criteria for leadership."
He attends this man's bible study group along with Pence, Sessions and Devos. The whole article is chilling, especially considering he's now CIA director. Drollinger is closely affiliated with the Hobby Lobby founder/CEO.
This man should be nowhere near the ear of a man as impulsive, ignorant and volatile as trump, whose evangelical base is as morally bankrupt as he is. Just what this world needs, another self-righteous, far right hawk who believes he's authorized by God.
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Wow! Wow! Triple wow! NYT - please we need a front page article about this group and their beliefs. I am an evangelical Christian and I find this line of thinking profoundly dangerous. Please expose the views of this core group of cabinet members. And when you do please point out how far these beliefs are from the teaching of Jesus and how they contradict the bible.
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You know the worst is upon you when you’re mourning the loss of T Rex
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Life and death decisions are at stake here. There are no adults in the room. What's gone so wrong with America?
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What's gone wrong with America is that we listen to Faux News and continue to vote Republican no matter how stupid, how ignorant, how ineffective the politicians and the policies.
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Trump stating that he and Pompeo "have a very similar thought process," would not be considered a compliment to most people on the planet. Indeed, it is frequently used as an insult.
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Mike Pompeo, a Trump toady with an attitude.
Great.
I wonder, does Mike Pompeo hear from God the same way Mike Pence does?
Just asking...
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If only they heard from GOD. Instead they are being ministered by Pastor Drollinger. Thanks for the lead Deb. After googling Drollinger i see that the Evangelists are in control of many in the White House.It looks as if this is where Pence gets his regular dose of over the top ideas about women. Google him, it ain`t pretty.
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Tillerson was the one person still keeping our reputation somewhat aloft. I guess we will see lot more departures from seasoned and experienced diplomats under Pompeo, voluntary and or less so. It is truly amazing how hard this administration is trying (and succeeding) in making us an insular and disrespected country. That is a far cry from the leader the world once looked up to.
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Soon, there will not be an independent voice of moderation, restraint, and non-ideological perspective remaining in this entire White House. Is there a way to stop this deeply unsettling confirmation, to avoid a potential march to war? Can the hyper-hawkish Pompeo be filibustered? Democrats must employ every available resource and legislative tool to reject another extreme Trump enabler.
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Our allies will become even more concerned.Mr Tillerson, although flawed , did speak about American values and moderated Mr.Trump's extreme pronouncements.We desperately need someone to unify our traditional friends and not keep them wondering and floundering to keep alliances together.Mr Putin desperately wanted NATO to go away.Mr.Pompeo surely will not help Trump with that fool's errand.
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The only reassuring thought is that if Pompeo deviates from Trump on one thing, the smallest thing, he'll be out, too. Even blatant sycophancy is no guarantee of job security with Mr. Trump.
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If we emerge from the Trump dark without a major new war, it will be a miracle.
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After 3+ decades of de-funding public education, the GOP can now reliably count on the fact that he American public cannot differentiate between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Sunni and Shia. The voters can now be relied upon to swallow whole the lies about connections between Iran and Al Qaeda as a pretext to conflict with Iran, thereby raising oil prices and defense sector stocks, which of course is the actual aim.
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I don't think there was ever a time in public education where we were taught the difference between Sunni and Shia!!! That's a pretty high bar. We need to teach kids TO THINK CRITICALLY so that they can be educated, observant, smart, wise voters. But of course the GOP definitely does not want that. Ah, it's all so sad.
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Folks, meet the new enforcer for the Trump Regime. This guy is a true believer, a fanatic, he will do ANYTHING to achieve his goals. And what are those Goals??? To keep Trump in power, and re-election. Pence, watch your back. Pompeo is the next Vice President, for starters.
You read it here, today, first. Just saying.
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As impeachment looms Trump intends to start a distracting war, he intended with North Korea, now he is scrambling. Tillerson would not support such a travesty...will Pompeo?
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the united states of America has people in power and/or influence who would be on the loony right in any other western democracy.
some non americans would call the country a rogue state.
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Will Trump encourage Pompeo's extremism, or will the process work the other way? Mr. Pillar's statement will reassure nobody about Mr. Pompeo, who is not, by the way, the only smart graduate of West Point and Harvard Law. Many of them exist, and a good many of them arguably reckon that he is a bit of a remorseless extremist on our relations with the whole Islamic world. A very smart General Officer named Colin Powell certainly has a very different approach in that respect, arguing, let's not forget, that the US should long ago have closed the detention camp at Guantanamo, a source of infamy for America's image around the world. The Senate should scrutinize the Pompeo nomination will a scrutiny as thoroughgoing and as pitiless as he is about getting the whole American people into violent quarrels with other peoples around the world.
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Pompeo's confirmation should be postponed until after the midterm elections.
The American people should have a voice in choosing the next Secretary of State.
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Pompeo leaving the CIA and being replaced by a career CIA officer, probably means better intelligence for the President, if he decides to listen to it.
Pompeo is a nut. He cannot grasp strategy when it comes to international affairs. He thinks that he can solve all problems by just crushing his adversaries. That's about what junior military officers are expected to think. It takes experience and advanced training before they can lead armies and grasp the limits of military power in advancing foreign policies that are workable.
Trump is settling in with staff that agrees with him, people who are too ignorant and self important to lead anything except failing enterprising.
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Trump and Pompeo will now be able to feed off each other’s penchant for warmongering and bullying unhindered, with Gina Haspel contributing her dark gifts to the toxic mix as well. What a recipe for disaster for our country and the rest of the world.
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That's the entire point. There is no better " yes man " in this regime, except Preacher Pence. Pompeo was the Congressional Rep for MY district. He is very, very dangerous. Why ??? Unhesitatingly follows orders, ANY orders, and is very Smart. Expect War, by November, just in time for the Midterms. What War ??? It does not matter. Any excuse will do, as long as they can find one. And, they WILL. Seriously.
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If there's a war then they better bring back the draft.
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So Bibi was just in town. Did he and Donald talk about war with Iran? And how about next week when the Crown Prince of SA comes to town? Will he talk up war with Iran with Donald and now Mike Pompeo.
It looks certain that the US will be pulling out of the Iran deal in May because Trump has always wanted to (because Obama=awful) and now he has toadie far right sycophant Pompeo fully on board.
It looks certain that the North Korean summit meeting will go nowhere very quickly with Pompeo 'helping' Trump.
And Russia will be going full steam ahead in 2018 and 2020 with the US elections. I guess we can be thankful that they haven't poisoned anybody in the US - Yet.
So now Trump has totally free reign to be Trump. And he intends to spend a lot more time on the campaign trail for 2020. Those rallies are like a drug fix for him and he needs the juice more and more. No worries, Pompeo will be there to handle foreign policy now with Jared,
I'm taking off the shades, the future does not look bright.
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Pompeo comes from that Kansas mindset that tripled down on trickle-down, did heavy deregulation, and has nearly ruined the state. Pompeo also publicly stated that Russia meddled in the election -big no-no for trump and putin. Trump pulls Pompeo away from the CIA and puts him under his wing, where trump has greater control.
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Pompeo does not have the personality or experience to perform as Secretary of State of the United States. He is a hack politician and a Trump yes-man.
The Senate should not confirm his nomination.
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Yes Pompeo stands close to Trump. Two bullies who pick on the weakling in order to feel stronger themselves and too cowardly to find compromise and move ahead. They are a throw back to the days of dealing with the banana republics of Central and South America and will end just as ignobly with America viewed as the supporter of tyrants because we are.
We are in for a rough ride and will have no ethical or moral capital left to deal with the anger of our friends let alone out enemies. The 'might makes right' crowd of 2018 is going to find the same result as the British 'might make right crowd' did in 1776. Defeat.
Vote for freedom in November. Vote the tyrannical Republicans out of office.
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How could a person who has had access to CIA information reach a conclusion that Iran supports ISIS?
ISIS is clearly the child of Saudi religious zealots who regard Shiites, personified by Iranians, as blood enemies.
We risk causing another major upheaval in the mid-east if we persist in taking sides in the centuries old Sunni vs Shiite conflict.
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Pompeo has never let facts get in the way of what he wants to accomplish. He wants to exert US force over his enemies, at home and abroad. While invoking Scripture as his justification, he shares the same bankroller as Pence (Koch brothers) but is far more dangerous. Senators voting to confirm him are voting for war and should be held to account for it.
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Draining the swamp... Are you kidding me? The swamp has just become a small lake.
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Pompeo? That’s a volcano that periodically erupts, is it not?
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This is what you get when all of the president's thought processes revolve around ratings, clicks, and views. Trump is probably basking in all the media attention this story is getting while thinking, "Diplomacy is for losers!"
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After watching Trump humiliate Rex Tillerson I don’t know why anyone would want the SOS job. Rex has the dubious honor of being the first Secretary of State to be fired by Twitter.
Pompeo sounds like a scary guy hopefully he will be more than Trump’s attack dog.
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In what way is he a scary guy?
Just when I think I cannot get more depressed about the state of our country, the man in the Oval Office brings us to another low. While Tillerson was inept, he was rational and moderate. Pompeo is an extremist who may bring us closer to an unnecessary war. As for Haspel, the last thing we need is a CIA Director who had no problem engaging in torture and then ordering the destruction of the graphic video evidence of acts she directly supervised. A sad day for human rights and diplomacy. Our votes have never mattered more. Get out the vote in 2018 like our democracy and lives depend on it, because it is not hyperbole at this point to say they do.
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How I wish i didn't completely agree with you
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"Mr. Pompeo has repeatedly stepped out of the proper role of an intelligence director to be an advocate for hawkish policies."
He has. That's bad.
It is not unusual. It should be, but we've had many like this, far too many.
Our intelligence agencies have been advocates, and of hawkish positions, rather consistently over the years. It has shown in things from threat inflation to regime change support and covert operations (not really so covert, just lied about a lot).
We need reform. It has been far too long.
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"Our intelligence agencies"? They are called FSB, SVR and GRU, and they are hawkish indeed, support regime change, and do a lot of covert operations which they lie about.
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The confirmation hearings should be fun.
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The only thing I trust is that these two could make a mistake far worse than the invasion of Iraq.
Since the inception of the Tea Party, Republicans have been using the most violent, most race-baiting propaganda they could twist to forward nationalist policies. Pompeo has been highly vocal in this vein, and will be as unfit as a diplomat as Trump is as a president.
There can be no more hope that adults in the room will have a moderating effect on Trump. He has waffled on every major issue, ultimately deciding on the most destructive courses of action available to him. There will be no moderating this president or administration until they are removed from power.
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In 1998, Mike Pompeo founded Thayer Aerospace and Private Security with others, which received a 2% investment from Koch Industries.
In 2006, he sold his interest in Thayer, and became president of Sentry International, an oilfield equipment company, which was also a partner with Koch Industries.
In the 2010 general election for "What's The Matter With Kansas'" 4th District Congressional seat, Pompeo defeated Democrat Raj Goyle, a member of the Kansas House of Representatives.
During the campaign, Pompeo sparked controversy when his campaign's Twitter account shared, then later deleted, a blog post calling his Indian-American opponent a "turban topper" and then-President Barack Obama an "evil Muslim communist."
During the 2010 campaign, Pompeo received $80,000 in donations from Koch Industries and its employees.
Pompeo worked to undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran that was supported by the Obama administration.
Referring to the agreement, Pompeo stated “I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”
Pompeo stated that a better option than negotiating with Iran would be to use “under 2,000 sorties to destroy the Iranian nuclear capacity. This is not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces.”
Mike Pompeo will not be a Secretary of State, per se.
He'll be a Koch Brothers lowlife political hack and boot-licking Secretary of War for our Racist-In-Chief.
Nice GOPeople.
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After visiting Guantanamo Bay in 2013, he said that some inmates on hunger strike looked like they had put on weight.
He also told Congress that he would consider bringing back waterboarding after he was nominated as Mr Trump’s pick to run the CIA.
he is a terrible choice for Sec of State but a good match for Donald trump
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@Socrates
What will we do without you? your background information is very useful. Saved me time searching online, if I was so inclined. I am not inclined to do any research on Trump appointments, I know he'll get extreme ideologues, openly front men for major corporations and as you say, "bootlickers."
The one small hope I am holding onto is that another hopeless war with the remaining "two evil empires" would be bad for the Koch Bros business. See, there is no profit in a radioactive cloud over North America, Europe or Asia. They cannot sell more toilet paper or any of their other consumer products. And if the oilfields in the Middle East are threatened its catastrophic for one of their core businesses. I suspect Mr. Pompeo will huff and puff but he will spend more profitable time threatening Governments around the world on American aid or other "stuff" so that they are more open to doing business with certain favorable companies...you draw the obvious conclusion.
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Pompeo is a terrible choice for Sec. of State. He is exactly the opposite of what any nation would want for a chief diplomat simply because he is no diplomat. Pompeo is a bully and bullies don't listen. The most important characteristic any diplomat must have is the ability to listen. It is not possible to undertake any negotiations with anyone unless they are listened to. Diplomacy is an art. Pompeo ain't no artist.
Then compromise must be reached. Bullies don't compromise. They impose their will. In this case, Pompeo's will is strongly ideologically driven. People like that are prone to fanaticism. Pompeo's positions indicate that he is such a person.
But there is something more sinister going on here. Trump is circling the wagons. Mueller is closing in. Trump only wants those totally loyal to him to be in his inner circle. Pompeo's appointment is as much an act of desperation as it is a cabinet selection.
Mattis should leave next, soon followed by Kelly. If they truly love this country, they should no longer stand with Trump. The wheels are falling off the Trump train, all on their own.
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