It’s good to see that more commenters are starting to understand that Trump intends to start wars to hold onto power - whipping up the moronic nationalism that let Dubya launch the criminal invasion of Iraq and allowing Trump to run for re-election as a “war president”.
The now certain loss of the GOP majority in the House might push Trump to bring his war plans forward - he just needs to get a few dozen Americans killed and something with the word “war” in the title through Congress and lots of gun camera footage of smart bombs blowing things up.
What this newspaper should be writing about is the likelihood that when his defeat in November, 2020 becomes certain - or even if impeachment proceedings start in 2019, Trump will be the one who decides to “burn it down”. That’s when John Bolton gets to shoot his wad while nuking North Korea.
Nobody writing for this paper comes close to understanding how dangerous Trump really is. Anybody who really understands what Trump is doing and will do would be calling for his immediate removal by anyone willing to do anything necessary to end this presidency. But the Times won’t allow that!
As others have noted, the scum who chose to work for Trump won’t suddenly become decent people after they’ve been sacked or escorted out the door. Trump is an evil buffoon - the absolute embodiment of our image of Nero - ready to watch it all burn in a narcissistic stupor. And he can do it.
Someone needs to stop him! Right now! Any way you can...
7
The fall of McCabe will unwind the twisted conspiracy that weaponized the FBI/DOJ in order to fix the Clinton investigations & election & take down the president. The Obama-Clinton Ds & never-Trump Rs are today quaking in their KGB-issue boots.
Moreover, the revelation of new Strzok-Page emails exposing their plot to manipulate FISC Judge Rudolph Contreras—& the DOJ's attempt to bury this information from congressional oversight w/ gratuitous redactions—have put Trump on the offensive. Trump must seize this advantage.
The saboteurs are dropping like flies even as Mueller is aiming at Trump's heart—his assets—to cow him into submission. But rummaging thru records that pre-date the campaign is a sign of Mueller failure.
Trump must abandon his defensive posture with Mueller. Exposing Rex T. as T. rex & replacing him with Pompeo was Trump's opening salvo. He must now fire Sessions/Rosenstein/Wray—& bring Joe DiGenova aboard to start the RICO prosecutions.
Mueller's only mission is to complete the coup BO started with his FISA abuses & lame-duck executive orders engineered to sabotage the Trump presidency/encourage process crimes/fabricate impeachable offenses.
This scandal is about existential threats & crimes against the state; about coverups & equal justice for all; about prosecutions & forfeiture of ill-gotten gains & very long jail terms.
Obama & the Clintons & their cabal must pay for their crimes if the republic is to survive.
1
Face it. The Republicans are now all Trump followers. Tillerson is a Republican. Look at the Republican agenda: it's all just greed, greed, greed, and the country be .......... These people are not heroes, dissidents, or even unhappy except for not liking it when they are the immediate target of the pie-in-the-face approach to running the country. Ruling the country. Controlling the country. Whatever it takes. They all have been paid handsomely in coin of the realm to play the court jester for the public, the lackey in the royal household.
10
Consciously or not, Trump might have sensed an Article 25 moment approaching, and he is now replacing his leadership with sycophants to protect himself.
9
Chaos is the environment that Trump thrives in, and always has. He knows that most people are afraid of chaos, but he isn't, because he doesn't give a hoot. While decent people ask themselves "how can we stop this", Trump asks "what can I do to benefit from this". And he has so few things that he truly cares for, except for his money, his power and a couple or three of his family members,that he doesn't give a darn. I believe that he is crazy and arrogant enough to start a nuclear war with Iran, Pakistan or North Korea just because they don't bow down to him. And that would start a larger war and our "goodbye."
Can NOTHING be done to stop this maniac? Where are the decent people who are fortunate enough to have some power? Why aren't they screaming out for his removal from office? God help us all!
11
It is time for all Republicans to put country before party. Ronald Regan would be appalled at Trump's reckless behavior and unfathomable relationship with Putin. Regan would denounce Trump as a traitor to his country and an agent of the "axis of evil". Regan would further warn his fellow Americans to not be deceived by a godless narcissist out to corrupt our Christian values. Regan would weep and cry to the heavens over the inability of GOP congressman to stand up for our Constitution and Democratic norms. May God bless us and protect us for three more years.
3
The President is surrounding himself with loyalists before doing whatever it takes to fire Bob Mueller before Democrats assume control of the House next January.
8
Oh please. The reason none of these “citizens” will speak the truth is that they are counting on fall-back positions with the establishment wing of the GOP. You know, the party that demonstrates its integrity and moral courage at every turn. Oh, wait....
5
Good try, Michelle. I fervently hope he takes your sound advice and helps us all but I doubt it. Sadly.
3
For most of my life, I thought the presidency was a big and important deal, though that assumption was sorely tested by George W. Bush. However, Trump has diminished this office such that I do not hold it in any respect whatsoever as of now. We have a stupid lowlife, self-aggrandizing fool in that office, and I can't wait for this national nightmare (as stated by Gerald Ford) to be over. I can only hope that Tillerson (who was a terrible secretary of state) and many others who have already abandoned ship or been pushed overboard to do their duty and simply tell the truth about what it was like to spend time around this Fox Propaganda Channel celebrity. It is tragic that we have a person who somehow, through the anachronistic, slave-state compromise of the electoral college, has been allowed inside the White House and who is now recognized by some as president.
9
"My name is John Bolton, and I'm here to stop the count." These words are etched on my brain, and come from the infamous count of hanging chads in Tallahassee 2000. The resulting POTUS, GWB, appointed Bolton ambassador to the UN--the GOP-controlled senate refused to confirm his appointment so that it had to be a recess deal by Bush. Bolton, like an earlier disgraced government servant, Oliver North, is beloved of Fox. That Bolton is under consideration by Trump for anything is emblematic of the sewer that the administration has become. Oh, and let's also remember Admiral Poindexter, convicted in the Iran-Contra scandal, pardoned by GHWB, and brought back into government by GWB.
7
you're looking for courage and truth from these Republicans? Sure, a Corker or a Flake has a few moments of clarity and spirit but then they go whimpering back to their corners to count their money. The party is now hopelessly corrupt and their voters hopelessly brainwashed. We need to vote these people out of office so that the Democrats can once again clean up a dreadful Republican mess, much worse than that of "W".
5
Tillerson is the only adult, everyone else is a side show
He ran a large global company well
There is no other test than to run a company like Exxon
Everyone else played in a sandbox for a career
Let's hope he gets the guts to burn this down like it should
Being an emasculated former Exxon CEO is most extreme injustice - everyone else danced with the devil for fame and got burned. Rex got pushed in and led with logic - unfortunately logic doesn't work in the diplomatic world or political world
3
Not sure if Ms. Goldberg was trying to nudge Mr. Tillerson toward a tell-all or not, but if so, I suspect her article will prove counter productive as I doubt he's the type to be led by the nose.
1
Praying for Tillerson to do the right thing and help save our democracy! Our "so-called" president needs to know that different from Russia, "might doesn't make right" in America. He is NOT above the laws, and cannot silence the truth about his campaign and adminstration's actions that have clearly been against the law. You can't bully your way to the top, as in Russia and other authoritarian states. It was against the law for he and his campaign, including his children, to depend on a foreign foe for support him against a presidential candidate. It is against the law to use people's private data to use to profile them and send political ads to disparage another candidate. It is against the law to use the powers of office to enrich yourself and businesses. It is against the law to attempt to affect the outcome of an investigation by your powers of office and persuasion. It is against our laws to discriminate against Americans based on race, ethnicity, disability, gender, etc. and use and abuse them for your own benefit. What's more it is against God's laws to steal, covet, murder (policies have done in Puerto Rico and Haiti), commit adultery and bear false witness, which you have done repeatedly and continue to do. The day of reckoning is coming and justice will be served.
3
Rex Tillerson deserved to be fired with more dignity than happened. But we know it was carried out with vicious, unfeeling, dirty, grotesque malice by a pathetic excuse for a world leader.
At the same time, Mr. Tillerson did great damage to the mission of the United States Department of State. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that career State employees called him "Wreck" Tillerson.
36
As Trump famously said during the campaign: he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his supporters would still vote for him. If he keeps eliminating all the law officers in the administration, he will not only still get the votes from his base, but there will no longer anyone left to arrest him after he commits murder. Tillerson is not going rat Trump out; no, more likely he will spend time wondering why he took the State job in the first place and then fade back into his cushy private life. The grownups of the Trump administration have either abandoned ship, like rats do or been fired like Tillerson. Those who have grown up in the geographical world of Trump knew better than to vote for him. Those who accepted his job offers either failed to see the myriad and monumental flaws of trump or simply wanted to pad their pockets and/or their egos. Too bad they hitched their wagons to such a enormously, unequivocally incurious bully whose damage to the country will be long lasting
2
Tillerson will not speak out or burn the house down. He will generate leverage over the President, leverage he apparently did not possess as Secretary of State, by safeguarding the POSSIBILITY that he can speak out and "burn the house down." The fear on the part of the WH that someday he MIGHT burn the house down gives him power over Cadet Bone Spurs, Junior, Javanka and the rest of the unholy platoon of nepotists and self-dealers.
2
I don't think there are any adults. The web of power and its corruption is nearly seamless, from those who still adore Trump for his worst behavior to those who will vote Republican because that is who they are to all the Republicans at the national and state level who will do anything to pursue their agenda, even or especially against a majority who who oppose it.
1
Don’t ever expect Republicans to do the right thing. They are only in it for themselves. Government of the haves, by the haves, for the haves.
5
You're so right. Thank you for clearly telling the "Committee to Save America" folks that the time has come to put up or shut up.
Tillerson surely has actual facts about foreign affairs management that would scare the daylights out of us. Maybe he might like to recover some dignity.
You allude, however, to the real problem of constitutional failure, mentioning Congress a couple of times. This co-equal branch of government, envisioned by the Founding Fathers as probably the strongest of the three branches, isn't doing its job. The Republicans in Congress are just a troop of facilitating, applauding supporters of a dangerous man. No matter how good we may our individual senator or representative on personal level, patriots have to vote against Republicans in November simply because they are Republicans who have failed to protect us.
I just hope we can make it thru to November and, perhaps even more importantly, the January 2019 seating of the new Congress.
2
The government Trump loves is the government Trump keeps.
Tillerson got rid of US diplomacy.
Surrounded by hawks, and short term profit deals,
the Trump family is open for business. Break trade deals so
the Trump family gets a little something, a taste.
The "me" president, presiding over the "ME" party.
Republicns and Trump are the same, just read the op ed today about standing behind Trump.
1
Given his desire for privacy and business background Tillerson saw what the situation was at the outset and agreed to serve only to lend his effort to balance out Trump. I never got the feeling Tillerson was in it for himself and that he publicly disagreed with and/or stood up to Trump on important issues showed that he wasn't. There was a miscalculation on his part, though - certainly being fired on twitter blindsided him. Trump is so extremely dangerous and unstable and Tillerson has more to lose - Trump would find a way to damage him further if he speaks out. This is what Trump does - he lies awake at night plotting how to get back at every person he meets for slights real or imagined.
1
The problem with powerful men like Tillerson is that he puts the good of company (Exxon Mobil) or boss (The Great Sociopath Trump) ahead of the world.
Tillerson won't do the right thing. But Trump will do it to himself. His fall will be glorious, and may it bring down the venal CEO class and anti-science bumpkins along with him. We are ripe for a new era of Progressive Reform, trust-busting, and fair taxation such as we saw just over a century ago. How ironic that The Great Sociopath will bungle us all into it.
7
Rex can say all he wants, but it won't matter. Haven't we heard enough about the Trump administration to impeach the man ten times over already? There are simply no consequences to his outrageous behavior. He will almost certainly fire Mueller, many Republicans will rally around the move, and again, there will be no consequences, except more outrage. Outrage does not concern this president. In fact, he provokes it and enjoys it. We are learning, after 242 years, that our republic largely depends on trust, and when a megalomaniac president intentionally violates that trust, and the laws, very little can be done.
4
Given given all that was known publicly about Trump, Rex Tillerson and others hitched the reputations and futures to the Trump brand. Why would there be any exceptions a tell-all, a confessional moment from any departing minions who were selected for their willingness to take part in the Trump’s destructiveness.
The only means to discover what went on behind closed doors amongst this corrupt and self-dealing crowd is a thorough criminal investigation where the “tell-all” is elicited vis-a-vis sworn testimony.
1
I was in shock when Trump was elected, and have been is shock since. I kept thinking that something in his past would come back to bite him, but no, nothing seems to stick to this guy. No one will take him down, only he can do that to himself. He is so arrogant and incompetent that he now thinks he can do anything he wants, and his new replacements are a reflection of who he is, if not arrogant definitely incompetent.
I don't believe that the GOP will do anything to control or deal with this maniac, they sold their soul to the devil, so we wait until the mid-terms. If the DEMS get control of the house then we may see something happen, if not, then we wait until 2020. However the DEMS need to find a candidate that is not the lessor of two evils.
In the interim, we watch the reality TV show "Chaos in the White House Unscripted". I feel sorry for my neighbours to the south as this will go down as a dark period in American history, when a simpleton became President.
5
There are no knights in shining armor coming to save America. There is only me and you and our civic duty.
Be informed and vote!
2
Too respectable to burn it down, but would like to see him turn Trump inside out.
To see him in the position to fire Trump would be grand.
A century ago, W.B. Yeats' "The Second Coming" was just as dark, just as accurate, but far more concise. I suspect that, in time, our reaction will again be "Ah, didn't we knew that, but knew not what to do."
If Rex has the spine for it he would be an ideal person to more fully expose the maelstrom called the Trump White House. Will he? McMaster may take another gov or military job, so he would be unable to write another book for a while. His next book could be called Dereliction of Duty II in reference to Republicans who failed the patriotic duty to defend the nation from Trumpism.
23
Burn it down? Rex Tillerson will do nothing of the sort. His damage to the State Dept and dismantling of our diplomatic corps in just a short year will take decades to repair. This is not a patriot, but a corporate tool. He did the President's bidding for the past year, and he will no doubt return to private life in some corporate board capacity in his retirement. This is a Me First kind of person.
1
Anyone who thinks personal animus, or patriotism, will motivate Tillierson to speak out, think again. By doing so he would be betraying his social class and the lifelong business interests he represented at Exxon. Exxon's interests are lower corporate tax rates, increased oil production and demand, and to maintain those interests it cannot ever be seen as disloyal to the US government. Attacking a sitting president is not something Tillerson would ever allow coming from Exxon as CEO. He is not going to do it now.
3
The questions we have to ask ourselves is whether Tillerson accepted the role in the Trump administration as a true American patriot or was his motive purely self-interest with Exon in mind? Possibly, it may have been a little bit of both. Looking back with the latter possibility in sight and upon assuming his new position, I recall Tillerson hit the ground running immediately to Russia, thereby, bypassing Europe and every other friend to America. On the other hand, it was obvious he tried on several occasions to neutralize Trump's despicable tweets. Hopefully, any patriotic side to Tillerson would best be utilized by Robert Mueller to connect all of the dots with the investigation into potential collusion or obstruction of justice claims. May the truth be told.
2
It remains passing strange to me that an accomplished man like Tillerson would ever have desired a job working for President Trump. An extraordinarily successful businessman and a lifetime supporter of the Boy Scouts who (according to Wikipedia) played a very significant role in convincing that organization to rescind its long-standing ban on openly gay youth as members, he surely would have been familiar with the Boy Scout oath which reads:
On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
In and of themselves, the last two words in that oath should have been a clear warning to Mr. Tillerson to avoid getting mixed-up with President Trump in the first place.
9
People who knew Trump and his methods well spoke plenty before the election. Not that much has changed about the way Trump operates since then, and we all have had ample examples to prove the original commentators correct. Still the ruse continues to deceive the base and enough independents to give Trump and his minions cover to continue on their merry, destructive way. Maybe in time his support will fade enough for him to be ousted. But what will be left by then?
3
I can only hope that Meet The Press has Mr. Tillerson on as a guest on March 18th. March 25th. April 1st. The man has to speak out about the things he has witnessed.
5
Why do you need these people to speak up? Every day in public the actions and words of the President should be enough to allow every American to understand and judge the quality of Trump's intelligence, morality and leadership.
7
While I believe it's clear to most of us what we're up against, it would be nice to hear from the dearly departed 'adults' in the room. I think the shell shock and trauma they experienced and potential book deals may keep them quiet for a time.
But for patriotic reasons, if for no other, they need to be real about the level of concern those close to the wreckage that is Trump. We see it. We saw them. We know that Trump is incompetent and not even close to being as smart as he thinks he is. Therein lies most of the danger. He believe himself to be a negotiator and a leader. He is neither.
He is damaged and an empty vessel too tough to fill.
If there is any decency left in those who allegedly serve the people they will do what needs to be done, from the inside and now from the outside.
I believe this nation will survive a scourge like Trump but why continue to be a laughingstock. Testimony to what is the truth could really help right the ship.
12
If we can look away from the daily car wreck long enough to consider the arc of the narrative over the past year, we'll see that in spite of Tump's continuing impulsive, vengeful, and destructive decisions, and his lazy and incurious approach to the biggest job in the world -- we've stopped talking about "unfit for office" or malignant narcissism. Instead we're hearing that Trump is coming into his own as a president, backing up his deplorable and uneducated prejudices and authoritarian bent with new sycophantic appointments who will do a better job of implementing his life-threatening policies. What is wrong with the press, taking its eye off the core issue -- a dangerous and malevolent incompetent with the power to start a nuclear war on a whim? The Times, the Post, all of the "thought leaders" have been worn down by the craziness and finally inured to the madness. Please regain your perspective.
12
Someone did criticize Trump publicly-Jeff Flake of Arizona.
He was joined by Bob Corker, John McCain, Ben Sasse and Lindsey Graham. McConnell has remained mute despite Trump's criticism. The one Republican that I trust is Robert Mueller.
10
This constant hope that individuals like Tillerson will speak up is wasted time. The whole world by now, even here in the USA, knows what Trump is all about. The old German expression "We really didn't know" has become "We knew it for a long time" - add to that "but we chickened out" and the dots are connected.
7
America has not lost a 'political adult,' but rather a 'political adulterer'. Tillerson was an oil-man hoping to get more Russian oil for Exxon, and that is the only reason he took the job. Serving stockholders and Trump was just to hard a trick to turn. He is lucky to get out before 2018.
6
A comment that is not pertinent to the present thread:
For the first time, Mr. Trump's White House has taken action against Russia. What Trump has done looks good but is in fact largely meaningless. E.g., applying sanctions to the Russians who have already been indicted by Mr. Mueller--those assets are now worthless to Mr. Putin. The best hypothesis is that this is a smoke screen meant to obscure the firing of Mr. McCabe and to prevaricate vis-à-vis upcoming attempts to obstruct justice and halt Mueller's investigation.
4
we need to do this by the book, though. the constitution will support us. keep to the law.
but get him out of there.
7
Does the Democratic leadership have a plan ready for when Trump fires Mueller? Will the Dems once again play reaction, rather than being proactive? Does any sentient being believe the GOP will support impeachment? So, what is plan B? Or do we quietly watch our Constitutional form of government collapse into one-man rule?
17
Thank you for your comment. My questions exactly. My prediction is that it is too late to be asking because I suspect Trump will have Mueller fired within four weeks. He knows the Democrats are powerless to stop him and have no plan even if they could. The Republicans will stand around and applaud except for the few who will do the "see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" until we are engulfed in war both world-wide and at home.
2
Consider the old child-with-the-Bandaid dilemma. Do you peel it off slowly so as to avoid any great pain but still, it smarts as it goes? Or peel it off fast, so you get a short burst of pain, which hurts more but only for an instant?
Do you let this government tip over slowly, perhaps avoiding the creation of an acute national emergency but also without precipitating a change in the presidency. Or should those with secrets to tell help tip it all the way over and ASAP, perhaps creating a short-term emergency but also booting out this maniacal president?
Our mothers always tore off the Bandaid fast, and the pain really didn't prove as bad as we feared. Likewise, we've got to yank Trump out as fast as possible because as long as he stays in power, his government keeps scraping away at our rights, the Constitution and any hopes we'll recover OK once he's voted out.
If Tillerson, and all the other deposed "adults in the room," truly were working in our best interests, then now is the time to prove it. And both Kelly and McMaster must also speak up, or they'll get washed away in the storm.
4
Tillerson gutted the state department. That was his goal from the start. What he thinks of trump isn't important and he's just going to go back to making more money with shady foreign deals.
5
Nice sentiments, but Tillerson won't stand up to this insanity, as I'm sure he has his own narrow interests at heart. That said, if he indeed has a sense of morality and is brave, and doesn't simply hold his own interests (read that, consulting, lobbying, book-writing) as primary, perhaps he can do as you suggest and stimulate a band of recovering-Trumpites who have experienced the insanity from the inside and speak out....maybe/ maybe-not.
8
Democrats MUST take over the Senate and refuse to confirm any more Cabinet positions. The Departments will then be run by the most senior civil servants, who will have protection against political AND "whimsical" firing through the Merit Systems Protection Board. Bonus will be no more unqualified, ultra-right lifetime appointments to the federal courts.
Democrats MUST also take over the House to control the budget, to re-open the House Intelligence Committee investigation on Russian interference with our elections, and to at least threaten impeachment.
Vote D in November as if the life of your country depended on it, because it absolutely DOES.
31
The executive disaster is supposed to be checked by the current legislative disaster. At last, the founders have been outfoxed. Voters, it’s on our shoulders. We must end this disaster.
23
The failure of people like Tillerson, and members of Congress to speak out demonstrates these people are not true patriots, willing to sacrifice profit or personal political gain, or the political dominance of their party, for the larger cause of American Democracy. This is what I find completely disturbing. At what point will Trump do something bad enough to make these people step up. This has nothing to do with policy differences - it has everything to do with the fact Trump is an authoritarian who has nothing but disdain for the processes of American Democracy. Given the firing of Andrew McCabe, James Comey, the revolving door of the Executive Branch, we would do well to remember Benjamin Franklin's remark when asked if the Founders had created monarchy or a Republic - Franklin's reply of course was "A Republic - if you can keep it". We are a perilous place in our Republic's history. Those who fail to confront Trump will for ever be tarnished by their failure to do so.
20
Trump isn't going anywhere in 2018. Next year, maybe, but only if both Congressional houses turn blue, and that's 50:50 right now. Would a Tillerson tell-all turn the tide among undecided or persuadable voters, let alone R Congresspersons? Not if they're plugged into Fox and Hannity and Breitbart 24/7, and not if rich donors don't say so.
Tillerson could still shed some real light on Trump's colossal unfitness and perhaps further energize the resistance. I'm all for that, but hope we can survive long enough.
I expect the Mueller investigation to be shut done in a matter of weeks. A stern warning by Schumer without bipartisan support scares no one.
And Trump wants a war with Iran, and he's probably going to surround himself with likeminded flunkies. Iran is much more capable than Iraq and won't go quietly. They'll also have Russian armaments and probably cyber warfare capabilities. And we'll have very few allies outside the gulf region on our side.
Yes, Tillerson tell-all or no, things will probably get much worse before the Trump era ends.
6
Not sure about today, but in recent years, Iran has had the fourth largest, and fourth best standing military on earth, behind the US, Russia, and China. It is no Iraq and it is no Saudi Arabia. The Russians have quietly been equipping it with weapons technology for years. War with Iran word be a horror show which might mean the end of Israel and ultimately a nuclear conflagration, should Israel have no other choice to take a stab at survival.
And then there's North Korea. This is NOT going to be a good century in the history books, which will all be written below the equator, IF even those south of the equator even survive.
1
The concrete thinkers that voted for Trump did so on party lines without considering who they were electing as our next President. If there had been some investigation into Trump’s history, which would require abstract thought and consideration, many of these voters probably would have changed their vote. Now many of these followers are having second thoughts. Mueller is our savior.
4
Burn it down Rex! Please.
24
There is a nest of traitors in the White House. They were placed there via cyber attacks ordered by Vladimir Putin. This is not a legitimate administration. We need to stop beating around the bush, particularly the "liberal" or "progressive" media. These are traitors, manipulated "useful idiots" or worse, who will stop at nothing to harm the country, with the net effect, conscious or otherwise, of raising the stature of Putin and Russia. To the extent that the press continues to feign incredulity at each new abomination, we are lost as a nation. Who ever thought that our democratic institutions were so frail?
31
They've been under attack since Reagan, at least--really, before. Bush Jr. gave the destruction new force--and Obama, though I like him, did not use his brief mandate or oppose the right powerfully. i think, actually, Clinton would have. I think the men on the right feared her. She had fought openly for universal health care--where was Bernie then?--and warned way back of conspiracy on the right. They had to stop her and did. In any case, yes, the situation is dire.
9
A quick book by Mr. Tillerson about the dangers of the Trump policies -- with no personal attacks -- would be a major contribution to the well being of the United States and assure Mr. Tillerson's standing as a man of integrity and courage.
15
The fact that Tillerson is considered one of the "adults" in the administration is a testament to how bad this administration really is. But what really concerns me is that the government's checks and balances have been abandoned by the GOP. It is the Republicans who are enabling this appallingly inept, self-interested, corrupt, fraudulent administration. With the Russian killings in the UK as a warning, I fear the White House will move things in a hurry unless Republicans wake up and put a stop to the reign of terror before it becomes reality.
43
This is laughable. Only his diehard supporters think that Trump is in any way fit for office - most senators and congress members privately oscillate between disgust at his high jinks and fear of where he may "lead" us. Yet only a few tepid voices have been raised. No courage there. No willingness to put anything on the line for the country. Why should Tillerson be any different?
24
Wishful thinking. Guys like Tillerson don't tell tales. Just like Ryan and
McConnell. They are now in so deep they dare not speak out, or the whole
Party could be crushed so badly in the midterms that they lose control of both
houses.
Trump will soon attain dictatorial power by installing incompetent and unqualified
flunky's in all cabinet posts and senior white house positions.
Those who continue to support him are either stupid or bigoted
25
The curtains have been drawn aside in the Land of Trump. Trump has been fully revealed as the incompetent ignorant racist, sexual predator that he has been all of his life. The Tillerson story is just one of a countless number of sad dramas that sustains the image of Trump a feeble imitation of the Wizard of Oz. There are no more excuses for anyone to support the Trumpian disgrace to our nation. Traitor, the super-rich right-wing oligarchs that own the GOP, the Russians.. yes they all have their special reasons ...but no true citizen of the United States can honestly say they support Donald Trump.
25
Expecting Rex Tillerson to denounce Trump is like expecting Hjalmar Schacht (Hitler's first central bank president and economics minister) to denounce Hitler after his dismissal in 1937.
After successfully presiding over Nazi Germany's economic recovery he opposed further rearmament spending as inflationary. That got him dismissed as the only "adult" in the Nazi cabinet, and the rest is history.
Schacht's "opposition" didn't prevent him from being charged at the Nürnberg war crimes trial, but he got off with a light sentence as an enabler, not a principle perpetrator.
What will history think of Tillerson?
13
If anyone knows Rex’s email address, please forward this op-ed to him!
8
Why don't all the people who are out of this stinky sinkhole organize their own movement and call it #Firing Squad Tell All...every publisher would fight for the compilation book, Hollywood will be calling, scripts will be written, speeches will be given...why go meekly into the dark night when you can have your chance for the last hurrah and finally do something good for your country. You're the insiders after all.
11
These people around Trump who are holding office in this administration to "protect the country" remind me of the aristocratic generals in Hitler's Germany who knew he was leading the country to disaster but failed to act against him until he had consolidated enough power that the only way to rid the country of him was assassination. You will remember how well that worked. The attempts failed and they lost their lives. Trump is not Hitler, simply because this is not the same world as Germany occupied in 1933, but he is like Hitler. Hitler destroyed Germany with his dangerous self delusion that he knew best about everything and his skillful use of power to destroy his enemies. Trump does not have that power but he has plenty, enough to really hurt the country much much more in the next year. As a final shot I remind you of the firing of Andrew McCabe yesterday just 26 hours before his retirement from the FBI by Jeff Sessions. That firing was simply at the insistence of Trump's vengeful pressure on Sessions to do it. Trump will stop at nothing and that is about the kind of resistance he is getting from the protectors of the country and the Republican leadership. Nothing. The country is headed for a disaster.
21
Yes Rex, tell us why you think he's a moron and why he should not be in the Oval Office. We can't rely on Congress to do its job so maybe we can rely on the military, or the judiciary, to remove this cancer from the White Hous before it metastises.
9
"One Republican in regular contact with people in the White House told me that Powell and Cohn “need to protect their capacity to reach in and help manage in the event of any national crisis.”
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU CALL WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW, JUST FOOLIN' AROUND ?
13
Do not expect our own T-Rex to share any details of his time in the creature eats creature Jurassic Park environment of this White House. Despite being treated like a piece of used chewing gum attached to 45's loafers, Rex is still winning big (I don't think Rex is tired of winning yet!) by being a member of the .1% and the associated tax cuts he will enjoy. For a man who eschews the spotlight (except when getting a BFF medal pinned on him by Vladdy Putin), he was publicly humiliated in a way that has to make him want to run far away from the detritus of the White House and simultaneously to every board that will sign him up for a nice director's fee. He can live out his days counting his money and trying to escape from the fact that he actively decimated the collective intelligence and experience quota of the US foreign policy service, refused to expend a penny on protecting the US from foreign interference in our elections, and that his only act of integrity was not to have disclaimed calling the president a f*ing moron. T-Rex might even have PTSD from his last 14 months of public "service" ; does anyone know if his tenure allows him to enjoy government paid health coverage for the rest of his days?
9
Two trains of thought here.
Although not a part of this article, wouldn't it be funny if not hilarious if Trump's downfall comes from his attempt to sue a mistress for outing an affair that he says never happened.
Now for my view of Tillerson and the likes.
Even though it about making money and having power for them, my view is that they had a love for their country first and foremost.
They made it big in this country and it is this country that allowed them to have the status they acquired.
They have respect for their country.
Trump on the other hand only cares about money and power but the love of his country is secondary or even third.
As president, he has only sought to do things that benefit Trump, not the people.
Even as didn't like Bush, he loved his country.
If, as it is said, the Roman Empire was destroyed internally.
I would say that we are well on our way to succeeding in that same plight.
Principles count.
Trump has none of those.
4
Tillerson , Powell, Cohn, and the rest are a special breed to work for Trump in the first place. Somehow these people became morally lost. Science and psychology will someday shed light on this bizarre human trait.
8
"Republican members of Congress like Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, might be induced to rediscover their spines and perform proper oversight."
Ummm....no, he won't. Corker needs to wipe Trump's orange juice off his chin.
4
The Republican-controlled Congress has made a pact with the Devil to enable Trump no matter what he does. They only whine and cry about morality, honesty, competence, and family values when we have a Democratic president.
10
I'm not sure Tillerson is the wrecker and fool that some readers make him out to be. He had more than one opportunity to deny his unequivocal declaration that Trump is a "moron" and he deliberately refused to do so, to his signal honor, in my view. Not every Republican is a money-grubbing fool. Unfortunately, too few of them are willing to confront Trump directly, and that includes Congressional leaders who have a responsibility to history, to the whole American people, to their own children and posterity.
5
Like all the other sleazebags who joined this administration, Tillerson only looks like a decent human being with some kind of moral compass in comparison with Trump. I expect no heroics from any of them. Most will slink away, hoping not to even be mentioned in the history books in connection with this criminal administration.
12
Rex is a coward. Too much of an Eagle Scout.
He's has a real tough life ahead of him.
What's he worth? 300+ million.
Good riddance Rex.
I'd have a modicum of respect for him if he had taken the toddler in chief to task.
7
A President gets the help he deserves
Clinton Rossiter
Trump is now scraping the bottom of the barrel to get
a menagerie of mediocrity, supplicants, hypocrites,
liars, incompetents and sychophants.
It's gonna be a bumpy ride
Bette Davis
6
Rexit has not been the end of the world. Expect Rex to get a book deal and let us see what he burns down and whether or not he called the man who gave him an opportunity to serve the USA as its top diplomat a "moron" and if he did in what context.
2
Rex can try to burn the place down from the outside.
It might work, though scandal after scandal seems to have no impact on our President.
Of course, another option would be for congressional Democrats to step up their game.
That is, actually, their job.
However, until now, congressional Democrats seem to be limited to informing us that Trump is erratic, ignorant, a bit dim, and dangerous.
And?
Tell us something we don’t know.
How about some real policy alternatives to the coddle-the-rich strategy Republicans are following?
Maybe Feinstein could release the torture report, using it as an argument for why putting a woman who was a participant in US torture - and then helped destroy the evidence of that torture - in charge of the CIA would be bad.
Perhaps Democrats could move on from worrying 24/7 about the Dreamers and focus on the people who can actually vote and, you know, propose policies that appeal to them. As a side note, when they propose policies that help working people, stop trumpeting that they will help women and minorities... white men vote too. If you want to appeal to white men, a rather large voting demographic, don’t act like they don’t exist.
Or maybe the Senator from Wall Street and the 100 million dollar woman could step down from their leadership positions in favor of someone with new ideas, under 60, who hasn’t spent their career sucking up to rich donors.
But, given Democrats’ track record, I’m better off betting on Rex.
Go get him, Rex!
3
“Hitler in a coalition with the Center will be working with statesmen who are not drummer boys but experienced realists. And it is a great deal easier to organize revolts than it is to rule. I predict that Hitler will be extinguished.” – American journalist Dorothy Thompson, after interviewing Adolf Hitler in 1932
6
I am very puzzled about why anybody thinks Tillerson would suddenly become a good guy who would somehow take steps toward pursuing the best interests of the United States of America. And by the way, for Tillerson to come clean about the Trump Administration would truly be a futile, meaningless, and stupid gesture. Just another MSM attack that would not be believed by the Trump supporters. Best to let this sleeping dog lie.
Let us recall the past as prologue - "Since the beginning of this administration, we’ve been assured — via well-placed anonymous sources — that a few sober, trustworthy people in the White House were checking ..." - on George W. Bush. And so, following 9/11 especially, many of us took some cold comfort in the experienced, guiding presence of men like Cheney and Rumsfeld.
4
A Tillerson expose would be welcomed and SNL would no doubt jump on it with unbridled joy, but the real question is, "Would it matter one bit to Trump?" I posit it wouldn't. His social and political abuses have produced an heavily armored fool. Nothing it too low for him. Witness the affair with Stormy Daniels or his pre-election description of his relationships with other women.
Tillerson's reputation as head of the State Department is terrible. I don't think Rex have enough matches to burn down anything.
3
You count Rex Tillerson to the grown-ups?
My, aren't we generous today, Michelle.
2
Tillerson will most be remembered for calling Trump exactly what he is, including the epithet.
6
It would be great, but ... no way. He's an Eagle Scout. Too honorable.
2
There are many reasons to subscribe to the NYT, but the analysis, clarity and forcefulness of Michelle Goldberg is at the top of the list.
6
Americans err by assuming Trump, his sycophantic enablers, and deplorable supporters
are Americans. They point proudly to their birth certificates, skin color, religion, to some extent gender, and ability to speak English—all of which they proudly wave as a cudgel against those of us who differ—to prove it.
None of that makes them American. What makes us American are our common belief in the as-yet imperfectly fulfilled promises of America, and willingness share the sacrifices as well as the benefits. They aren’t interested in paying any of the costs, only in extracting the benefits.
The foundational words of the Republic lay it out.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all.”
2
Tillerson should speak. He wasn't a great sec, but now he can perhaps make a difference. Anyway, he should just do it if he thinks it is right.
However, many of the people Goldberg mentions are only "adults" in their own minds. Dina Powell? Non-entity. Promoted within the George W. Bush White House, which was the previous low point of clownery in recent times, and then employed by Goldman's, in the Philanthropy department. HR McMaster "might as well be a private" according to one source interviewed by Foreign Policy magazine. Jeff Sessions? Sorry, not my guy to protect the constitution or our way of life. Maybe the 1840s Virginia way of life, but not today's one. Hope Hicks, 29 year old former model and co-captain of her high school lacrosse team - not an adult of the standard we need to run our government. Rob Porter and John McEntee? Give me a break.
4
I have very little respect for Tillerson, but if he is the true patriot a Secretary of State should be, he is obligated to speak out, and loudly. Bringing this president to his knees would go a long way in saving what little reputation Tillerson has left, and would perhaps earn him a place in respectable history.
5
But the Republicans (for the most part) continue to stand with Trump - they should not be re-elected. They look as silly as Trumps' Wife (current and Ex's) and his children.
4
But Tillerson just got a tax cut so all is well in his world.
4
Just a little reality check here: You are looking for Republicans of principle to stand up and do what's right. We all know what the definition of insanity is don't we?
6
The article by this lady filled with TDS just shows her imaginary shortcomings in Trump and her frustration with his success. If the former administration officials do not say "the president is a dangerous fool in need of babysitting" she will be totally disappointed. For her information, many people were fired by Trump and nobody so far said anything negative about him, but only praised him.
1
I have no confidence that Tillerson's revelations, as horrifying as they might be, will move congressional republicans to act to bring down the current administration. They have already overlooked so many crimes and misdemeanors, not to mention treason, there is no reason to believe that they give a hoot about anything other than their own power and control.
6
Go, Michelle. The American people need the whole truth and nothing but.
3
Maybe one of the things he can tell us is why he systematically destroyed the State Department.
3
For me, the most frightening paragraph in this article was that in which John Bolton was named as possible successor. I'm astonished by the fact that, given his history in the first decade of this century, he's considered for any office above dog catcher.
6
Mr Trump is baking a cake one in which many dates and lots of nuts are used, but unfortunately like a lot of rushin cooks, he may be a too bit impatient to finish this masterpiece of culinary art.
The scary thing IMO is the president of the United States technically doesn't have to consult anyone about questionable decisions - when he's got a Congress, Cabinet, and a good part of a Supreme Court who will simply nod and tell him he's brilliant. There was zero backbone in this administration during Mr. Tillerson's tenure - and will be zero backbone after his departure.
Since this is a TV president, look at it in TV terms: The United States has just entered the season finale of "Battlestar Galactica", Season 2. That's when the newly elected (and wholly incompetent) President Gaius Baltar was warned of catastrophic danger ahead from the Russians - I mean, the Cylons - by Admiral William Adama:
Admiral Adama: "You're not listening."
Dr. Baltar: "I don't have to listen. I'm the President."
See the parallel? I don't think we want to see the rest of the parallel (that's part 2 of the finale) when the Russians - I mean, the Cylons - swooped in and took over in a surprise attack, inadvertently aided by President Baltar's idiotic moves.
Sometimes life imitates art. Given the recent stirrings of the Cylon (Russian) empire, IMO it would be wise to cancel this Trump show before Season 3 - Cylon-occupied territory, airstrikes, prison camps, torture - starts production.
6
Alexander Harrison has submitted 2 comments which merited publication, and in which I made the following points. Liberals have much to answer for in terms of a reluctance to denounce Louis Farrakhan, who has been spewing anti semitic hatred for decades in speeches and "sermons,"yet his bigotry is passed over, ignored by those who condemn Trump for taking an evenhanded approach towards marchers in Charlottesville--you don't change someone's frame of mind by condemning them outright--and his alleged yet fabricated sympathy for David Duke, who by the way has his Ph.D. in history.Referring to someone by his first name, REX, may sound cute to Ms. Goldberg, but it is a very American habit and rude.if you don't know them personally. Back in the day when De Gaulle was in the Elysee, do you think I would have referred to him, if granted an interview, as "Charlie," and on leaving said, "Amuse toi bien?" I also faulted Ms. Goldberg for not making a greater effort to be informative, and suggested she visit small towns and hamlets in middle and working class America to find out how the folk think. ARLIE HOSCHILD has lived for over 5 years in a poor La. bayou town to get to know the folks, has become assimilated , and written a great book, "Strangers in Their Own Land,"so why does not Ms.Goldberg not show the same stamina, and report back to her many readers on results of her investigations in America's heartland. As Beth Spaeth wrote, Times reporters live in a bubble!
1
Henry David Thoreau said it best, "...oh for a man who has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through."
3
Grownups don't "burn it down", They try to be helpful as long as they can
2
If it weren't so scary , it would be comical ! The cast of characters he has appointed to replace his previous appointees are beginning to look like bottom of the barrel has been scraped. John Bolton , of the walrus mustache that never matched his hair , as Secretary of State . Putin must be rolling on the floor holding his sides ! We go from bad fit for the office to just bad bad bad . Expect to see Rudy G, Chris C and Rick S(who weren't considered for any position in spite of their rabid support) up there at some point replacing the replacements.
3
How did the US become (morally) bankrupt? First gradually, then suddenly.
3
I think the only sensible this to do is quake in our boots. Did you say, John Bolton? Larry Kudlow? Who's next, Newt Gingrich to HUD?
3
The way that Trump fired Tillerson was the equivalent of George Washington throwing a brick, wrapped with a note saying "You're Fired!" through Thomas Jefferson's window.
3
There is a place just waiting to be filled by a patriotic hero. Someone who could walk out of the fetid mist and speak honestly....ah, honesty...I miss it so much. Sure, there will be those who will despise you for doing so, but they have no interest in the reputation and future of our country. Please. Please. Do it.
3
The level of loyalty Trump inspires in fired, humiliated and dissed staffers is unreal. What is WRONG with these people? Did Putin provide him with leverage on every single one of them so that they can’t speak out, or are they all just despicable human beings who venerate a charlatan? Some, like Reince Preibus and Steve Bannon, continue to publicly fawn all over him. No dignity. No morals. No self-worth.
4
Don't hold your breath that one of Trump's enablers turns on him. They have too much to lose, even those who've already been kicked to the curb.
Instead, let's hope this all comes to a head next weekend when students for sensible gun laws march on D.C. and Stormy Daniels is interviewed on 60 Minutes.
1
Dear Mr. Tillerson....this is your moment to shine a bright light! Please do so.
Respectfully your(s),
America
2
Barry McCaffrey, four star retired Army general just came out, and stated." that President Trump, was a serious threat to U. S. national security." Enough said. Wake up Congress!
7
Rex,
Don't waste your time writing commentary or a book. don't wait for your "60 Minutes" 15 minutes of fame.
Now that you have some free time and freedom give Mr. Mueller a call, the sooner the better. I am sure he has just a few questions to ask. And don't bother deleting all those emails on your computer. Mr. Mueller and his team are only interested in some of them.
3
Rex Tillerson is an Eagle Scout. Donald Trump probably quit after obtaining his wolf badge.
1
Like Al Capone, Donald Trump will not be brought down by his sins, but he may be caught by his errors. This guy has absolutely no shame, and his backers are ok with it, some even enjoying it. So burning it down won't help, and anyway at this stage there is not much left to burn.
Better than Rex's possible revelations, I bet on Stormy's story. Not because of the sleaze, but for the tax and campaign finance irregularities it may uncover. Go girl, save our souls!
3
Yes Rex. It is what you should do. Say it how it is Texas Style. As you saw it.
2
BARK Rex, BARK !
2
One Republican in regular contact with people in the White House told me that Powell and Cohn “need to protect their capacity to reach in and help manage in the event of any national crisis.”
Don't make me laugh. This is like Alexander Haig announcing that he was in charge when Reagan was shot. These people should know that there are procedures and these procedures do not include former administrators.
Time for Powell and Cohn to go home. Their work is done.
1
Let's be honest about this: Trump isn't going anywhere. Even if the House changes hands in November and Mueller provides a basis for impeachment it will take a long time to cycle through and by then we'll be in the campaign for the presidency in 2020. Democrats will not want to run on a platform based around impeachment. The only way impeachment will occur is if Trump somehow wins a second term and the house is controlled by aggressive Democrats and that phrase is an oxymoron.
3
If Tillerson "holds Trump in contempt" he should have made it clear before, and not accepted a job — one he is totally unqualified for.
These firings are about the mob turning on itself. There are no adults in the room, nor have there been — just rich, greedy, ego-driven bullies and narcissists.
No praise is due Tillerson for opposing Trump. He's part of the same gang.
1
Fellow citizens what alarming comments you write. I guess the rainbow and kittens era is over especially for the Republicans. I still have great faith in the honest hardworking people of this country to recognize a sham when they see it and to recognize that baby it's time for a change. I believe they will throw the most crazy person ever elected for anything out. At the same time they need to bear in mind CHANGE to prevent this sort of person from gaining power and misusing it in the future. There are obviously leaks in the dike. Try to remember the solidarity after 9ll and understand that we need to return to that feeling of togetherness to save ourselves.
1
After a halfhearted attempt to build a somewhat responsible administration, Trump is now shaping it like he always shaped his business and personal lives — surrounding himself with sycophants and lackeys. He has no interest in listening to others. Nor will he settle for being anything less than the center of attention. My four-year-old granddaughter is much the same.
3
Let's get real. Until a few important Republicans begin to put a stop to this travesty of republican government, the horror will continue to escalate. This time, in keeping with the adage that history repeats itself first with tragedy and then with farce, instead of a beer hall putsch, it will be a "gold" foil invite to a golf tournament a Mar a Lago where all the Republican Congresspersons swear undying allegiance to our would be president-for-life. If you didn't see this coming during the interminable and abominable run up to the election in 2016, you weren't paying attention.
2
RIP American Democracy
A Noble Experiment
1776-2016
2
History will not be kind to the powerful, influential Americans who could have said something, but waited until the bandwagon was big enough that they could speak safely without the right-wing spotlights shining on them. Donald Trump is a danger to this republic, and people with influence should say so, loudly and publicly.
3
Your desire for the emergence of tyrannosaurus Rex is understandable. Unfortunately, the current Nero narcissist in the Oval Office is already doing a "beautiful" and "bigly" job of burning it down with his new crew of "Yes, men" who will genuflect in admiration and loyalty to all his grandiose whims and spur of the moment impulses. So, if Donald Trump decides, as it most certainly seems, to rip up the Iran Nuclear Accord, he'll have Mike Pompeo to there to announce what a great idea that is. And, if he decides after meeting Little Rocket Man in a face-to-face nuclear showdown, to show him whose "button is bigger" by giving him a "bloody nose," then, according to recent reporting he'll have the successor to Gen. H. R. McMaster (maybe the Yosemite Sam impersonator, John Bolton) to jump for joy at such a fantastic, magnificent idea. So Michelle, the fires have just been ignited and everything maybe be burnt down before Rex Tillerson and anyone else (the Republican Congress, the mental health profession, the media, or the voters this November) can "save America" from the conflagration.
1
The real problem is congressional republicans and their support for tRump's judicial appointments.
1
Michelle is 100% correct about this. Those of us who are frankly in despair over the outrages that DT gets away with should rightly see her "suggestion" (it should really be a DEMAND from one citizen to another) as one of the best ways thus far to offer an effective rebuke to that disgraceful excuse for a "leader." Getting rid of Trump will take who knows how much more time, but the after-departure reports of the many people he has so badly soiled may accelerate this process. And why shouldn't they speak out candidly and promptly? In most cases, these people have enough distinction 1) to be taken seriously and 2) not to have to worry about reprisals from that vengeful, dishonest, vicious creature in the White House.
2
This column is wishful thinking, I think. Tillerson twisted himself into a pretzel (or a Trump-zel) in his effort to keep his job. He might have had contempt for Trump, but like the rest of the GOP he kissed Trump's feet when asked to do so. And he has to know that if he becomes a critic now, he will be targeted for reputation annihilation by Fox News and its friends, as well as by Trump of course. And once Fox starts, CNN will feel obliged to bring on people who represent the Fox viewpoint to meaninglessly debate with people who do not. In short, once a person drinks from the poisoned chalice of working for and vouching for the most corrupt and unqualified president of modern times, the only thing to do is to crawl away and say a million Hail Marys (or the equivalent in one's religion)
1
mcmasters, sessions, carson --throw a dart as to who goes first. by tweet, of course.
When Sessions is fired, by tweet, of course, the only way to protect Mueller is not to confirm his replacement. Will the senate have the guts to do that and delay the process for such a time that Mueller can indict a few more?
Suggestions; Donald, jr, Jared, Conway. . . . . . . ....
1
Duh. The Trump authoritarian take-over has already happened. He is surrounded by yes-people. The cabinet is full of his people -- too incompetent or beholding to get in his way. The House and Senate support his actions. The conservative-loaded Supreme Court will not intervene. And he's going to fire Mueller. We're already in authoritarian La La Land.
As enticing as Ms. Goldberg’s proposal sounds, the sad truth is that should Mr. Tillerson did as she suggest nothing would change. To the contrary, Trump’s apologists would simply say that he is just spouting sour grapes, Fox News and Breitbart would drill the point to death and the Republican members of Congress, afraid of their shadows, would coward and the base would continue to idolize Trump. The only way out of this mess is for Democrats, Independents and Republicans not blinded by Trump showing up and voting in November and replacing the gutless Trump enablers in Congress.
1
Mr. Tillerson was the only person with Mr. Trump in that initial meeting with Putin. I'm sure Mr. Mueller's team would be interested in what was really said in that meeting. Not the glossed over White House recap.
1
It is entirely possible, if not likely that the Democrats shall control both House and Senate after the midterms. It is also entirely possible, if not likely that none of that will matter because the destruction of the democratic, constitutional republic which is known as the United States will no longer exist and we shall have a dictatorship fighting trade wars in Europe, shooting wars in Iran and Korea and become a rouge state.
If Trump succeeds in becoming an autocrat there will be arrests and those who expressed disloyalty or opposition will be jailed and one of the reasons no one is speaking out is out of self protection. When democracies fail there is always an enemies list. Think of those who crossed Trump’s new best friend Putin and what has been happening to them.
The Senate needs to confirm Trump’s new appointments and the GOP has a thin majority if the Democrats stick together. Look at the Senate with a 5 vote GOP majority and consider this: out of 54 Senators we cannot find 5 patriots to join with the Democrats and Independents to say no more appointments no more judges until January 2019. I
s there 5 GOP senators who might like to wash some of the Trump/Russian stink off of themselves before they run for reelection and thumb their noses at the Koch brothers etal?
Dick Cheney had a financial interest in the Iraq war through Halliburton's no-bid contracts. Tillerson's Exxon Mobile, if sanctions could have been lifted, would have partnered with Putin/Russia in drilling in the Arctic. The nation's best interest in Mind? I don't think so. We know about the Russian oligarchs. The Republican party oligarchs are becoming more obvious by the moment.
1
It makes me wonder if there is a signed "non-disclosure agreement" as a prerequisite to landing a job in trump's white house. A very trumpian thing.
The nation shouldn't expect any insider info about the Trump gang from this group of failed megalomaniacs. They took positions in this administration (when anyone possessing an ounce of self-wroth and integrity would not) because - like their boss - they saw it as a way to enrich themselves. We in this country should cease to believe that all people who serve in government have our best interests at heart. We need to cease to believe that we owe them our support because they "represent" our interests at home and abroad. They do not! If we learn anything from this mistake as the result of an antiquated, vulnerable system of electing our leaders, it should be that we can only the trust actions and results of those we place in positions of power. When they don't measure up to our expectations, we need to have a system ready that can publicly and efficiently remove them from office and start a "do-over" process. As we teach our young - there's no harm in failing, as long as you recognize your errors and learn from them. We have yet to follow the teenagers from around the country, who are teaching us through their response to the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS the value of demanding a change in the agenda, and demanding results that are worth a sou vs the patronizing responses we often are given. Trump and his family need to leave government now and be thankful that they probably won't get locked up (as they should) like the criminals that they are.
4
I used to believe our system of checks and balances was an example of genius. Now it’s apparent that was a naive assessment. Assuming we survive this, we must do a serious overhaul, starting with the electoral college and moving on to lifetime judicial appointments. The list is long.
6
'We' already know 'what we're up against'.
'We' have known this for so long as we have ben able to listen to, and hear and read about, Mr. Trump.
'We' have actually run out of adjectives to describe it.
'We' have decided to stop saying 'it can't get any lower than this': because it can and does virtually every week.
'They' the people who continue support this international nightmare need 'to do something'.
'We' can't.
6
It is most likely that Tillerson will not speak out. He doesn’t seem like a bridge burner and he seems to be a private person in general. However, if there are things going on I believe he has a moral duty to the citizens of this country to speak up. Why is no one talking about the fact that these people are supposed to work for us?
How is it that we have a president firing all the adults in the room who has only a 37-40% approval rating. This administration does not represent the majority of this nation. Nor does he represent the best interests of a majority of this nations people. He never had a clear mandate and has no plan for this country. This is no way for a country to be.
9
The day Trump was elected was the beginning of the end of the United States of America. It's not really about Trump himself. It's about the support he continues to get even after his deficiencies as a human being are so obvious. Throughout history great democracies have declined, failed, and died. This is our moment. It won't happen quickly, but it will happen. Citizens living in ancient Greece during its decline, didn't necessarily realize that the end was near. Do we realize what's happening to us? When basic decency is shown to have no value at all, there is really very little left.
52
I absolutely completely agree with you. As you say, the demise won't happen quickly, but I think the destruction of our democracy began with Ronald Reagan and is moving on track and maybe a little too quickly with Donald Trump. The corruption in politics has continued to be more bold--seemingly without notice of the citizens of this country. Do people really think that this administration's shenanigans and complete disregard of anything civil or legal is appropriate? Seems so and I am sickened by it but...I still have hope for the November elections.
In insurance the term proximate cause relates to what precipitated a chain of events. Look no further than the advent of reality TV. When a large swath of the public is drawn to reality TV believing it is 'real', the Trump administration is but a current day extension of what they find interesting.
Not only is the institution of the American Presidency being destroyed, but all the supposed 'best of the best' people that occupy Cabinet and appointed positions [current and departed] are in their own way dismantling this country. A single individual, say Rex Tillerson, speaking up is going to do very little. Any factual information he might provide will be Trumped by a single Tweet.
I am becoming more convinced, like the English nursery rhyme - all the king's horses and all the king's men won't be able to put Humpty [America] back together again if this chaos goes on for 4, let alone 8 years.
15
Thank you for saying what needed to be said. Now we will all wait and hope those in Congress are listening, and some present or former White House staffers will step forward and put country over party.
17
Media outlets wanted us to believe that Trump, the child, was surrounded by certain adults in the room. That was not and is not the case. Tillerson might have been an ill fit for the reckless Trump but he was never an adult. He did Trump's bidding and slashed State, he held no press conferences, he rose no objection to being upstaged in his diplomatic efforts by the Trump children, and now he will quietly fade away.
12
Love the column and the comments but I’m left thinking that the fools who joined the Trump administration were never patriots to begin with. Don’t expect them to suddenly be what they never were.
48
Very true, just take the latest scandal of James Mattis and how he is implicated in a biggest fraud with Theranos, led by CEO Elizabeth Holmes. Wasn't he suppose to be the country's integrity saver. Well, check this out...
https://www.vox.com/2018/3/16/17124288/mattis-theranos-board-trump
1
Without our corrupt, treasonous Congress, Trump would be nothing more than a minor footnote in the history of our Republic. They are the ones who have abdicated their responsibility to protect and defend the Constitution and our sovereignty.
57
So Trump likes lawsuits? Perhaps he needs to be involved in many, many, many lawsuits so that he understands how unloved he really is. America is no Turkey, nor even Russia.
8
Rex does not have a backbone. Look at how pitiful the State department is now. Money over country.
8
I am no Trump fan, but asking those who exit the Trump administration to castigate him severely is simply uncouth, ugly, and perverse. My impression of Rex Tillerson is that he is a decent and highly successful man who is not ready to be the Secretary of State. While I certainly hope some special prosecutor finds some reason to encourage Trump to leave office, somehow better would be to find someone like Nikki Haley to run against him...and beat him. And, my hope is that, then, she would employ savvy and circumspectness in how she addresses Trumpisms.
6
I knew Tillerson would not say this at his post mortem press conference, but it would have been so refreshing to hear him say "My sudden firing over Twitter shows what a mentally unstable man Trump is." Of course Trump would have sent out a dozen tweets of denial while trashing Tillerson and Fox News would have questioned Tillerson's sanity, but it would have been fantastic if a Republican victim of Trump's circus of a White House would have finally told it like it obviously is. But it looks like the country will have to wait for Trump's presidential exit for all the books to be published revealing the truth about the worst president ever.
5
Our loutish and degraded President, disgracing his office every day. And as for his Republican enablers in Congress, those men and women of no morals and less integrity?
Throw the bums out, every last one, from Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell on down. Do it for the love of our country and to maintain a hope for our future.
22
Tillerson and McMaster were shown the door right after saying something strong against Russia. But Nikki Haley made the strongest statement of all. Why is she still there? Is Trump scared of her? Maybe Trump would do better to have more strong female babysitters instead of all these weak men.
14
I try to remain optimistic that our country has a future, any future. These are the Science Fiction Days our elders warned us about, when plot lines involving insane leaders and hopelessly dystopian lifestyles come true. Isn't the expectation that former Trump insiders will save us, just another futile cry in the wilderness? The majority in Congress is made up of deaf, dumb and blind boys who just want to play pinball. The future doesn't matter to them, they only care about their silly game. What we truly need is a good old fashioned miracle, or a hero, on winged horse. Or, dare I say it, some form of Devine intervention.
7
Trump is not only unfit. He is dangerous and a grave threat to our national interests and world security.
He is a deeply disturbed and amoral man.
14
"When Leaders Behave Like Kids. Kids Have To Behave Like Leaders"
So said a sign held by one of the wonderful young people who comprise the Teenage Crusade against gun violence. Their effect has been searing enough to lead NRA lackeys to condemn American youth for their impertinence.
I rely more on our young idealists to wake the conscience of the country than on Mr. Tillerson who did more damage to the State Department than anyone since Joe McCarthy. Of course, if Tillersaurus Rex witnessed crimes or a cover-up of Russian meddling in our elections and their penetration of the power grid, he has an obligation to blow the whistle, publicly.
Otherwise, if he rages against the incompetence of the President, no matter how accurately, the Trumpians will successfully discredited him as a disgruntled failure.
What historians need is an explanation is how big Rex, Titan of Industry, ignored hallowed rules of management, among them, Harold Lasswell's "Politics (in this case policy) Is Who Gets What, When and How." Meekly accepting Mick Mulvaney's diktat to cut 30% of State's budget meant making the State Department (and by extension, Tillerson himself) irrelevant. \
Resources set priorities; clearly the President meant to militarize foreign policy, unless the Great Oz himself conducted it. Tillerson should explain what he wanted from his failed reforms and the he left key posts vacant.
1
Oh, my, such a class act by Trump. Humiliate the man in the most visible, maximum exposure manner possible, deny him a dignified exit as would normally be expected for his service and his standing, and then axe him in the cruelest, most cowardly way. Not face-to-face, like any decent manager would do, but hiding behind a tweet. But at least he didn't leave the poor man to find his own way home in coach, or abandon him in the rain on the tarmac.
7
The "poor man" is a billionaire.
He knew what he signed onto.
I wouldn't waste one moment's pause on him or his whole greedy, amoral class.
1
The press is doing a great job to resist this evil. But where is leadership amongst (respected?) politicians (old and new), responsible business leaders, social activists to drive change. Comedians are doing more than the leader class! Such as it is. The only call to action I see is incessant demands for campaign money. No more, until I see you guys actually DO something!
3
The United States was always an example of the strengths of the democratic form of government. Today it is an example of weaknesses. Sad.
3
This is good counsel. I would add to it that in addition to being open with the American public, it is their duty to get in front of elected officials to make sure that their concerns are on the record. Otherwise, we have the GOP sticking their heads so far into the sand that they qualify for contortionist jobs with Cirque de Soleil.
When many of us were appalled that people with actual credentials and accomplishments were joining the administration along with the Trump family gangsters, mulligan granting evangelicals, and the third rate reality figures like Omarosa, we were told to be grateful. They were patriots saving us from the worst possible outcome. Gary Cohn publicly humiliated himself, standing by with just a resignation letter written but never delivered, during the aftermath of Charlottesville. Never forget, Gary?
Rex and Gary benefitted from enormous tax savings that they reaped by joining the administration. Now I'd like my money's worth. I'd like to hear it all from these patriots and not in the form of leaks. On the record, loudly, clearly, and as soon as possible. Deliver written testimony to be read into the Congressional record.
4
Tillerson speaking out? Hardly. Even though Trump either ignored or embarrassed Tillerson, Rex still managed to wreak havoc in the State Dept., treating it as it were a failing business unit of Exxon-Mobil. Morale is said to be at low ebb, and Republican storm troopers are combing through the State career ranks forcing out anyone who worked in support of Obama-era initiatives (such as the Iran nuclear deal). Tillerson said he didn’t like Government “bloat,” but was disinterested in even familiarizing himself with how State actually works.
The plain fact is that Trump selected Tillerson because of his business dealings with Russia. Our fearless, feckless President figured Rex could persuade Congress to lift Obama’s economic sanctions, but wheeling and dealing with Members was never in Tillerson’s cards; it would be beneath the dignity of a corporate CEO. So Donald really had no use for him and, besides, they pretty much detested each other.
No. Let Tillerson disappear in the oil slicks of history, gone and hardly missed.
5
Dear Mr. Tillerson,
SOS- We who are about to completely lose our ideals, our values, our decency, and our soul will salute you.
Signed,
We the people
1
Sure. Like gladiators saluting the emperor of Rome.
Tillerson is a rich, greedy capitalist who cares not a fig for "the people."
1
As much as i would like to see Tillerson tell all i doubt it will happen. All of these people seem brainwashed to remain loyal to 45 (Stockholm syndrome). Then tonight Sessions fires McCabe and 45s attorneys sue Stormy for $20 million. Can we have one normal day?
3
The insiders now outsiders will tell their story in a book to earn some royalties. But few of these lesser lights will have the intestinal fortitude to logically and cogently report on the travails and mayhem of the Trump Administration.
The only solution to end this Trumpian nightmare is at the ballot box where we as citizens, and not these over-egoed insiders, can give this Administration a practical lesson they will have to respect. We need to end a presidency where our leader not only tells deliberate, and unbelievable lies, to the prime minister of Canada, but then gloats about telling his lies. Not that Trudeau believed him, but Trump just enjoys the deceit in the lie. We must work at the ballot box for his removal and the removal of the right-wing Republican Congressional majority.
4
Mr. Tillerson needs to speak up about the atrocities he’s witnessed for the good of the country. He can get better lawyers than Trump because he can certainly afford them and because good lawyers know better than to represent a boy who won’t pay you. This country needs a lot of saving, and Mr. Tillerson can get the ball rolling. For once, let’s see what political courage looks like. Donnieboy needs a serious spanking and to be sent back to New York, where he faces a laundry list of money laundering crimes and a long rest behind bars.
3
Tillerson is not your friend.
He's just a different branch of the enemy.
If Rex Tillerson publicly turns against Trump you can bet that Trump will claim it's just a bad case of sour grapes by Tillerson. This message will be delivered personally by Trump in his own unique style of sneering sarcasm. This explanation will be accepted by Trumpistas without batting an eyelash.
2
So where are the grown ups now?
We're out here in the country, we're big boys and girls and we can still listen to Truth. Where are the Congress men and women and are they thinking they're being respectful or polite by not speaking out? What is Trump going to do, give them a tongue lashing?
The man is a bully.
He knows they're all "Fraidy Cats" so he keeps on bullying and destroying anyone, the toadies as well as the defiant ones. It makes no difference to Trump. His face is set in arrogance. He is a very sick man. Ryan and McConnell. Stand up together if you're too scared to stand alone. The country is fed up with your lack of courage. Bring Mr. Tillerson with you, he seems normal.
3
The only way that Mr. Tillerson can resuscitate his reputation and legacy is to speak out. He must honestly tell the public what he knows. He must address in public the manifest unfitness of the president.
To Jane and the rest, regarding our naked emperor:
"We" all know the Emperor is stark naked.
The issue is that the people who like Trump, who adore Trump, is that they simply do not care if he is naked: First, HE IS THEIR GUY. And, second, he is doing what he said he would do, which is change things from the "passive" (and "black" oriented) Obama era. Trump is therefore both being honest, and being a leader, as they see it.
It is of course both a foolish and disgraceful outlook. But Trump has those ignorant people, mainly men, in his pocket. What may be happening is that the foolish wives of those foolish men may slowly but surely be deserting Trump. Every day a few more foolish women lose interest in Trump. Soon only his hard core of manly (ignorant) men will be there to support him.
2
When Tillerson was made Sec'y of State I shuddered at the thought of an oilman in that position. He wasn't good at the job, but that wasn't surprising; no one can do it all. However he did have moral and ethical strengths and wasn't just a rat following the Pied Piper, as others are. For those strengths, I respect him.
If anything, the despicable way he was fired only goes to support the fact that he was above the lying & corruption.
I wish him well.
3
If he had any ethics he would not have accepted a job he was unqualified for.
Tillerson was trained all his life...from his Eagle Scout youth to the executive suites at Exxon...to be a team player. This brief experience in politics, where teamwork is regarded as the ability to take advantage of another, must have shaken him to his core. Look for him to retreat from public view; he is highly unlikely to tell us what he really thinks.
2
To be fair, "Teflon Don" wouldn't catch fire. There are never consequences. Tillerson could set fire to himself, and McConnell and Ryan would not blink an eye. It frustrates me to no end, the constant danger Trump is to this country. How he undermines the very fabric of our democracy on a daily basis. How he violates basic decency. How he destroys everyone around him.
Tillerson should speak up anyway. Perhaps he will when he digests what has happened.
27
Please, Mr. Tillerson, take this advice to heart. Help save the country from further chaos and a potential true disaster. Not only will your reputation be resurrected but you will be recognized throughout history as an American hero with morals, guts and conviction.
There are FAR too few republican politicians currently speaking out. Please join them, add your powerful voice, and help put the country on a path towards healing.
22
It's pitiful to see working people begging a major player from the capitalist class to help save them.
Tillerson is not your champion.
As a newer Texan I have learned a lot about Exxon during Mr Tillerson’s tenure. He was a visionary leader who Was planning for the , company’, future. He was a leader respected amongst his peers and the vast majority of people in thcexecutive suites and in the cubicles all over the state ,country and world. Don’t feel sorry for Rex, he will be fine.
2
All MEANINGLESS. Tillerson’s legacy is the train wreck Trump administration.
Tillerson would only be stating the obvious, most of us in America and around the world already know that Trump is unfit and unqualified and an absolute menace to our national security and has consistently put the rest of the free world at risk as well.
Trump is running even more blind and manic trying to surround himself with others like himself and he really needs to be removed soon before he and Bolton start a nuclear war with NK. A global war of proportions previously unknown as well as the potential loss of hundreds of millions of lives. All due to two unhinged men with unhealthy egos and hearts overflowing with hate for most of humanity.
There is another kind of 'cold war' being waged in America, it involves not caring for the welfare of mankind, and these people, Trump, members of his Cabinet, some of the GOP in Congress, have expressed a degree of callousness towards their fellow Americans and their wellbeing that is unprecedented in our history. Not only unprecedented but frightening.
I too hope Tillerson follows his conscience and lets all of America know just how much jeopardy we are in under Trump. Recent news reports back up what our U.S. intelligence community has been saying for the past two years or more, American democracy is under attack by Putin and by other enemy foreign agents who want to take down America.
29
Tillerson never wanted the job of Secretary of State, but took it out of sense of duty to the country. He then got axed in a way that was embarrassing and shabby, but is what we have come to expect from this president. Tillerson should tell all about the inner workings of this White House, without embellishment, and set the record straight. He should do so out of the same sense of patriotism that compelled him to take the job in the first place. He doesn't owe this president squat, but he does owe it to history and to the American people. Especially to awaken those who believe this president is doing a capable job.
34
The first thing this "patriot" did was at State was to fire senior staffers and begin dismantling the agency.
People have awfully short memories.
1
Americans elected Trump and nobody can or will save us from ourselves. We are going to have to take our punishment, even if that means the end of America as we know it. Not a single person who accepted a job with or supported the monster who squats in the Oval Office can be expected to lift a finger to save the nation. But when the fires are finally extinguished and the casualties tallied, we will remember who stood with Trump.
22
Well, you won't hear this on TV news. No alarm bells ring on corporate news--just horserace politics, weather events, what Trump has said now (ho hum), and a feel-good story at the end of the broadcast.
Reading about the news is down. Fox and alternative right-wing "news" manufacture an alternative universe for their devoted audiences. As a result, I think most Americans have little or no idea how chaotic, corrupt, and deranged things are in the Trump Administration, where Trump mismanages HIS government by a daily barrage of terrible decisions and tweets.
And, of course, the GOP turns a blind eye to Trump's ruthlessness, risky behavior, and unglued mentality.
As long as the big Republican campaign funders and vetters are pleased with Trump and his wreckage of our government at home and abroad--and they are--nothing will happen. Follow the money. How about publicly funded elections to level the playing field?
Don't say Michelle didn't warn us. This is really scary
19
Trump’s administration looks and behaves like a family crime syndicate.
We should increase pressure and public attention on the enablers, Ryan and McConnell, who are fully complicit in the systematic dismantling of our democracy.
McConnell has aided and abetted the family don by allowing a parade of charlatans, incompetents and impostors to take control of key cabinet posts. Likewise, over at the House, the Speaker has enabled congressman Nunes to make a mockery of the Investigations Committee. We are wrong to blame everything on Trump. These two gentlemen are guilty of handing him the keys. Al Capone would not have taken Chicago if there had not been a Prohibition and plenty of corrupt officials looking the other way.
34
Thank you Michelle. We all know that Rex has not only read your article, but is also following the comments. It is almost inconceivable to me that a man of Tillerson's stature, intelligence, accomplishment and competence could be brought so low by a person as odious as our President. I believe that he deeply understands that his legacy is tarnished and can only be restored to some semblance of its former stature by doing SOMETHING. But as a product of a mammoth, highly conservative global enterprise, every neuron in Tillerson's brain is wired to watch and wait - play it safe until more 'data' suggests a clear path forward. But in this case, Rex, waiting will render your voice weak and will rob you of any claim to courage. Just look what happened by waiting to get fired instead of resigning. You have ALL the data you need. Michelle is right. Act now. Every day you wait further cements your legacy in the concrete of disgrace.
18
Anyone who signed on to this administration in the first place can't be trusted. Appeals to their integrity are worthless since they gave up all integrity by agreeing to serve a man who can't discern loyalty to America from fealty to himself. No one will speak up short of a direct threat to their fortunes or personal liberty. Problem is, given our feckless Congress, Robert Mueller is the only person left who can levy that kind of threat -- which is why he'll be ousted, too.
11
With his removal of Tillerson & supposed imminent removal of McMaster I believe 45 is preparing for war; he said he was going to NK to talk, but he has shown he does not know how to talk or even think;these are very bad signs and Tillerson should be motivated to speak out on 45s incompetence and ignorance of war. If he is aiming for war, it is incumbent on all who have been in the White House to speak up to prevent war. They need to so it now, because there is no predicting this irrational and erratic loose cannon.
7
If there is a war shaping up, consider the teams. Russia SOLD the missile technology and parts to N Korea; I'm guessing that would be two. China doesn't like us either. Trump is alienating our old allies and not making new friends. Even if it's not nuclear, I don't like the odds Mr. Trump has planned for us. Where is the US Congress? Impeach now. (Oh yeah, Russia can paralyze our plants, grids, etc).
1
I'm sorry, but the Republican position in this article sounds like double speak to me. No different from the hypocritical politic double speak of saying one thing an doing another. They're stalling, because they don't have a plan, and don't know what to do. Of course the answer is easy. Choose country over party, but they just don't quite seem to get there.
7
if not Rex Tillerson, Ms. Stephanie Clifford aka Stormy Daniels eventually would bring this President down. Whoever that is will become the national hero.
trump is dangerous th this Country, fir the safety of this Country and the Citizens the man needs to go.
Sooner the better.
5
Stormy has more determination than the US Congress.
2
I'd like to imagine that Tillerson is a decent human being who would put the United States first and voluntarily tell Mueller everything that he knows and that he'd publicly state that Trump is a conman and unfit to be president. However, Tillerson is a former CEO of ExxonMobil -- a company not known for having any concern other than for the profitability of the corporation. I will not be holding my breath waiting for Rex T to do the right thing.
4
Maybe Mr. Mueller can talk to Tillerson. Or subpoena Tllerson, if need be. Tillerson wasn't with Trump during the campaign, but he may know something about how Trump views Russia.
5
Many of us feel we have hit critical mass since Trump's actions/words have piled up and escalated over the last week or so. Since Congress has proven itself impotent (willfully and otherwise), someone has to stand up and soon...very soon. Because there is an incompetent and clear and present danger running the country into ruin.
Each change in appointees is worse than the person being replaced.
Conspiracy theories, vanity, loyalty oaths and corruption are not foundations for sound foreign policy nor the security of the country.
Perhaps Rex Tillerson may have a more realistic assessment and summon the courage that will dislodge the circus posing as the Executive Branch.
2
Rex wants to be able to sit on Boards of corporations now that he is out of the White House where he will rake in thousands. He is no patriot.
6
If Tillerson really is concerned he has a duty to report that concern -- same with any other recently dismissed Trump hire. I think what holds them back is the Trump twitter machine. Any judgement they unleash will be met with name-calling, personal revelations, bullying, you name it. The fired weigh the possibility of their influence if they rat on the president, and decide it won't change much, and in the process their name gets globally dragged through the mud by Trump on twitter. So, like everyone else, they wait for Mueller.
2
But burn it down, Rex. I’ll even supply the accelerant.
3
While I am still hoping Trump's Presidency is a bad dream, we really wouldn't learn anything new from Tillerson.
The liberal echo chamber is no more instructive than the conservative echo chamber.
J Rosen
3
Interesting issue is that when the story of this administration is told, it will be by the standard, mainstream biographers, not by the cable folks who will be flashes in the pan.
1
This man (and I use the term loosely for trump) has degraded our country, our democratic system, and our reputation to the point that I fear we have become a true laughingstock around the world. I fear for our Republic. Rex Tillerson, if you ever had a brave, well-meaning bone in your whole body, this is the time to show it. Spill the beans, tell-all and spell to the world---but especially to trump supporters---exactly the kind of operation he is and has been running. I for one am running scared that he will do irreparable damage or such that might take decades to overcome. Mr. Tillerson, you may not have been the right man for the job but your actions and your freed voice can go a long way towards informing the public and righting the course of our history. Please---step up!
4
Rex was the best of the worst. Mark my words, within a few months we will ALL look back at Him, fondly. Seriously.
4
The real collusion is among the 1%
5
I am not sure that we can discount the possibility that Mr. Ego (Donald J. Trump) actually wants to be the first (and probably only) person in the entire history of the world to be impeached, and convicted, and removed from the office of President of the United States of America.
Trump will eventually get what he deserves. It may not be till Judgement day but he will reap it big time. Rest assured.
Trump is the symptom, not the cause. If you did deep into his base, they want the following:
1) Mass deportation of non-citizens.
2) A war. Yes. They. Want. A. War...preferably against easy targets: untrained, unarmed non-citizen residents of this country this administration is clamoring to figure out how to deport.
The base also could care less about what Rex Tillerson or any other "grown up" thinks. They are eating up the MS-13 and all the other right-wing bubblesphere narratives and nothing will ever get them to back down. They are digging in and just waiting for the go ahead from Trump to act out some fantasy cleansing of this country from.
The democrats have to take Tuesday's victory in PA-18 and run all the way through the Nov 18 elections and then run all the way through Nov'20...and then actually have a real governing plan and walk the walk and not just talk the talk about how they don't like Trump.
The way to fix all this is through democracy and vote and then govern. Removing Trump from office will never happen with current Republican held congress unless Trump drops a bomb on a major American city. He could send hundreds of thousands of dreamers or other non-citizen immigrants to permanent detention camps and do worse to them and the Republicans would do nothing.
If you are angry, plan to vote. Get your friends to vote. Don't sit it out and don't wait for the perfect candidate.
7
We are now hoping that the America or the world does not end before we get to vote in November. We need a stop-gap measure. People here and abroad feel the urgency.
1
Well, it's obvious what we're up against. To be a journalist/columnist today needs strong nerves and intestinal fortitude. Goldberg's got it. You have to be like a doctor in an emergency room to stand the disaster. But I haven't got that unflinching attitude. I flinch. I'm increasingly nauseated at the 24/7 reporting and opinions about the increasing abnormality in this administration.
This disaster is juicy stuff for the TV cable networks, reporters and columnists who make their living writing on Tsar Trump the Terrible and his Courtiers. It's so bad that the media never had it so good. For the public, we never had it so bad. I can't stand it any more.
Don't blame the messenger!
The Republican Party of today loves power too much much to give it up. Like the Communists of the Cold War Era, Party and power matters much more to them than country. Much more. This is what Democrats and Independents don't seem to get. They will simply never willingly give up power whatever Trump does. They make almost me ashamed to be an American, but oh so proud not to be a Republican.
4
I liked Tillerson and saw him as the one and only Trump appointee that I had any confidence in whatsoever. I’m very sorry to see him go and fear this craziness getting even crazier. When will Cornyn and McConnell do their jobs and put country first?
2
I have been trying to tell people since Trump came to power. No, the generals are not in charge. There are no handlers. Trump is in charge. Congress is terrified of him. He has all of the power.
The sooner people come to grips with this, the sooner they will find a strategy to deal with him. Right now, he holds all of the cards. Even the "trump" card.
4
And now historians lie in wait for the verdict on Pompeo’s tenure as secretary of state, to see who was “better.” Don’t know if the career employees around Tillerson left in droves on their own volition, were fired, or pushed, or were old Obama appointees who knew when their number was up, but there probably was some sort of message there in voting with their feet. In view of the recent Russian deaths or near death experiences of both critics and comrades, all known to be suspicious, it was chalked up to Putin. So far, Trump has played by the rules and no dead bodies. Good for him. Interesting that Trump dragged his feet in holding Putin accountable. Trump has been criticized as being weak on that. It was reported Trump may want something out of his fellow authoritarian Putin in dealing with North Korean de nuclearization. Putin’s magical staying power depends upon lots of dead bodies piling up, Trump’s does not, and that may underscore the fairness of the American system and its superiority over the stumbling Russian system. If the Russians do blackout portions of the power grid sooner than later with their prized programming skills, it will be interesting to see if Trump’s neutral stance toward Putin causes voters to rethink passing grades on both. Voters might even think about pouring concrete over the swamp in D.C. and building something new on it, if they get riled up enough. Time will tell, but Trump has his act increasingly together with each reshuffle.
The timing of Tillerson leaving the same week as a Russian oil deal falling through, simply means he was no longer needed in the administration. Trump was to benefit from the deal and now it's off the table and so is Tillerson.
6
Rex Tillerson had an excellent reputation at Exxon Mobile. I knew people who worked there who had the utmost respect for him, both as an excellent CEO and as a decent and honorable individual. But he was no more qualified to be Secretary of State than John Kerry was qualified to run Exxon Mobile. Unfortunately Mr, Tillerson will be remembered for his brief stint at the Department of State, not his many years with Exxon Mobile, the only place he ever worked right from college, until he met up with Donald Trump.
3
Exxon Mobile is one of the least envorinmentally friendly corporations on the globe.
It says nothing we should care about that Tillerson's colleagues there liked him.
Tillerson reminding State Department staff on his way out that their oath was to the constitution reminds me of Eisenhower on his way out warning against the Military Industrial Complex. Does Tillerson honestly think they don't know the meaning of their oath? Does he think they didn't wonder whether HE knew what it meant?
In an administration where loyalty to the man in office takes precedence over all other loyalties, it would seem Rex's moment of truth came too late. I hope he does speak out, but not in a "burn it down " sort of way. As it is, we are soaked in gasoline sitting on a pile of dry brush. We sure don't need anyone playing with matches.
7
The problem is that we only allow super-rich people to be part of the power structure, and the super rich don't have the vaguest idea of what life is like in America. Most of them haven't had the vaguest idea for decades. It's been 20, 30, 40, even 50 years since they they were from their "humble" beginnings, (assuming they weren't born rich in the first place like Trump). The country has gotten horrifically more cruel in their lifetimes, BUT THEY HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED IT because they go from board room to penthouse to rarified suburb to private club, among their fellow super rich. They are clueless .but, nonetheless, in control of the country. Tillerson may or may not be a good man, but he is certainly clueless, as are they all.
7
Trump is setting up a “war ministry”. Senator Bernie Sanders hopes to introduce a bill to take authority from the President to declare war, and place that decision back in the hands of Congress. We can only hope he succeeds.
14
Since when did the president ever acquire the authority to declare war? There has not been any recent change to the Constitution that I know of. Or have I lost it?
Commented before I saw the McMaster news, with sidebars about Carson et al, at least 4 or 5 others primed for ejection. I can't help thinking, maybe in his mind, Trump is still on the Apprentice and knows that he has to whittle the contestants down each week until there is only one, The Winner. The 1st season is over and there are still some Survivors left - time to up the ante.
"OK, now we reverse course and start saying the Russian's are bad, after all - who will be the most creative interpreter, and who will disappoint?"
2
This political theater can't end soon enough. I fear for the country.
20
I call on Bob Gates, who vouched for Mr. Tillerson, to step in and advocate that his friend do the right thing now and speak up.
12
Maybe the best thing that can be said about this president is that he has shown that the republican party is as bad as he is. That bodes well for the future of the two party system which may now be considered a one and one-half party system.
We can see what has been proposed and done by the president and there may be many reasons, in his mind, for doing these things. But, that these republican representatives and senators of the people are constantly shirking their responsibilities to the country and their constituents to curry favor with this president, and considering only the betterment of the vested interests and the 1% and no others.
Some day, voters will realize and remedy this situation and force representation and support of all the citizens of our country of as the primary goals of this republican party.
For that, thank you President Trump!
4
This "call to action" is not only naive but also unwise. Not only is would be unlikely to cause any change in the status quo, but it would further advertise to our friends and foe the sophomoric qualities of most senior officials. If he is asked for his opinion he should answer but this should not take a form of a tabloid expose.
The way he was discharged from his post is disgraceful. If we are to preserve this democracy and retain any respect, we should not advise to emulate behaviors we so despise.
3
This is how coups happen. You put people who are so far out of the mainstream and let them make decisions like this (initiating a nuclear attack on North Korea) . What happens if the military is told to fires nukes at North Korea?
Will they do it? Would they be wrong in refusing to do it? This is an interesting legal issue as soldiers are culpable for some things they are commanded to do and this might be one of those things that goes over the edge.
If they placed Trump under arrest as any reasonable American would do, what happens next? I can think of nothing more damaging to the notion of representative government than to have a somewhat reasonable sounding military coup. However, do we let an incompetent start a dangerous war? Talk about a Hobson's Choice.
If Congress does not start doing its job soon, this is what the Ryan-McConnell Congress will be known for ... if we are still around as a country.
25
Pragmatist, thank you for articulating your point so well, I have often had the same thought.
1
This column is based on the assumption that Rex Tillerson, as former head of Exxon, should be viewed as a voice for the moral good, for the common good. That seems like quite a stretch.
23
If Tillerson decides to come clean about his experiences serving Trump, he also should tell us why he went about dismembering the State Department’s Department’s cadre of skilled professionals. That’s a failure he bears on his own.
42
The departing grownups have other fish to fry with their civilian millions of dollars, self-interest, and distance from the mainstream. Deux machina isn't coming folks.
3
As one wise young person attending a student march is reported to have said: "Something's very wrong when the adults act like children and the children act like adults." Trump is simply a child in a perpetual state of tantrum. "Adult" appears in the same sentence as "Trump" only when there are comments lamenting the absence of "the adults in the room" or references to a certain "adult-movie star." He has a long way to go to realize that the world is not his play-pen where he gets to set and enforce the rules.
17
Those of us who would read what he has to say already know the general story and some specifics. I'm not sure how much he could add to that. The rest see it all as a plot against Trump and them personally, and wouldn't bother reading it, wouldn't 'believe' it.
1
Glad to see a change for the better.
1
I agree. Tillerson has the opportunity to point out just how unqualified ,back stabbing ,cowardly, and sick this man Trump is.
Trump has run his own business,true,he’s run it into bankruptcy 3or 4 Times.
He understands authoritarian orders and issues them,but has no understanding or wants any ,concerning the 3 Branches of our Democracy.The majority of the
Voters in this country want to know exactly how he obtained office,and every crooked criminal and treasonous method he used to stay there.
it’s way past time to use the 25th amendment.
11
It would be great indeed if Rex Tillerson showed some of that Texan manliness and patriotism that Republicans so cherish and gave public testimony against the disgraceful Putin-backed Mussolini-like "presidency" of failed-businessman Donald Trump. For one thing, Tillerson's testimony would make it hard for the supine House Republicans and Ryan to continue their sickening, spineless support. Where are the red-blooded Americans? Are we really going to sink into a ruined state ruled at whim?
5
It's time to write that Op-Ed in the New York Times, Rex. At minimum, you owe yourself and the country this.
15
Falling in love with Trump
Is falling for make believe
Falling in love with Trump
Is playing the fool
Thinking he cares
Is such a juvenile fancy
Learning to trust him
Is just for children in school ..............
4
The president is a spoiled child and a disgrace. He is also a criminal waiting for justice. Tillerson can help speed that justice by speaking. He must do so.
Trump has no business in the Oval Office. America made an enormous mistake putting him there. It's clear many people around him are going to prison but Trump can and will pardon himself as long as this spineless, corrupt and treacherous GOP congress is willing to provide him cover.
Not my president.
20
The one thing no president can do, fortunately, is pardon himself. Although given his level of Education, it's doubtful Trump even realizes this, LOL
Is your flag yet displayed upside down? Mine has been hanging from my fence since Jan 20, 2017. I designed it after the Electoral College made a fateful blunder to destroy America as we knew it.
You, too, can participate in this outrage. On my flag, (copyrighted, Dec, 2016, LBH), I have written on the white stripes: "Save America Resist Trump Protect Equality, Liberty, Justice for All"
What public display have you created against this Trumpet blast?
Tillerson could now have the influence over this administration that he never had while a part of it.
Burn it down, Rex. Burn it down.
6
Someone please remind POTUS he is not Charles Atlas, god forbid seeing him on a beach in bathing suit.
3
Please. "Since the beginning of this nightmare administration" would somehow be better with a treasonous criminal, Hillary, running it? Or worse than Obama's Comey-Lynch-DNC "the matter" connection or Hillary as Sec State extorting money for her foundation and blowing up Libya or best, Rice-NSA using FBI to manipulate FISA Court to spy on US citizens at will.
Trump is doing what he was sent to do--light fires and fire at will, along with cut taxes and close off the borders to illegal immigration, to name two.
Nothing "nightmare" about that. Doing what should have been done by Clinton et al.
5
Light years better. No contest
Your comment is a perfect example of the Trump mindset. Even though you live in San Diego--and presumably have a very high stake in Trump's behavior--you celebrate the notion that he "fires at will." You're under the mistaken impression that he cut your taxes (unlikely unless you're part of the 1 percent) and Clinton, Obama, Comey and Lynch are all criminals, presumably because their politics differ from yours.
The only treason I see is what is being revealed by the minority rebuttal to the House Intelligence Committee GOP report. Trump Corporation was doing business--during the election--with a sanctioned Russian bank.
Re last paragraph, do you mean Bill? When was Hillary president?
Rex was Condi Rice and Bob Gates’ pick. He wanted to go soft on Iran, soft on a travel ban, and soft on North Korea. He was an open borders, “free trade” absolutist, like most of his fellow plutocrats and their clerisy in media and academia who they pay to be their mouthpieces (like the Times, owned by Carlos Slim, which pays people like Michelle Goldberg to push the neocon plutocrats’ line).
McMaster is similarly a neocon. He wants to occupy Afghanistan indefinitely.
Good on Trump for entertaining establishment points of view just long enough to check that box, and long enough to show how bankrupt and ineffectual neoconservatism is.
And for anyone looking for a pithy description of neoconservative, here’s one: “invite the world, invade the world.”
The more Goldberg types out there push neoconservatives and neoconservatism, the better. It gives the Trump right and the Sanders left more clarity about what, and who, we’re up against. For those who understand what I’m describing, it’s important to be on guard. It necessary to putting Obama over Clinton, and it was necessary to putting Trump over Jeb Bush and Clinton. As voters, we absolutely have the power to stop neoconservatism by electing the right people. Granted, Obama was a neocon, but he was much less one than Hillary.
3
You need to understand what neoconservatism is before you can oppose it. You conflate it with globalism (there is no connection). You assume that Trump's nationalism and protectionism mean he won't involve us in messy foreign quagmires. You also assume they mean his foreign policy won't be driven by neocons. It's very much driven by neocons.
John Bolton, probably Trump's next choice for National Security Advisor, is a neoconservative. He was one of the loudest proponents of the Iraq invasion (and he still hasn't changed his mind on that war). George W. Bush, like Donald Trump, argued against foreign wars until his became the biggest neocon presidency of all. Neoconservatives advocate the promotion of American ideals in foreign affairs, by war if necessary.
Under that definition neither Obama nor Hillary Clinton were neocons, nor was Bill Clinton. Neither the New York Times nor Michelle Goldberg are neocons. Rex Tillerson was a globalist, but not a neocon. However, Mike Pompeo, soon to be Trump's Secretary of State, does advocate neocon policies. In fact neocons are driving Trump's policies toward Iran, many of them eager for military confrontation.
If Trump pulls out of the Iran deal, it will be because he's listening to the neocons in his administration.
Dear Michelle, I love your opinion pieces, but ...
"Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Committee, ... rediscover their spines ... " you're dreaming, out of reality, an impossibility. Trump tagged all these Congressmen as "losers" and those tags are going to stick.
3
For goodness sake, Tillerson, you were an Eagle Scout - channel that and, please, in the name of all that stands for - SAY SOMETHING!!!
11
We’re at a truly frightening place when we’re praying for 70 year old former Eagle Scouts to save us.
Mr. Tillerson, please read this article.
5
When Mr Tillerson was named Sec'y of State, the NYT didn't refer to him as 'respected' or 'the adult in the room.' He was vilified as the evil CEO of a planet-destroying oil company. Now you want him to flip? Guess that depends on who disgusts him more.
2
You know, I kind of remember it that way too. Have you changed your tune, NYT, because Tillerson squirmed around some issues like Charlottesville, Iran, etc? No matter. He was still at that table when trump forced each cabinet member to praise him and I don't remember him standing up, saying how silly and bizarre that was, then leaving. He may be better in comparison to Pompeo, but, he still willing worked for trump.
For those of us who study the character of leaders and their teams we believe the US is entering a critical phase.
President Trump has filled his cabinet with authoritarians who exhibit a Me-First mindset. To hope these people will give up power is unrealistic.
During the mid 1930’s many people hoped there would be enough checks and balances and democratically minded people to restrain Hitler.
Winston Churchill was a rare figure who understood the mindset of a tyrant and his or her enablers. In a radio broadcast in late 1934 he said.
‘I am afraid that if you look intently at what is moving towards Great Britain. You will see that the only choice open is the old grim choice our forebears had to face. Namely whether we shall submit or whether we shall prepare. This truth may be unfashionable, unpalatable, no doubt unpopular. But, it is the truth.’
The Congressional Investigation into Russian Interference has provided a useful excuse for Trump to sack Mueller. If he dose so there will be no brake on his power. Do really think he will allow the 2018 mid-term elections to weaken his power? Do you really think his base will resist the temptation to pull the trigger?
He does not care about you. Nor does his cabinet. He does not care about journalists. (Putin is a great leader and we know what Putin does to journalists.)
He does not care about democracy – nor do those who follow in his wake.
What to do? Prepare.
Oh and I am sorry to say. . . there will be blood.
18
I wish someone had the spine to bring the curtain down on this monstrosity!
8
If they are true patriots they will speak out, but I doubt they are and I doubt they will. When they signed up with Trump they knew what they were getting into. More than likely they will all leave quietly and not risk any more damage to their own legacy.
3
During Hitler's rise to power, the leaders of the steel and armaments industry thought him a useful fool, someone they could bend to their own purposes. They didn't realize what a one-track nut job he was, and how willing he was to sweep aside civil liberties to achieve his purpose. In short, they didn't believe he would do what he said.
We are only a year and a few months into Trump, with almost three left, and it's readily apparent that he's run off all the "normal" people that were supposed to keep a check on him, and installed sycophants and extremists who share his views. Having a few "normal" people voice their opinions on the way out the door is not going to make a difference. After all, they've already lost credibility from having sold out to him in the first place, and their comments will not tell us anything we do not already know. In fact, asking them to do so simply betrays our faith in ourselves, that the rest of the country, normal voters like you and me, can already read the handwriting on the wall and realize that about the only thing we can do is sue whenever possible to stop his actions and get a Democratic majority elected in the House that will act as a barrier to his steam-rolller-like changes.
7
Maybe now Tillerson can admit that he thinks Trump is a moron. That would be a good start.
5
When this is over and the books are written, they will ask why we didn't do anything except stand on the sidelines and wring our hands and weep. Why aren't we doing something, there is enough evidence.
9
While I would be pre-ordering Tillerson's book about his time in the White House, I don't think it will have any impact to people's opinions. Any critically thinking person would have been able to predict that his presidency would have turned out the way it has before the election. And you can't get mad at Trump for doing what he's doing since it was clear his presidency would turn out this way. We've got a problem when someone like him could get that many votes, and the problem is not a lack of information from insiders like Tillerson.
4
Yes, we are at Defcon 100 and it's beyond time for those who have seen it up close to call in the air strike and take down this catastrophe of a presidency. If you want to be truly terrified, read the full account of Trump's recent fundraiser talk in which he bragged about lying to Justin Trudeau, threatened to remove forces from S. Korea, and outlined his plans to rig the federal judiciary, starting with the 9th Circuit. We are on the verge of autocracy and the assault is happening right in front of us. Waiting until things get worse will be too late! And yes, our former presidents, statesmen and women, clergy, civic leaders and our students (perhaps our best and last hope) need to speak up and not let up. If Sessions and Mueller are fired, take to the streets.
12
Rex Tillerson needs a recognizable and reputable platform. CBS’ 60 Minutes should provide that platform. If 60 Minutes can provide Stormy Daniels a platform, they can surely, for the good of this nation, proactively provide Rex Tillerson a platform so that the Secretary can shed some light on the Trumpian behavior or perhaps, the lack thereof. Such a platform could provide others who have left to speak up and this can perhaps embolden the current cabinet members to exercise their 25th Amendment rights.
9
Does anyone remember when most even slightly left of center citizens were deeply suspicious of figures like Tillerson? It's only been a year, and somehow the former Exxon CEO has become some sympathetic patriot in a whirlwind of political upheaval he helped to engineer. The FBI, once concerning for the left as an institution that wielded too much power and lacked sufficient oversight by elected officials, is now a much-loved institution, its status quo an unassailable pillar of democracy. Comey has whipsawed from villain to hero, familiar trajectory for those expelled from the inner circle. This really bears closer examination, and underdog narratives in the media are partially responsible.
Republicans have had the opportunity to speak out against the steady lowering of the bar for leadership, but they consistently refuse. They are all being pulled down with it, or stepping down out of good faith and commitment to the principles, only to have less principled substitutes line up to fill the void.
Honestly, the political system has operated for too long on an 'honor system' that was flawed by every dishonorable participant (and there have been many) who broke with decorum behind closed doors. Now that it's all out in the open, I hope that Congress will start to legislate for protection against corruption from within the institutions themselves, and the press will push towards non-partisan accountability on all fronts until they do.
3
I agree that Congress needs to legislate for protection against corruption, maybe beginning with a law requiring all presidential candidates to share ten years of tax returns. It's time we saw what Trump is hiding.
4
How does Tillerson fare under the tax changes? He probably fares so well that he will stay mum. Off shore bank accounts are the only thing these oligarchs care about.
3
At the end of the day, what Trump, the people in his administration and his party's Congressional leaders have in common is this: The love of power.
There is nothing more to see here. There will be no great announcement that the president is dangerously unhinged unless and until he is deposed from power. To expect anything else is to fundamentally misunderstand the ties that really bind.
2
Adding to an earlier post.
Every historian can point to critical periods where it can pivot.
A critical point will occur when President Trump sacks Andrew McCabe. This will signal his intent to close down the Mueller investigation.
If decisive action is not taken at that point and before he sacks Mueller Democracy in the US will die.
13
The only way Tillerson emerges with a shred of dignity and decency is to call on the Cabinet and the Congress to do the right thing. Imagine the adoring eyes of his wife at his tombstone if she could see etched: "He brought down a tyrant the like of which we had not seen in eighty years."
13
Michelle, I understand the impulse to say: "Burn It Down, Rex," but how in the world could it happen? Tillerson doesn't have the power or the inclination to do it. All the supposed Republican adults have been nothing by billionaire investors, sycophants, and traitors, (usually all three) who have enabled Trump. Besides, Trump is the real pyromaniac here. Democracies perish when purportedly responsible adults, like those in Trump's cabinet and the Republican Party, discard democratic principles at the behest of oligarchs and paymasters like the Koch's. The Republicans have been building up to Trump since before I was born. Republicans want to destroy all New Deal progress, including Social Security and progressive taxation, take the wealth of the middle and working class, and give it to their billionaire patrons. It's why they formulated the Southern Strategy and Lee Atwater's blueprint on delegitimizing good government by stoking racial and ethnic hatred and nativism. A half century later, a Republican narcissist like Trump promises to burn American democracy to the ground and replace it with authoritarianism. Reagan built Trump's platform, as did Trump’s cabinet, and Republicans in the House and Senate. Republicans are now morally bankrupt and have nothing positive to offer. If we want to save American democracy we can never expect any Republican to do the right thing. We need to get rid of Trump and hope we can rebuild some of what he has reduced to ash in just over a year.
6
Who would be the audience for such a bonfire?
Those who have opposed Donald Trump all along need no additional convincing.
Members of Congress who are in a position to enact 25th Amendment solutions or otherwise stifle Trump's policies are, at the moment, in a symbiotic relationship with Trump and feed off the chaos and power vacuum that he has created. If they were to stop the madness, they would also stop their own rise to power and influence - or so they could be thinking. Especially given there may be a narrow window before the elections this year in which to do so.
Voters who currently support Trump are the toughest to reach. And I don't think they would buy Tillerson's take at this point, because it would seem like "sour grapes" for being fired and they may very well like the choice of Pompeo. To reach these people, Tillerson or anyone else who wants to "burn it down" will have to make their statements with these people in mind. The wary amongst them are voting in November, too.
I think Tillerson should speak out, but I think he should make it look like he was asked and had no choice. He should probably not actually set anything on fire. He should speak plainly, calmly and without ire. And he should tell the truth about everything.
2
Our democracy will stumble along. The things I really fear are a war with North Korea and Russian interference both in cyber warfare and election meddling. We desperately need adults handling both.
3
Correction Michelle: The “Committee to Save America” has indeed failed but it's not disbanding itself -- it is being dismantled by Trump. He has no interest in saving America, only increasing his autocratic power, amusing himself on his 'reality TV' presidency and further enriching himself and his already super-rich buddies (which includes Putin, of course).
There are sociological theories about anomie, social strain, social disorganization, etc which indicate that collective breaking points exist after so much anxiety and chaos -- wonder where ours is?
1
An excellent and very hard-hitting Opinion. Thank you. There should be this kind of outrage in all reporting about this abysmal administration. I hope Rex Tillerson is holed up somewhere, writing away. I hope 60 Minutes is setting up an interview and Tillerson trumps Stormy Daniels. Those who have left must speak out and wake up half of this sleeping Nation.
3
These people individually and collectively will say nothing while they are reaping tax benefits in the millions. They will also not suffer the consequences of their actions because their millions will buffer them. No one in this administration unless legally obliged to because no one would have joined this administration who had ethics or morals to stand on to begin with. That much becomes abundantly clearer day by day. The adults in the room fairytale is a story we tell ourselves to excuse our own willful ignorance. We voted this man into office and 99% of us will pay for that.
1
"Burn It Down, Rex"
Alas, if only.
3
Ms. Goldberg:
You had me until this shocking line in your essay: "Now the first line of his obituary will be about a year of abject failure as the country’s lead diplomat, culminating in a humiliation fit for reality TV." Frankly, that is really below the belt. It is excessive even in a genre, the Op-Ed, that in today's Trump-crazed media environment seems to call for over-the-top hype. Who knows how the world will judge any of us when we are gone? Tillerson may have been an abject failure as Sec'y of State, but none of us really know what makes a person "tick" in the private sphere of their souls and their spirit, something that IMHO matters a lot, perhaps as much as whatever a person does or fails to do in the public arena. What will be the first line of your obituary or mine? How dare you, Ms. Goldberg! In any event, other than that throw-away line, this probably a very realistic take on an entirely tragic situation for the America that we have long believed in as a beacon of hope for the entire world.
1
Rex, et.al. Should read JFK’s , “Profiles in Courage”. Then, each member of Congress should read it. However, the Republicans would likely read the redacted version.
3
Rex will not offer a shinning example of patriotism over party but he and all the other Trump business leaders/cabinet members do prove once and for all that American business executives have no idea what they are doing in government.
7
To be 'in' government is generally too risky for the smart executive, that's why they hire politicians to run the government for them. I think we are just seeing the failure of an over-enthusiastic few who thought they could lend a hand to an out-of-bounds salesman who had stars in his eyes, and, in the executives' opinion, didn't know what he was getting into. There might be a dramatic moment or two in their leaving but don't count on them to say much. After all, they pretty much got what they wanted. Regulatory restraints have been removed, corporate and business taxes have gone way down, and consumers have been silenced and disenfranchised. What's to complain about?
2
Is that why the economy is doing so well? You must love those 25 year civil servants.
Rex will not "burn it down" He has nothing to gain. He will continue to go on doing whatever millionaires do.
6
I wish the press would stop make references to the potential removal of Sessions; and that action being a prelude to the dismissal of Mueller. These references only serve to normalize both actions, to the point that should they occur, the public will have become inured to the enormity of them.
Let us instead not discuss them or think about them, so we may fully experience and voice the due and proper outrage as and when these acts come to pass.
6
Rex was one of the last person in the Trump cabinet with at least a small measure of "free will". He probably was too good a person to be part of Trump's entourage.
6
If the action against Qatar was, in fact, Jared Kushner's vindictive retribution for the Qatar national bank declining to invest in a Kushner property, that would amount to a foreign policy of extortion for personal gain at the expense of the US Armed Forces, and Tillerson should report that to the FBI. If he has not done so already. Before a tell all book or interview, Tillerson should turn evidence.
22
I think he has done that. It should be to his satisfaction. It certainly is to mine.
1
Dream on, Ms. Goldberg.
1
Keep this drumbeat going. Despicable presidency, despicable man.
8
Powell, Cohn, and Tillerson are all weak people, handpicked by Trump, in part, because for their weakness. You should not expect much from them.
7
Oh please. He's a Republican and a corporate plutocrat. he's fine with everything the Republican Criminal Organization is doing to reduce Americans to serfs. It's just getting along with his crazy boss that's the problem. Oh, and that little treason thing.
16
Tillerson got smacked and left with his tail between his legs.
His complicity in purposely destroying the US diplomatic capacity hangs over him a Stormy Daniels.
Expect not a whimper.
8
I would love to see Rex Tillerson and the other alleged adults in the room speaking out about Trump. Omarosa already has, to a point, but sadly, she is the least respected and reliable reporter of the bunch. A better thing to do would be for these people to call up Bob Mueller, request an interview, and spill every single detail they can to him. At the same time, those with enough power in Congress, and perhaps in the court system, must erect a wall around the Mueller investigation so that the cost of Trump trying to fire him would be far too high for the Orange Emperor to ever attempt. Of course, wouldn't it be wonderful poetic justice if Stormy Daniels, an adult actress, would be the prime actor bringing Trump down? I can hear the fundamentalist Christians freaking out over this from here! Still, at this point in the nauseating narrative, I will welcome anything that brings this agonizing part of American history to a rapid end.
18
The contingency plan could be - what? Oh, yeah! They could all go on reality TV and whisper their issues into an open mike.
"Home Run" McMaster will enjoy his 4th star with full command of Attu and Adak defense forces.
Ben Carson will depart to start his interior decorating career.
Shulkin will become tour director for Princess cruises.
Zinke and Munchkin will continue wasting tax payer dollars with their extravagant Federal employee life style.
Stormy will be granted admission to the Alabama bar
and President Dennison will claim attorney client privileged sexual relations.
Mark Cohn will be made a Federal judge.
MAGA??????
6
You sound like a child.
1
Burn it down...hell we need to remove the root, the limb, and stem of this virulent weed that is strangling our nation with hate, sheer incompetence, and clownish idiocy.
17
We’ll, we survived the incompetent Obama.
On Obama's worst day in office, he was never incompetent. Too civil toward and respectful to the right-wings thugs posing as members of Congress, but hardly incompetent. Saving the country from the near-financial ruin Dubya's policies wrought, putting the American auto industry back on solid footing, expanding health care for millions, restoring our damaged reputation internationally. Oh, yeah, he was incompetent compared to the stable genius of 45.
1
Great article. Thank you
No "business man" is going to oppose this regime. And no Republicans are going to come forward to save America. Every day brings more Trump-led and Republican-backed atrocities that are destroying the "leader of the free world", supporting fascists and their greedy corporate backers and bringing us all closer to global annihilation. Shame on you all.
21
Isaac Asimov and Stephen King would have trouble putting the words to this bunch!
4
Does Trump make his appointees sign NDAs? is that why they are silent?
6
I agree Rex, burn it down!
And after you are done,
Let us stand together and urge Connor Lamb, the new young centrist in the Dem party, who ran as a pro-union conservative, on his way in, let us urge him vehemently:
"Burn the Dem Left down, Connor!"
2
He definitely should speak out. This President is a destroying our country. Worse yet, the Republican party is putting the party first and country second. What happened to loyalty to the country
14
Do explain what he has “destroyed”since liberals are always screeching that.
He has destroyed this nation’s honor and reputation, and he imperils our future. Wake up.
Waiting for Tillerson to out Trump and his gang is like waiting for Colin Powell to out Bush 2, Cheney, and Rumsfeld!
Or maybe waiting for Godot? He/she is on the way...
16
There is no honor among thieves. Anyone who willfully worked in tRump's administration has a demonstrated lack of moral and ethical conviction. Expect nothing from this outcast group of charlatans.
The only way any one of these ejected clowns spill the beans on the inner dysfunction of this administration is if they've secured a book deal to further enrich themselves.
8
Tillerson, who knew quite a bit about the world from his global oil-industry viewpoint, was remarkably isolated while in the State Department. I doubt that he has many tales to tell, even if he should be inclined to do so.
At least he didn't zoom around the world at taxpayer expense. No doubt didn't need to. Could he quietly mentor Interior Secretary Zinke on maintaining a bit of secretarial dignity?
4
"T-Low to the rescue"? Don't hold your breath.
This piece could have been written by Elizabeth Warren. Screechy and mildly hysterical.
"Bolton has described proposed talks between Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea as an opportunity to deliver a harsh ultimatum."
Michelle thinks this is a bad idea, apparently. I think it's a good idea.
1
Read the author's previous sentence for context. (Yeah, I realize you most likely left it out on purpose.)
1
Harsh ultimatums are reserved for FBI directors, not foreign dictators.
And will you be among the first to go and fight it out at the DMZ?
War is easy for talkers and people with severe (though temporary) bone spurs.
Tillerson is a reticent Texan. I don't think it's in his DNA to burn things down. But I hope he overcomes his background, upbringing and personality to pick up that can of coal oil and box of stick matches.
6
No adults in the room? THAT'S an understatement. I caught John Kasich yesterday on "Morning Joe." Even HE will not disavow this buffoon of a "president." It's really pretty mind-boggling.
7
It is very simple, the president has been elected to make decisions and do his job, all these other so called adults are to support his decisions and give advice, not to do as this foolish opinion indicates. If you leaked at all or had the described attitude you would be gone immediately. Just think if some restrained Obama this way?
What do you like about Trump? He operates like the world's dumbest autocrat. If he isn't going to listen to the advice of his advisor, why even appoint someone?
1
Although Rex Tillerson was not a good fit - to say the least - to be secretary of state, he does possess his integrity and his dignity. And yes, Trump did his best to humiliate Tillerson (I'm surprised that Trump didn't make Tillerson fly commercial back from Africa, since he was so petty and ugly about that when he fired Comey). But the truth is, Trump is so corrupt and so infantile that he cannot humiliate ANYONE but himself. Comey's firing didn't make Comey look bad; it made Trump look like an ignorant bully. And Tillerson's firing via Twitter was not the ultimate humiliation for Tillerson. It only showed what an abject, NASTY eighth -grader we have as our president. That was no show of strength on Trump's part. It was weakness and immaturity writ LARGE.
11
Sniveling cowards, not adults in the room, is how I would characterize these people who worked for (or current work with) treasonous trump. Their only opportunity to rescue some modicum of respect is to tell the rest of us just what is going on. We need this criminal gang gone, and fast.
8
Any possibility the real reason for Tillerson's departure is that he's about to become a target of the Russia probe?
3
Michelle, you have become the most frank truth teller on these pages. Keep up the good work.
4
Michelle, will not happen. The GOP has turned out to be a group of spineless hypocrites.
If you step back since Trumpy's inauguration, the GOP has been bad for America, Okay, they got their tax breaks for the wealthy, that my children will be paying for years to come. But after that, they look like a group of callous old white men who yearn for the 1950s again.
11
Remember, most GOP congress are already at least millionaires; none are that bright, so all their money must be from their "donations" from lobbyists; they all voted for the tax scam, they were practically giddy when it passed, showing they couldn't believe their self-gifted tax break, a gift to themselves made possible by sacrificing America's future;the GOP congress will not cross trump now
1
They are all crooks, there are no "adults". They went into the Trump administration seeking untold wealth and tax breaks. They got what they wanted and probably a pension to boot!
8
As we know from history power tends to corrupt people. Republicans have been since the Reagan era obsessed with holding on to power at the expense of the nation, morality and sanity. We can thank campaign financing for corrupting the system, with our representatives owned and beholding to oligarchs and big corporations not the people. What kind of person would choose to serve in the trump WH in the first place. We don't need a "tell all" from this exiting group of trump toadies to tell us what we knew from trump's history and campaign. It was clearly evident back then that he was a misogynist pig, a con man, liked chaos, racists, ran fraudulent enterprises, was egotistical, vulgar, self serving and a bully. People who serve such a poor excuse for a human either value power at all costs or are fools that think they can influence and contain this vain glorious vile man sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office.
The only ones that can change this scenario are the voters who made the very poor choice to put him onto office in the first place. Vote this November to change things. America can and has done much better.
7
Perhaps we are seeing the failure of the 25th Amendment. The intelligent leaders who might have stood up to say enough is enough are being replaced by Trump loyalists who will close ranks around an insane president. This is how a coup d’etat happens.
5
Tillerson is still a businessman at heart and will not do anything to jeopardize
his way back into the highest ranks of corporate America.
4
So, is it safe to assume that the Republican congress is okay with the US becoming a dictatorship? They are willing to support the 2nd amendment to the Constitution, but not willing to support the constitution and a democratic ideology? I, too, am mystified to see the Republican congress stand idly by while this country crumbles under Trumps "239lb" weight!
6
I read this and sigh with disappointment. Nobody is going to "bring Trump down." There won't be an awakening among the Republicans followed by a reckoning for Trump. There needs to be unity on the left to run an electable Democrat for president. With Lamb's victory in PA, we know it can be done. It means only that the Democrats support not their perfect candidate, but instead the best candidate who can win. If we don't do this simple thing, then we are complicit in Trump's reelection.
5
Actually, the war has been started, all over Africa (remember Niger?) and other places under the cover of JSOC.
Tillerson would be a sensational story but I don’t think it would result in any change in this administration, its priorities, or how it operates. And his story would be overshadowed by as a little as a tweet.
So instead of a gratuitous tell-all takedown of DJT, I’d much prefer folks pay serious attention to substantive issues and vote in primaries and the general election this fall. Only by changing leadership of at least one house of Congress can we save our country for our children and theirs to come.
4
Mr. Tillerson can wait until we start bombing North Korea and hundreds of thousands of South Koreans (and North Koreans) die, or he can wait until Iran begins testing nuclear weapons after Trump invalidates the Iran Treaty. Or, he can wait until Saudia Arabia begins the development of nuclear weapons in response to Iran once Trump invalidates the Iran Treaty.
He can wait for these horrible things to happen before he speaks out, or he can speak out now in an effort to prevent them from happening and salvage his reputation, his legacy, and his country. It's his choice.
Rex?
5
It's feeling more and more like we are becoming frogs sitting in the pot on the stove while the water heats beneath us. I wonder if that's how people in Germany and then the rest of Europe felt in the 1930's?
8
"terminated by tweet on Tuesday."
Is wonderful.
R. S. Gilbert, of Gilbert & Sullivan, couldn't have done better.
3
Rex, as one Eagle to another:
A scout is
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean and
Reverent
You know that Donald J. Trump is the opposite of every one of these.
Stand up. Be a American. Be a leader. Be an Eagle.
21
Michelle, if Tillerson had anything resembling a moral compass, it would lead him to do what he can to save our democracy and culture from further ruin. He has experienced the Trump Brand of malevolence and revenge by a man who can only show his power and authority by firing someone. Tillerson needs to step up and throw gasoline on the fire so we can have a country the majority of Americans want.
1
Now is the time for Tillerson to speak out about the dumpster fire that is the Trump presidency. If he took the job as SOS to serve his country, his obligation to our country continues and he needs to talk about the dangers we face.
6
I tink it's more likely that Rex's wife will burn it down. This ending could not have been what she envisioned when she urged her husband to take the job. She was probably thinking greatness and this is what happened instead. Watch for her to make sure Trump pays dearly for her husband's humiliation.
3
Thought!! Maybe our government has always been this corrupt -- it was just hidden very well!
So-called American leaders hide in fear while abused women and children under daily threat in their own schools stand strong and speak the truth. A shameful betrayal by those who know better, claim moral standing and have the power to right this wrong.
6
Tillerson is a long-time volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. From 2010 to 2012 he was the national president of the Boy Scouts, its highest non-executive position.
If ever there was an anti-boy-scout, trump is it.
Tillerson had to know this, why did he sign on to being secretary of state for trump?
5
There is no sense of propriety in this country anymore, thanks to 45. It starts at the top and heads all the way down. Tillerson and his ilk could care less. It is affecting everyone but mostly our youth. This country is toast. The patriots are all gone.
4
The patriots are not all gone. We Democrats are pleading with family and friends to vote, and vote Democrat, in 2018 and 2020 elections. Those independents and Republicans who have seen what has happened in Washington, with Republicans in the majority, may join us and take back our country. Turn off Fox News, click on CNN and realize how you have fallen for propaganda.
Sometimes I get tears in my eyes after reading an OpEd like this. For all the horrible, inane, and insane aspects of the Trump presidency and the power mongering Republicans in Congress, we still have Freedom of the Press. It does my soul wonders to read outspoken, articulate, and humorous authors such as this.
6
You say it as if that will be going away too.
Rediscover their spines. Marvelously put. What the most craven GOP ever has not been willing to do since November 2016 in order to dine at Trump's political table of mendacity and incompetence. The U.S. citizenry have in turn been force fed an appalling agenda mostly inspired by self interest and cliched sloganeering long proven, like most everything about this administration and its supporters, to be false. A quote from another dark era, Silence Equals Death, is hardly a dramatic comparison given what is today on view. Tillerson, Cohn and Powell - and their like-minded colleagues - had better speak up and soon. The United States of America must regain its self respect and in doing so reclaim the respect of the world.
3
Which breakfast cereal can we suppose Ms Goldberg gorges on in the morning, Fruity Pebbles or Nuts, Nuts, Nuts?
I am always disinterested in reading her juvenile rants over what is clearly an irritating GOP opponent government. As predictable as tax day and as interesting, here we have perhaps the last gasp of any writer bothering to link to Trump's remarks after Charlottesville. How she chose that particular piece when anything Trump's said can be twisted into a cudgel by PC types I don't care to know. Maybe she uses a reminder.
So yes encourage the Executive Branch to snitch, for the good of the nation, or shall we say of lazy writers.
1
After the inauguration, I tried to convince myself that the so-called "adults in the room" would keep Trump in check. That didn't happen. This administration is even worse than many of us feared. IMHO, there are some parallels with the Third Reich, in which some government officials remained in office out of patriotism, aiding and abetting an unstable leader, to help Germany get through the nightmare. Sound familiar?
I hope Tillerson does write a book.
1
We bought it. We broke it.
1
Kudos to The NY Times for finally having a women on the OpEd page who covers political issues seriously without the need for humor or sly remarks. Along with Linda Greenhouse, who covers the Supreme Court, I am enjoying Ms Goldberg’s pieces as much as the many great male OpEd writers.
1
Couple people mentioned “ his base is solid” 34% of 100% is too small to dictate anything .
When the Democratic Party realizes this and dump there present leadership is when sanity will return to USA
1
....and tell the world how vulnerable we are with a kook at the top. Sorry. Disagree. This needs to be done with some diplomatic sophistication with an endgame in mind: removal from office.
2
Before you sing to us, stop by Mueller’s office for a private performance.
1
What we need to burn down is greed. We are capitalists, here. We celebrate that and because of that we're the most unequal of all industrialized countries. Because of that we probably have 20 billionaires worth more than 200 million people. Because of that our ideas of community and compassion are bankrupt. Because of that Trump is President.
I'm not a big fan of the ex-chief of Exxon, but he was one of the few that actually had some courage and honor in this administration. His reluctance to parrot Trump is admirable (especially compared to the rest).
Democrats and progressives must not glory in the fall of this madman or be vain in our politics. We have fallen so far and have so many in poverty and struggle that now is not the time for finger-pointing. Stand for our values. We are the party of 'values'; the Republicans are not. We now have proof:
They elected the liar, serial-adulterer, serial-bankrupter and non-taxpayer, coward when needed in Vietnam - though disparaging of McCain and POW's not being 'heroes'. I want people to see what Republican, conservative, Christian, evangelical, right-wing politics begats: Trump.
Trump: the bully we tell all our kids not to be. The liar we tell all our kids not to be. The adulterer we say is 'sinful'. And yet, he is supported by the supposed 'family values' people. Spare me.
His biggest delivery is taxes cut for the richest Americans, and that is why the richest Republicans still love this guy. Shout that from the rooftops.
2
This is not going to end well. The US is at its most vulnerable stage since World War II. John Bolton, if selected, would be a disaster. Larry Kudlow is a disaster. Betsy DeVos is a disaster, Ben Carson is a disaster, and the list goes on from there. Donald Trump is a disaster. If the GOP does not go down in flames in November, I'm not sure we can survive as a nation until 2020. Red-state voters have been duped, and my only hope is that they can wake up and smell the coffee. Please Mr. Mueller, get this clown out of office.
1
I agree with this op/ed completely. In fact, I would not have been as gracious as Rex in his speech. Two things will prevent him from spilling the beans (in the vernacular of DJT.) 1. He's part of the old white male billionaire club and they are more loyal than any dog or soldier out out. 2. He seems to have tiny little piece of morality that says he should try to keep agency morale up on his way out. Both of these are misguided. Rex should in fact, burn the place down. I doubt we will be shocked as DJT has been transparent about one thing: How inept and greedy and corrupt he is.
2
Can anyone clarify, how, short of impeachment our dangerously incompetent president can be ‘brought down’? If he lies about sexual abuse and harassment it apparently is enough to deflect any consequences. If he appoints increasingly hawkish incompetent people to work for him and further endangers our nation and the general rule of law informed by hard won western values who can stop this deranged bulldozer of a leader?
The oligarchic Republicans sure will not lift a finger. Perhaps millions of Americans need to go on Twitter and simultaneously tweet ‘You Are Fired’. We cannot afford three more years of this destructive madness.
1
Waiting for Congress is an updated version of Waiting for Godot. It isn't going to happen. Any objective person in the GOP now realizes that if they push back against this president, they will lose their hard right base of support. And with their dismal record on the environment, immigration, gun legislation, etc., without the base they have nothing.
The sycophants have to wait for Mueller to do their work for them. That way they can say they had nothing to do with it. If anyone doubts that assertion, look at the House investigation committee on Russian election influence. They are all done and found nothing. How convenient. How spineless.
2
Bravo! Terrific column. Tillerson proved, with his assessment of Trump, that he can be a truthteller. I, too, look to him for more.
4
Thank you for a great column, Ms. Goldberg. I don't believe Tillerson or any other person from this administration will do that. It takes courage to come forward and speak the truth. Courage is something that Republicans do not possess, as we have daily proof. They will lie and do anything to protect themselves and Trump. Remember, if they tell the truth it would also reveal how wrong they have all been, in their support. We certainly know that would never happen!
3
Rex Tillerson goes down as a man with more international experience than Trump, more integrity, more balanced perspectives, and as a stable and wise influence to moderate Trump's impetuous and often poorly conceived invectives on the world scene. Rex made his success in business by long hard and good work, and he didn't have to do multiple bankruptcies or management "shams" to achieve success. He is respected throughout the world. Trump belittled himself every time he tried to belittle Tillerson. We had learned to hope that a few "adults" in the Trump administration would save us from catastrophe. We now wonder how long the rest of the few adults will survive this White House. We hear that John Bolton, a loose cannon that proposes a pre-emptive strike on N. Korea, or war with Iran, is in line to Trump's team. Bolton has horrified the world with his ideas for years, and the idea of him and Trump together is ominous, for those who believe in peace and order in this world. Yes, we do hope Tillerson writes a book and tells us the truth of what he observed. The American people deserve to know.
3
What we need from Tillerson is not a new "Fire and Fury", but rather his reasoning about why he chose to leave something like half of all ambassadorships and other important State offices vacant. He can't justify it by downsizing and streamlining, because there was no rhyme or reason for the pattern of which offices were left vacant. It's not as though it was just the ambassadorships to e.g. Togo or Suriname - this would still be disrespectful but somewhat justifiable on cost-cutting grounds. Rather, countries with no US ambassador include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and South Korea among other strategically important countries.
So what's going on here? Was Tillerson just not competent enough to see why these mattered, or not competent at downsizing in a logical manner? Was he being prevented from filling them by an administration that simply does not care about diplomacy? Is there a belief that Trump and the SoS are all that is necessary for diplomacy, and all State Dept officials other than the secretary are redundant?
The departing "grown-ups" should be honest and forthcoming with the public, because that would be in the best interests of the country. Problem is, they are republicans.
5
He won't. We have a ruling class that isn't concerned enough to do what they should be doing as a matter of long-term self-preservation - much less cutting the rest of us some slack. Give them tax cuts and deregulation and they'll stomach anything. Tillerson doesn't have a patriotic bone in his body - corporations may be "people" but the folks at the top of them can't be trusted to show humanity when their interests are at stake. He wouldn't be who or where he is if he was the type of person you are asking that he become.
4
I'd love to see Trump/Pence's administration reduced to ashes. I don't think it will happen as long as they are propped up by Russia, American oligarchs, and Congress. And Rex will not likely light the match or pour the gasoline - his future amongst the oligarchs would be affected. But ...
There is one thing that ANY member of Congress can attempt to do. And it is the one truly patriotic and Constitutionally mandated response to the emergency we are in.
Introduce A Declaration of Cyberwar against Russia.
The way this plays out will reveal everything we need to see where Republicans and Democrats stand on carrying out their duty to defend America. If it fails to pass, remember who is on the list of "Nay' votes - their careers in DC should be doomed. Call for their immediate resignation.
And meanwhile badger this Congress and Trump to defend us.
If passed, then we'll see Trump as CIC being forced to carry out his duty. Failure or refusal to defend our country should lead to the demise of Trump/Pence.
Anyone in the House or Senate ready to submit this declaration?
3
Sure, Rex was “a vastly more respected businessman” than Trump. But expecting him to suddenly take a moral stand for his country or society, after making $millions blatantly denying climate science, is laughable.
Rex will continue to serve self-interest at the expense of others with as much moral turpitude as the man who fired him.
4
If the past year is our yardstick, the only chance we have of ending the Trump presidency before its normal term is Robert Mueller.
Republicans will do nothing. If they were so inclined it would have happened by now. They're donors are happy with the "tax reform."
Evangelicals have become golf aficianados, handing out mulligans to Trump for everything from #Metoo accusations to obvious adulterous conduct. They are morally thrilled with Trump's judiciary activity.
As to the cabinet? Forget it.
So Mueller is our only hope but even if he finds criminal activity linked to Trump, he alone cannot indict or impeach.
It takes willing leaders with a spine. Where have those people gone?
4
Do we really need an "Insider" to tell us? Until the Republican majority or a new Democratic majority in Congress act the Cabinet will not save us. I believe that one of the reasons that the cabinet is being changed out is to protect this unfit President from his Cabinet and Vice President removing him under the 25th amendment.
3
I keep thinking of the reports of Melania Trump weeping at the results of the election as her husband garnered just enough electoral votes to make 2016's popular vote redundant. A Slovenian lingerie model and design school dropout understood something in November of that year that many Very Serious and Very Important People did not (and very likely still don't).
I suspect she is looking at her older sister-in-law with a certain level of envy these days. The phrase "hostages to fortune" comes to mind for some reason.
5
During the Civil War, William Seward remarked "that there was always just enough virtue in this republic to save it; sometimes none to spare, but still enough to meet the emergency."
We are camped in a slow train wreck emergency. Whether enough virtue remains to save the republic remains to be seen.
3
If Tillerson, especially, but also others who have recently left this administration, doesn't speak out, it won't surprise me. This administration has been marked by second-tier and lower flunkeys who work mostly to do Trump's will. In any case, will the amazingly loyal base of working class voters believe those who have left or been fired, or will they just label their comments sour grapes? I suspect mostly the latter, because most of them don't seem to understand that being a billionaire (if Trump is one), is not a mark of successful business practices. In this case, it's the mark of using and abusing vendors and customers in a ruthless race to gain riches. My father, a moderately successful millionaire at the end of his life, built his business with honest dealings and his own sweat. Trump can't say that.
4
Frankly, I don't think any expose by Tillerson is going to tell us anything we don't already know. And I don't think anything he says will raise even an iota of doubt in the minds of Trump loyalists. The only consequence of saying anything is a blast from Trump that reinforces the closed-mindedness views held by his supporters.
1
I always keep in mind that more people voted for Hillary. There is an endgame to all of this: I foresee congressmen and senators being forcibly removed by the people until we have three branches again. Right now we only have one. We will be fine. History won't be kind to those who enable Trump and that's just fine with me. History will remember the Patriots who stood up for the idea of America...because America is just an idea.
1
Isn't there any constitutional safeguard against a president and congress that refuses to uphold the oath to uphold the constitution?
1
No. Such a venal and amoral Congress was never anticipated by the founders.
The Ides of March has come and past. Trump still walks among us. We have no Brutus to save our country.
This is an outstanding article. First rate.
Was scrolling through quickly, thought you'd written 'circumcise Trump' and well... bit late to circumscribe him too. We might crowd fund a lobotomy, though, if it didn't appear that the entire GOP leadership and Trump aids had already had their frontal lobes removed, or at least altered.
12
I hope that Mr. Tillerson will somehow be of assistance to Mr. Mueller. That would be the best avenue for his efforts to tell the truth. Godspeed to both and all.
18
Highly doubtful
Sounds like tRump and Tillerson rarely spoke.
Don't think he was a part of Donald's trusted "inner circle"
Hi and thanks for considering the thought.
When we elect a president, we elect a political party. The Republican party pretended that they were different than Trump, but more than a year later we know better. Ryan and McConnell can pretend that they are not part of this disaster, but evidently they are. When Ryan approved of the Nunes fake absolving of this administration he showed his true participation. McConnell 's agenda is Trump's agenda.
Our salvation is in November.
52
Some commenters - mostly men - have "given up". For heaven's sake, people, it is OUR country. Stop whining and get out and do something to help fix it. OUR destiny is what we make it.
NOW.
61
It is time for Trump to go. He is getting just too scary.
11
Senate and House Republicans do not need Tillerson to tell them how bad things are in the White House, they know what's going on and are choosing to ignore it. It still comes down to the Republicans putting country before party and kicking Trump out of the White House.
39
After fifteen months, Trump has shown that he is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He's simply an opportunist whose main dreams are money, womanizing, and street-smartness. He used any and every body or tricks to reach his love of himself. General Rex Tillerson, AG Sessions and all people worked for him and dropped out as hot tomatoes certainly would have to rethink about Trump.
Please, recall all Trump's dirty behaviors and tell us what kind of catastrophe we may suffer.
13
Republicans are already losing elections they should have won easily. If insiders like Tillerson tell the truth about this dysfunctional and corrupt presidency the GOP will have to choose between supporting Trump and honoring their oath of office. Massive defeat is already coming in November. It can only get worse for the GOP and better for the country, that is unless Trump pushes the button. Then, we'd have to hope the military would disobey the order.
12
80 percent of Republicans still support Trump. This shows if they had any values to begin with, they've abandoned them to boost Trump's valueless autocracy. I suspect Tillerson fits into this category. Otherwise he wouldn't have taken the job in the first place.
26
The multi-trillion dollar question regarding the Trump presidency and the U.S. as a whole may be: Who falls up and who falls down?
An old line in Hollywood is that executives "fall up." They get caught in wrongdoing or drop a bundle on an awful blockbuster, get sacked, then land at another studio with more responsibility. Perhaps Harvey Weinstein has finally proved that wrong in LA. But Washington...? Who knows. Washington isn't on Planet Earth. Human logic doesn't apply. New York is much the same, which helps to explain Trump's absurd success.
Dina Powell is back at Goldman Sachs. Gary Cohn will land on his feet. Goldman Sachs will remain hooked into the DC circuit. So, too, Rex Tillerson. There is no substantive downside for them. Just as there will prove to have been no downside for Gina Haspel. There wasn't for Condoleezza Rice or Donald Rumsfeld or for Obama domestic spymasters James Clapper and John Brennan. Republican and Democratic enablers in Congress, like Mike Pompeo and Dianne Feinstein, have suffered no consequence from their support for crimes. (Let's stop pretending that these were not crimes -- torture, domestic spying, Wall Street pyramid schemes, etc.)
Trump is the most extreme example of American democracy's fall. The people fall, the elite rise. In public and private arenas, the powerful are increasingly immune to accountability. Pseudo-democratic institutions now protect the elite from the failures that the rest of us suffer.
17
That wasn't always true. Roosevelt showed, in the 1930's that public accountability can reassert itself. Even as late as the 1980s when CEOs went to jail for their role in the S&L crisis (McCain was nearly tossed from the Senate for his part). But it does require trust that the institutions can reform. And since those institutions require people to run them, Americans need to start rewarding expertise, proven over time, rather than trust in slogans and flashy presentation.
We need to get back to rewarding quiet competence instead of loud bombast. Vote with our heads and not so much with our hearts.
4
If this administration has done anything, it has revealed to the world that there were never any adults in the room. Putting on a military uniform looks impressive, getting elected is impressive, being rich and successful on Wall Street is impressive. These people are all very proud of themselves but once they started talking, you come to quickly realize what a thin line we've been walking all along.
Adult behavior? This generation of Americans can't even prioritize keeping their children safe. Exactly who taught them adult behavior?
28
Burn it down and you’ll be left with that vitreous garden gnome, Pence. That’s a whole new level of weirdness.
14
Men of REAL GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS are now being given a knife in the back by Con-Don - who has achieved VERY LITTLE, except for STEALING money from banks, contractors, illicit businesses, corruption, etc. Now that Con-Don is "in the White House" he has even figured out ways of STEALING from Tax Payers.
Bone Spurs Trump has also figured out HIS way of humiliating our Military by firing too many men of Achievements - GENERALS!
How long before the GOP will come to the conclusion: "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!". Will it take a Pence resignation so Con-Don can INSIST that Nunes become HIS Vice President?
3
The utter disbelief I felt on November 8, 2016 has become horror at what is happening to my country under this abhorrent administration and the complicit Rs (and some Ds) in Congress. A robust economy is not now, nor will it ever be, enough to sustain a democracy. Trump is at the controls of a runaway train, and no one seems to have the decency to wrest the wheel away from him.
11
Bravo! This is what every American should be demanding, not only for the sake of America, but for the world America built.
Trump is in the process of destroying the world that has taken 70 years of patient diplomacy, enormous cost in American lives and literally trillions of dollars of American money.
Before its too late, every American who is appalled by what Trump is doing, needs to get engaged in removing this man from office. Literally it is an existential fight for decency and American Values. This man is so destructive and so malicious I truly believe America could lose it all. And the world needs a strong America. In a few short years China will be an unstoppable force. Unless we all want to be run by an authoritarian dictatorship under Xi we need a free world lead by a credible America. Trump is destroying that legitimacy and putting in danger the world America has created.
9
Good piece. Something that was critically needed to be said.
Still don't understand , given Mr Trump's extensive record of defrauding investors, students at Trump university, his monumental record of public lies and lecherous conduct, why is he not referred to as a documented liar, fraud and lecher , whenever his name is mentioned ?
Why hide the truth ?
8
GEN McMaster must not leave his post as National Security Advisor. He knows what he is doing and it would be very difficult to obtain a replacement of similar caliber at this critical time. If he is purged, especially in light of Tillerson's purging, then Mr. Trump must go.
If Mr. Trump has to be removed from office, a critical mass of his supporters will have to be convinced of the legitimacy of that action in order for it to be successful. Such action must not be construed as an undoing of the 2016 election. There was a legitimate reason why Mr. Trump was elected and that reason must be accorded due respect.
Mr. Tillerson must retain his credibility for use if impeachment or 25th Amendment proceedings need to be taken. Taking cheap shots at Mr. Trump now would squander that credibility.
John Bolton is so ideologically hidebound that he is a non-starter. He should not be considered or confirmed for *any* public office.
Ms. Goldberg, you need to go too. Because of your constant, uncritical, poorly reasoned, scurrilous, diatribes against Mr. Trump and his administration, you have zero or negative credibility in advocating for his removal from office. The fourth estate must earn and retain that credibility in order to be an effective check on government misrule.
Ms. Goldberg, if only what you wish for would come to pass. Alas, I fear it won’t. A case in point is the recent appearance of Condoleeza Rice on Nicolle Wallace’s program on MSNBC. Remember, Rice advocated for Tillerson. Rice, pressed by Ms. Wallace, hemmed, hawed and equivocated. She refused to denounce this horrifying presidency. She, of all people, a Russia expert, a Birmingham, Ala. black native, a woman....I fear it’s apparent that these party loyalists are all collaborators and are putting party before country in the most unpatriotic fashion we’ve witnessed in a long time. Can we really believe Tillerson, awarded a medal by Putin himself, an inveterate oilman hellbent on making millions and destroying the environment, who was willing to take the job in the first place, would put country before self-interest? He and his ilk simply do not care about the average person, neither here nor abroad. I share your outrage, I refuse to normalize any of this, but I think we must all to elsewhere for hope and change.
18
I agree, Rex should speak out. As Ms. Goldberg points out, "Republican members of Congress like Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, might be induced to rediscover their spines and perform proper oversight."
But therein lies the insanity that none of us should ever forget: the Republicans in Congress are complicit in each and every act from this administration that puts our country in peril because they REFUSE to fulfill their duty as a co-equal branch of our government and reign in this dangerously unfit man and his clown car cabinet.
13
The upshot of this column is this: All that's required for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.
If the many people departing the Trump administration know firsthand of the evil inherent in his arrogance, ignorance, and recklessness, they need to DO SOMETHING.
Otherwise, they are complicit. And all of us, excepting Ivanka Trump, know what that means.
15
We aren't doing "nothing"
However, our hands are tied at many levels.
We cannot investigate at oust him on our own. We have to work through legitimate channels.
And meanwhile, we are acting and voting locally
1
I'll bet Mrs. Tillerson is hopping mad at how her husband has been treated. Maybe she will lead the charge. She believed the job was his destiny.
4
Rex Tillerson on "60 Minutes" for a full hour, unscripted, and with no inquiry limitations, and soon! Get to it CBS. The country turns its "lonely eyes to you".
8
Chris Hayes-last night- most Russian "experts" believe that Americans committed the 40 poisonings of Russians. Frontline revealed how the average N. Korean citizen believes America is the most evil country in history. Republicans believe Koch & FOX style lies instead of the facts about many things. The Trump base believes that truth as reported by media that vets its news and admits mistakes when made is always lying.
Edward Bernays, the pioneer in advertising, called the masses irrational and possessed of a herd instinct, something kings and religions have used since the dawn of man. Lying used to manipulate the "herd". Now we have a colossal liar "as our head of state. How low can the masses go?
According to Eric Hoffer in The True Believer, frustrations in life can lead to finding meaning in a group. The leaders of the "cause" see the tribal individual as a pawn to be used, not a human being.
Michelle Goldberg always takes the side of human beings, and in this op-ed she hopes those fired by or fleeing Trump will do the same. So far, the ugliest side of the American "character" has rejected all the best human and American values. As Michelle says, it's a nightmare.
It's one thing to have political arguments when both sides respect the law and checks and balances and human decency. But now the right has rejected democracy itself, preferring the exact values of totalitarianism, a difference in degree of malevolence only.
Are we to accept such a betrayal?
1
We already know the chaos, incompetence, corruption, and narcissism in the White House. No one seems to care. I suffer from outrage overload. With every new report of the depths of vulgarity, corruption, self-aggrandizement, and greed this administration -- in the person on Donald Trump -- I am astounded and saddened. I am further appalled by the lack of character and outrage in our Congress, particularly the “Family Values” GOP and the Evangelical community. I repeat to myself, “Breathe. Just Breathe. Breathe."
9
The vision of the current state of America is akin to a Hieronymous Bosch painting with a Trump head poking out of a landscape of immigrants being rounded up, Uncle Sam being tied down like Gulliver, the Statue of Liberty being broken to pieces, Rex Tillerson and others being forced to walk the plank on a pirate ship. In other words, a landscape of horror and chaos. It would take more than a Committee if the Righteous to change this landscape.
2
This is the reason people are so disillusioned with government and institutions---
not so much that there are bad actors (there will always be those), but because the people who are guardians of our democracy are refusing to (and are now actively preventing), efforts to do the right thing.
2
Had some credible candidate, Democrat or Republican, made a reasoned appeal to the nation to control illegal immigration, revive American industry, rebuild the military, and give the nation a rest from radical cultural revision President Trump would not be President Trump.
1
If the adults in the room really had the national interest at heart, they 'd do whatever they could to eject this monstrous fraud from the White House. But they don't. Nobody does. No matter what Trump does, no one ever says, "Enough is enough." It just goes on and on, day after day, month after month. No other president could get away with one-tenth of what Trump has done to debase the office, to hurt the nation and corrupt its standing internationally. And yet nothing ever happens. Nobody will stop it. How can this be happening? I just don't understand it.
3
The GOP establishment made their vile bargain with Trump when they realized they had lost control of their party and that the party base, built and nurtured on a decades-long diet of disinformation, resentment and lies, were going to nominate Trump. Above all else, the establishment wanted their stolen supreme court majority, their tax cuts for the One Percent and resulting deficits to undercut social programs, and the hobbling of clean energy and environmental protection. The GOP establishment got what they wanted, and I don't think they care about the damage being done to the country. The few republicans that have opposed Trump have already paid a price, discouraging others from doing the same, but they will ultimately be proven right. Trump and his republican enablers are a national tragedy.
5
Steve Bannon told trump that the risk to his presidency was not impeachment but the 25th amendment. Bannon put trump's chances of completing his first term at 30%.
This "purge" is about the 25th amendment. Tillerson, Cohn, McMasters, Shulkin, Sessions...
2
Amen.
Mr. Tillerson, please tell us what you saw in this administration.
1
If the Russians can hack into our power and water systems, there's all the more reason to believe they hacked into our election enough to give Trump power. It,sctme that his utter illegitimacy be acknowledged by anyone with any standing. Tillerson has only a little by now, but plenty of others better get started seriously too.
Does Ms. Goldberg really think the persons named in this column are adults in the room? How many State Department positions did Tillerson not fill in more than a year?
The MSM LOVES to play on an endless 24/7 loop video of Trump speaking. They are addicted to it.
Yet no where do I see the MSM playing the words Trump spoke repeatedly that explains why it does not matter who is in his administration:
"I, and I alone!"
2
An interesting parallel: as Trump's campaign proceeded, he sidelined aides who were holding him back somewhat from being his real, gross self. We rewarded him with a win. Here we go again.
I think Tillerson was no longer useful because the Exxon deal was off with Russia. I believe that's the whole reason he was hired in the first place.
2
In your concern for the welfare of the country, its diverse people, and perhaps even for the world, you want the "insiders," who are now outside to share with us ordinary folk what they saw. Heard. Perhaps even did, which shouldn't have been done. A reasonable dream in a surrealistic, daily, violating reality.I do need some help, though. How is this going to affect, change, or do something helpful, for the willful blind amongst us? The willful deaf? Those who choose, daily, to be ignorant about that which is, which should not be. And that which is so badly needed- equitable well being, mutual trust, respect, caring-relationships and mutual help, if and when needed-not being enabled. What about this innumerable, known as well as hidden different "THEM," whose behaviors, also enable our toxic,WE-THEY violating culture of a selected, disempowered, dehumanized "the other?" Has Tillerson, as an actual person, and as an example and metaphor for global power and influence helped to meet this challenge during his influential days? How many of the other "insider-outsiders" have in their recent and distant pasts?
1
The Executive Branch, the majority of the Supreme Court, and most Republican legilators are now owned and operated by the Koch Brothers and their cohorts. This is what religious Republicans want and this is what we all have. Everything else is a detail - almost irrelevant, including Rex Tillerson.
3
Tillerson will do nothing. He approached the state department like a corporate raider whose bonus is based on money saved. Ultimately he is a bad example even for the boy scouts. He allowed their jamboree to be corrupted by his silence, and he claims to love that organization. If he won't protect young minds he won't protect the rest of us.
1
The International Mafia Top 1% Global Financial Elite Robber Baron/radical religion Good Old Boys' Cabal put The Con Don in OUR white house to act as their talking head. They thought they could control him. They can't, won't, aren't.
But remember - they are all Good Old Boys. Like good boy scouts they will not speak out about anything that tarnishes their little "club". So what if their kids are killed in WW3? The kids will be doing their duty to their daddies club. So what if OUR lives are destroyed through the unprecedented global financial collapse that is coming? They'll have stolen what they think is "theirs".
It is sick, demented, insatiably greedy, socially unconscious, horrendously destructive thinking. It is the male-christian sponsored-power over model.
It is time for that model to die. WE THE PEOPLE cannot expect the biggest Robber Barons - who are controlling OUR lives through ownership of all social media and all mainstream press - to "save" us. WE must save ourselves, our children, our grandchildren and generations to come.
NOW is the time. There may never be another time.
21
I'm down with what you are saying, but I have one quibble: Would you mind using "Don The Con" instead of the "The Con Don"? In the same way that today even young students of American history know who "Tricky Dick" was, a small group of us across the nation are trying to get "Don The Con" to stick. While Mitt is certainly part of the oligarchy to whom you refer, at least he called that one right.
This is Rex Tillerson’s time to shine, to save the country, and the world, by bringing the Trump debacle to a close. Come on Rex, be a hero! Help save us before it’s too late.
18
How long can Ryan and McConnell hide from the truth: the GOP is facilitating the continued reign of a tyrant and the damage he is doing to our country, possibly on behalf of Vladimir Putin? Call it unethical, immoral, unpatriotic or corrupt, their transparent failure to take action to protect our country, regardless of the consequences to their political future, should be prosecuted. They are already guilty of treason.
20
Yes, don’t wait to have a ghost write a book about it either. Stump with Democrats starting now.
6
Still looking to undo the election. Sad. Maybe you should be looking for a viable candidate for 2020.
5
I don't want to undo the election. It's too late for that. I want Trump and the rest of his crime family in jail, or back in NYC. Anywhere but the WH.
1
At the rate trump is going, ANYbody will be a viable candidate
1
Maybe you should be looking for a viable candidate for 2020...Yours won't be in office that long.
1
Three thoughts:
(1) Thank God for a free press. People like you, Ms. Goldberg, who can SPEAK THEIR MIND. And so . . .
. . .please keep doing this. We the American people--Americans, that is, not wholly ENSNARED or BAMBOOZLED or BEFUDDLED by this man, Mr. Donald J. Trump--we're counting on you. Keep it coming.
(2) I have known of a family who adopted a teenager from Russia. That young man had problems. Drugs. Other stuff. Eventually, he ran away. His family--grieved as they were--took it philosophically.
"He's got to hit rock bottom," they said. "He may save himself somehow--but he's unlikely to do that till he hits rock bottom. Till he can sink no further."
Is that where WE are? The thought haunts me, Ms. Goldberg. Will we, the United States, NEVER learn better--NEVER learn into whose unskilled and incompetent hands we have entrusted our country--till we too HIT ROCK BOTTOM? Till we blunder into some inconceivable catastrophe--some war--some financial meltdown that leaves us gasping, rubbing our eyes, exclaiming, "How ever did we COME to this?"
(3) Can nothing be done? NOTHING? Can the President (in the last analysis) NOT be removed from office--for sheer unmitigated INCOMPETENCE? For proving himself--obstinately, impenitently--INCAPABLE of leading the country? Or--if he IS leading the country. . .
. . for leading us into an abyss? Into depths as of yet undreamt of?
Thanks you, Ms. Goldberg. Fine column. As usual.
17
Precisely. I should hope that Tillerson, on his way out of the building, was calling Mueller to invite him over for a beer. "Hey, Bob -- drop by after you get off work. I've got a lot to get off my chest...!"
18
As New Yorker's Andy Borowitz stated in his recent parody, "Rex Tillerson said that he 'really hopes' that Donald Trump finds out that he is being impeached on Twitter." Amen.
31
He won't burn it down because he is on record publically praising the very boss that he's be critiquing. So, he'd come off as a mixed up hypocrite much like Amorosa does. Instead he'll retire or go into consulting and try and forget a miserable 14 month tenure dismantling the very branch of government that he was charged to lead.
7
Donald Trump - at least so far - has been protected by the mystique and the mantle that comes with the presidency. I really believe many of the people who have left the West Wing still find that to be an overwhelming influence on their keeping their lips sealed. He may be a fool, a liar and a philanderer, but he is still the president (ugh).
That, and the fact that they are Republicans, and the GOP is still clinging onto the belief that if it holds its collective nose and looks the other way ignoring Trump's boorish behavior and lying tendencies, it can still move the Republican political agenda forward, at least while the party still has the chance.
All that may change in November, and if the Democratic Blue Wave does in fact materialize, we can expect to see Republicans backing away from Trump so fast their backs might lock up.
277
"their backs might lock up" - not if you are spineless.
To back up fast would be to say we were wrong & knew it - we were just getting our agenda passes as fast as possible.
There will be a slow back peddle with a huge amount of spin. They'll blame Obama for that too.....
12
So Democrats get into power yet again and then what.....Will things change in Afghanistan, in the Middle East, in an unaffordable health care system, wage theft by small and large businesses, underfunded public schools system? The solution to what ails us is 3rd party representation that fit the many niches the 2 party system has been neglecting for many a year.
2
The only mantle Trump wears is that of vileness and degradation. He disgraces the Presidency every minute of every day. The Republicans who serve him are just as bad, just as wretched. If they weren't they wouldn't be there. Except for Ben Carson, I believe he is there so that Trump would never be the stupidest person in the room.
8
As an Eagle Scout, Tillerson should know how to start a fire.
16
Tillerson might secretly be relieved at being relieved.
8
As the winner of the Order Of Friendship for 2013, Rex has some items in the closet that he would like to keep there. Don't expect Rex to attack.
PROSECUTErUSSIAGATE!
7
This idea the former SOS will send out a sos I think is a faint hope. Tillerson doesn't speak, it would appear, unless it is greatly in his interest. He won't say a word against Trump, he'll move on to sit on various boards and be of no further consequence.
7
There is only one adult in the room and all others pretending to be an adults are eagerly awaiting his indictment to end this fiasco. But that adult also well understands that he cannot give Pence a long enough time to let loose his own set of deluded, Jesus talks to me, damage to this country. Like it or not, we are all in a world of hurt for the foreseeable future. Such is what America has wrought upon itself after years of abject complacency and a reliance on faux comfort. We are actually living in a 'reality TV show' that bares little resemblance to actual world reality, and still there is a swath of ignorance eating it all up.
6
So what if someone formerly in the White House and familiar with its most intimate workings and secrets comes out and tells us the worst things imaginable about the President? One-third of us won't believe it, another third will claim to know it already, and the rest of us don't care.
3
The economy is not doing well, the stock market is doing well. If the economy were doing well we wouldn't have a record number of Americans living in poverty.
17
These are still Republicans with ties at the country club and in the boardroom. The CEO of Exxon is not the guy to "burn it down", typically.
That's not the worst indictment. You just don't get to CEO of Exxon by breaking a lot of eggs, I figure.
What's worse is the damage he did at State, which I figure will continue under the new secretary. We have been losing the experienced, dedicated civil servants who understood the world and generally didn't have an axe to grind.
5
There's no question Tillerson owes this to the country, and every question that he'll pay the debt. I certainly hope he reads Ms. Goldberg's line about the first sentence of his obituary, because it's on the nose, and there's only one way to change it.
6
"If these people see the administration as unequipped to handle an emergency, they owe the country a firsthand account of our vulnerability."
Hopefully Tillerson won't wait to write a book to reveal alarming information about this presidency in crisis.
2
While I agree with Ms. Goldberg's piece, the hero in waiting already exists and working diligently to upend the WH usurper. Robert Mueller. The only individual who has the legal heft to stop this insanity. Tillerson may know a lot but Trump seems to laugh in the face of all the odious revelations so far. He is shameless and is propped up politically by the complicit GOP. I do hope Rex reveals what he can to place a severe dent in the man.
Hurry, Mr. Mueller.
6
It may be naive to expect the departing staff members, like Tillerson, to renounce their former boss. They willingly accepted their former positions, and the powerful and wealthy are reluctant to admit bad judgement. In end, notions of patriotism give way to preserving a sense of authority and to mining future financial opportunities. Consider the business world, where incompetent, shameless CEOs are rewarded with severances packages wrapped in gold. Former Trump staffers will try to parlay their fifteen minutes of fame or infamy to a few well-paid positions in the corporate world--no need for confessing or purging ill-will.
Ms. Goldberg gives the people she is praising too much credit. The only difference between them and their boss is the packaging. Otherwise they wouldn't have joined this White House. It is past time we stopped trying to find a light at the end of the tunnel or sugar coat the ugly reality revealed by the Trump presidency. Sadly, there is a sizable constituency in this country that is grotesquely un-principled, whom, at best, can only pay lip service to the values the nation purports to stand for.
6
It is looking like we're all being told to make our way to the part of the Titanic that's still sticking up out of the water.
5
Looks to me Stormy is much more of a thwart than Rex, she has nothing to lose, Rex on the other hand would suffer direly if he came out against Trump. Reminds me of Powell who also was thrown under the bus but never complained.
5
A simple thought- if good people that are fired by Trump speak out, maybe more of them would be able to stay(and moderate Trump) because "not firing" is the only way Trump could continue to control the message.
118
Too little, too late, I'm afraid.
2
DCH,
Please indicate which of "them" you refer to.
Thanks.
3
There are no 'good people . . . fired by Trump' - for the simple reason that no 'good people' were ever HIRED by Trump. Each and every appointee was chosen for their (a) incompetence; and (b) dedication to destroying the sphere of their ostensible responsibility.
4
Rex will have to justify why he agreed to gut the State Department, explain in a honest and straightforward manner, why he thought this was needed. Does he still feel that was the right action? I would be very curious to hear his views on that as well.
3
Let's see if Tillerson has the guts to do it and get past the disloyalty knock that will be given him. My hope is that Tillerson realizes he has a higher loyalty - to the country he loves and which has brought him so much. Tillerson gave up a lot to get the job and now after a year he was dismissed by a tweet!
That's not honorable - that alone must grind with a man who's used to being respected and respecting others.
200
There's no evidence Tillerson loves this country, or respects others. As the Times pointed out he ruled a state within a state -- Exxon. His loyalty is to an all-powerful corporation. Which is one major reason I never vote for businessmen who believe their success in business can translate easily into running a government.
11
Trump is a monster:a morally empty narcissist and will never be anything else.
Tillerson will cash in his contacts and experience for major "consulting" fees, and return to corporate life.
4
Amen Brother. Trump is a stain on the Presidency and the other Republicans are his willing co-conspirators.
As “saner” appointees are thrown out, and scary warmonger types are rotated in, I fear 45 is ratcheting up his reality show presidency to showcase war and great destruction.
He is rewarded daily by a torrent of headlines yet fears where Mueller’s investigation is headed. An amoral ego with a bottomless need for attention and approval, I fear 45 will protect his position by creating even more conflict - world war.
Even then, will Republicans and evangelicals stop him? Or will they continue to support 45, as he brings into reality the scary, fearful world they always said was there?
435
Republicans and evangelicals won't (and really can't) stop him. They are trapped in their dogmas with no way out and the destruction of this nation which they see as lost in sin would only reinforce their views.
13
trump would start a war to take attention off of his incompetence my biggest fear
5
If these dearly departed members of the Trump administration had any moral considerations or respect for our democratic institutions they never would have joined this gang of thieves in the first place. I don't expect to see any profiles in courage surfacing now.
587
The best part of all of this is that "American democracy" is being revealed as the sham and scam which it has always been. It has taken the Wizard of Trump --President Trump-- to rip back the curtain on the turbid goings on in this nation's government. In a sense President Trump's mission has always been to expose and burn all this down himself.
It has taken a certain man, Mr. Trump, to show us ourselves at our worst and he is successfully this now, day by day and day after day. It does not take as many people --hangers-on and loiterers-- to run this government and this nation as the American People have been led to believe. It only takes one (1) effective President to consolidate government and get rid of the unnecessary and unneeded deadwood and strangling underbrush and undergrowth. There is no doubt that America has needed to be burnt down and taken back to ashes. It is the Trumps and not the Tillersons who are lighting the cleansing fires.
1
We seem to be morphing into what so many fought and died to defeat in WWII. Can our institutions survive especially with the current inhabitants?
5
Tillerson gutted the State Dept. in unprecidented fashion. Whatever his differences with Trump, I am not sure how anyone can consider him a "grown-up." He was not remotely qualified to be SecState and incidently he has the longest history of personal and business association with Putin of any high profile American.
6
Which leads us to Trump's second act, firing Robert Mueller. What then? No help from Congress, a discredited FBI, probably a neutered Justice Department with someone favorable to Trump in charge, and no relief from the judicial branch because the investigation has been stopped in its tracks. Goldberg is correct - someone needs to start playing dirty. So far misplaced Democratic decorum and an unwillingness by disgraced senior administration officials to speak out have allowed the Trump open wound to fester. Rather ironic that the most effective inroad made so far may come from a pornstar who understands what leverage is. The idea that fired Trump officials are holding back because the don't want to burn any bridges is absurd. If the other side of the bridge is itself burning and in chaos, what is the point?
8
What about the obvious question:
Tillerson is a needed voice against the complete breakdown of American competency and leadership amidst an increasingly dangerous world, but where are the other "influencers" who have remained silent? Where are you Barack, Mitt, Bill (Gates), "W", Warren (Buffet, not just Elizabeth), Tim, Mary (Barra), Mitch, Paul and many many others. You are all standing at the edge of the abyss. We're watching the potential destruction of civilization and you're doing nothing. Time is running out.
520
An inappropriate screen name if there ever was one.
"Potential destruction of civilization."
Glad you included "potential."
1
Who cares what the previous president might say, or the rest of them.
I do. And so should you -- assuming you know who they are.
5
There are no Knights in Shining Armor in the Republican Whitehouse or Congress, and I say this as a FORMER Republican. Our government is a mess, and the Republican Party an unmitigated disaster.
3
“Rex is under a moral mandate to do his best to burn it down.” That would mean telling the truth “about how concerned he is about the leadership in the Oval Office, and what underpins those concerns and what he’s seen.”
Unless he signed something.
3
They. Don't. Care.
4
Maybe we were wrong all along. Maybe they weren't the adults either. Tillerson's most impressive moment was when he called the president a moron. Other than that, he was on a trumpian path to destroy the State Department. Dina Powell was always in the White House as a plan for future power. None of them, Gary Cohn included, showed any degree of adult behavior. They were all in it for self aggrandizement, just like their boss. And if they say what they saw, by not having reacted appropriately at the time they will show themselves for what they really are, little people in big jobs.
552
Power corrupts.
2
Right, JPM. David Brooks used to try to "sell" Paul Ryan as a "wonk". Ryan gets his information from the Koch brothers. I have other words I call him than a "wonk". Like traitor.
11
Goldberg is taking self delusion to the grandest heights in this column. She should know better. As much as Tillerson may hate the way Trump is governing, he's in complete agreement with the conservative direction of this administration. So is everyone who has left, resigned, or been fired by Trump. That point can't be emphasized enough. These people think of Democrats as the enemy. They will never, under any circumstance, do anything to advance the liberal agenda. Better to reign in a Republican hell than to serve in a Democratic heaven is their mantra. If you're wondering, like many others, what it would take for the GOP to break with Trump the answer is nothing. Repubs are playing the long game. Trump will be gone soon. They will still be here. The GOP can wait him out & achieve all of their objectives. They have their eyes on a bigger prize. Their goal is to nominate 2-3 very conservative Supreme Court justices. Trump has gotten one SCOTUS appointment, he may well get more. He’s moved more quickly on lower-court appointments than Obama did. The legal arm of the conservative movement is probably the best organized, most far-reaching and far-seeing sector of the Right. They truly are in it — and have been in it — for the long term goals. Control the Supreme Court, stack the judiciary, & you can stop the progressive movement, no matter how popular it is, no matter how much legislative power it has. Why should the GOP undermine Trump? To make NYT pundits happy? Get real.
4
If we know anything about DC politics, we know that personal ambition and concern for the next gig (lobbyist, usually; corporate toady; perhaps another election) will always trump after-the-fact honesty and forthrightness. Even Colin Powell lied to the world so he could remain persona grata among the in-crowd, rather than a scorned Cassandra. MacNamra did likewise and thousands died in his wake. Nobody should expect any Republican of any stature to do anything else.
11
Many voted against Hillary Clinton in 2016 because she was the consummate Washington politician. Fair enough, but I don't think many Trump supporters fully understand what they got with him. I seriously doubt many who voted for Trump endorsed chaos, aimlessness and dishonesty, but this is what their candidate has delivered so far.
The author might implore Tillerson to tear down this administration, but what's the consequence of this? Personally, I don't think the majority of Americans view VP Pence as a consolation prize for how Trump has disappointed the American Republic so far.
8
It mostly comes down the whether you prefer chaos or a malignant type of order. I would prefer the latter under Clinton despite my serious misgivings about her foreign policy - the worst episode being "we came, we saw, he died". But I can easily understand someone preferring the opposite.
If you believe that Washington is so terrible that it's better to "burn it down", even by filling the swamp with obvious alligators, than to support the worst of the mainstream Democrats, then reluctant Trump support is understandable. Enthusiastic support, on the other hand...
Alas, the gestation period for a book is easily nine month to a year. By then, we could be mired in a devastating ground, air or trade war, the economy could crash, tens of thousands will suffer the consequences of global climate change, similar numbers will suffer because of the moral bankruptcy of the EPA and other key regulatory agencies and countless numbers deported.
Those of us on the right side of history will not be surprised by the inevitable tell all books.
The Trump base won’t bother to read them because of blind loyalty and too many share Trump’s functional illiteracy.
6
Tillerson having a come-to-Jesus moment—or days—was the first thing I hoped for when Trump tweeted his Secretary of State out. In principle, Michelle Goldberg is so right. But there is a good deal of circumstantial evidence suggesting that Tillerson was hand-picked by Putin to be the U.S. Secretary of State; it is unlikely Tillerson would further expose himself on this count. And if he were able to put our country's welfare first and tell what he knows, would House and Senate Republicans initiate an impeachment process when so many impeachment-worthy misdeeds have already come to light? The bravery we really need is from the Republican Congress, and it has so far proved itself content to throw U.S. Democracy under the bus for the sake of further enriching and empowering the few.
11
At some point, there will be a dangerous crisis. Things may happen with a velocity that requires fast action. The longer he learns about the levers of power, the more likely he will act unrestrained by more capable others. Three hundred thirty millions this country and many more around the world may be in mortal danger. it's time that people who agree with Jeff Flake, for example, take decisive action and cut out this cancer on the body politic.
8
History has shown that most well-meaning people surrounding fledgling dictators and autocrats believed that established and venerable institutions were sufficient to contain those leaders. Only too late - when the deterioration of those institutions was imminent - did they realize how their complicity actually fortified and legitimized the would-be autocrat.
One cannot forget Mr. Tillerson's role in diminishing the scope and prestige of the State Department, whether on orders from Mr. Trump or not. This was shameful and he bears responsibility. He can begin to make amends by being speaking out now -- and forcefully!
16
This is a terrifying picture of chaos: a rumbling structure about to heave into massive destruction. Is this The White House? OUR White House?
This is the Trump presidency.
Where are the GOP leaders with decency and who serve our constitution? Isn’t that the oath they took? Surely it is passed time to take a hard look at the Beast in the room.
7
This is the most important statement in this editorial:
"But it would also mean that, by protecting the country from the consequences of an unhinged president, they helped Trump consolidate his power while he learned how to transcend restraints."
This is exactly where Trump is right now, feeling emboldened and empowered by the lack of restraint, including a total lack of criticism or over sight by the Republican party, he is prepared to run this administration single handedly. We are reaching a stage where one man will run this country according to his own whim and uninformed intuition, only accepting counsel from sycophants chosen to agree with him and feed his ego.
Bad times ahead...
11
My perception of Rex Tillerson's firing is that he was discovered to be part of a group of Cabinet officials whom were discussing the 25th Amendment. A flaw in the 25th Amendment is that a President can fire any Cabinet official who is considering joining with others to invoke the 25th. We may see more Cabinet level firings in the months ahead.
After the November 2018 elections there might be an effort to push Trump to resign, rather than be defeated in 2020 or face impeachment (assuming that the Mueller investigation is not killed by the successor to Jess Sessions.) We just need to get through the next nine months.
5
All true however it requires courage and integrity- two characteristics that have been sadly lacking in this administration. Trump is a wimp and coward, parading around like a tough guy. If Tillerson and Cohn spoke the truth about this moron- to quote Tillerson when he had a spine and self respect, the end would be closer.
15
Because gossip and sharing of secrets is so very grown up...
08:28
Friday, 16 March 2018 (GMT-4)
Time in New York, NY, USA
1
I think the hope is more about telling the truth, not gossip, and revealing collusion, not sharing secrets. That actually would be very grown-up since it would be self-sacrifice for the greater good.
2
T-Rex, I hope you eat the degenerate-who-would-be-king alive. Speak at graduations, appear on 60-Minutes. Face the Nation, YouTube, and start campaigning against the poltroons in Congress who dishonor our nation.
19
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” - Dante Alighieri
33
Amen!
5
Good op-ed, Ms. Goldberg, but do you think Rex has the courage? Best I can tell the only thing he was right about as SOS was calling Trump a bleeping moron, and then he ran from that accurate assessment. Rex has shown nothing to indicate that type of integrity. But I really hope I’m wrong.
11
Not certain speaking out is necessary anymore. I feel most of the public realizes we made a mistake, a big mistake, and now let the electoral process take its course. Why take weeks of tweet abuse---just think about how many juvenile names rhyme with Rex---when the weeks and months ahead will bring one big scandal/felony after another, not to mention the monthly royal screw ups from Trump's band of incompetents.
4
Hey Michelle, remind me again who shut down the government this last time "over immigration"?
1
I sure wish we would have called the alarm about the last semi-literate, inarticulate, Republican POTUS, and prevented the destruction of the Middle East.
5
I expect that Tillerson could spill all, and it could be very bad for tRUMP. But he's Mister Tefon. Nothing sticks. The reason for this is, primarily, that we need adults in Congress in addition to adults in the WH. Instead, we have the sycophants, Ryan and McConnell and the Republican bands, who so fear going against an Idiot President that they will let him "lead" the country to ruin.
7
Fred, we now also have people from trump's very own propaganda machine entering the white house to "serve" this megalomaniac that a minority of Americans chose as president. If this were a spy movie they would be turned down (not confirmed) by the US senate, as applicable. But we are not living in the good guy movies-- we are living in this tragic time where the future of our country is in the hands of koch, mercer, etc.-- aided and abetted by the likes of McConnell and Ryan. Not a brave GOP elected official, anywhere.
1
like many others, you jump to the conclusion that the Leader, the Speaker, the former Secretary of State, and others are privately disgusted and appalled by the President, but are too lily livered to speak out.
wrong! they are all Republicans, and while they may not applaud the President's every statement or action, or his style, they're all fundamentally on the same page.
1
Never. Gonna. Happen.
4
Don't look to Gary Cohn for backbone; he got his and now it's "So long suckers!" Between his self-serving tax cuts and an exemption on capitol gains during his tenure, he's probably set up more shell companies in the Bahamas than there are shells in the Bahamas, so when the deluge comes, he can ride it out on his own private Ark.
8
Wait a minute. Rex already called him a moron. What else do you want?
2
Rex memes are already going around. He should save himself from "I've been Rexed". That will outlast him.
First we have the American Oligarchs that Trump has surrounded himself with who all have their bug out bags and private jets so that they can reach their hideaways in exotic islands or their homes in Switzerland (owned through third parties no doubt) should the result of their greed and incompetence destroy this democracy.
So though they prefer things to go well here in the USA they won't have to live with the consequences of lets say of the next unregulated financial meltdown, or Russia triggering a nuclear accident in our country's power plant, or even a civil war should it every come to that calamity when Trump is finally impeached... no, these enablers of Trump will be somewhere pleasant: the sun will be shining and their personal chef will be preparing something tasty for them and their families and their friends...
Then (with some overlap) we have a secondary group of enablers, the Evangelical Christians, whose bug out plan is simply a direct trip to Heaven (the End Days) . So when it hits the fan, that is their plan. Whether global warming triggers a environmental disaster or the nuclear holocaust takes place, it's all good; with a little imagination you can find it in the Bible.
The antidote to this madness? It starts with your vote in the Fall. Your vote might not be enough, either, you may have to find a local candidate and put some work into the election... You are the committee to save America...
14
It starts with your vote now: see Conor Lamb as an example.
We already know that Mr.Tillerson thinks that Mr.Trump is a moron.We do not need more alarming testimonials from those departing the White House because we already know about the lies and chaos and bad behavior.Mr.Mueller will eventually give us reliable information which people can use to inform their judgments.His careful and systematic vetting of all circumstances will tell us what we need to know to evaluate all the news which has bombarded us daily.
4
Janet, you make excellent points. You've done so articulately. So please take this as friendly advice: learn how to space the sentence after a period ends the prior sentence.
Michelle, you're smart but you're too angry, if you burn down the US you may burn down the world with it. Calm down. Sooner or later, you'll win.
Yeah, calm down, Michelle. It's unseemly for a woman to express so much un-pretty emotion. Right, Mike Livingston?
Here's something Michelle gets, but you don't, Mike. t-RUMP is not "the U.S." He is a fraudulently elected president. That's how history will record all of this. Tillerson has a chance to do the right thing. That's all he can do at this point. Be on the right side of history.
3
In the era of the Cheeto-in-Chief, there is no such thing as "too angry."
Exploiting the earth's resources and it's people are what are corporate leaders and politicians do. They suck the life out of everything for their benefit. It's called capitalism. Rex is one of the uber leaders in this endeavor. Don't feel sorry for Rex or any of tRump's partners in crime. The will never change their ways but they will die off one day. The future, if there is one, looks a little brighter with the kids protesting for gun control. Maybe they will vote these destructive human beings out of office so America can move forward again.
1
Regarding Trump appointments , there has been no statement from the New York Times on whether it stands by its editorials of this week that were so critical of Trump CIA appointee Gina Haspel. Pro Publica originally publisher the torture allegations and has now reversed itself. Does the NYT stand by these editorials?
"The only way he [Tillerson] will ever change that is by joining those who would bring this despicable presidency down."
The secretary of state is subordinate to the president. Anyone who disagrees with Trump will be ousted (Tillerson); anyone who agrees with him is very dangerous (Pompeo). The best thing we can hope for is that there is constant turnover with the secretary of state, but now Trump is more comfortable in his role as president – he is "unleashed" – so he is largely unfettered in catering to his primal impulses. Pompeo will serve to stroke Trump's id – not a good thing.
Tillerson is out because he called his boss a moron and upstaged him with the Russia/UK nerve gas incident. Tillerson is not a patriot; as CEO of Exxon he was out for himself in maximizing profits for his corporation. He showed no particular interest in his fellow inhabitants of the planet or the environment. In fact, Trump “hired” him in large part because of these things and that he is a friend of Putin. Protecting Putin and Russia is at the top of Trump’s agenda.
There will be too much blowback for Tillerson should he turn on Trump and Putin: personally, legally, and financially. If Mueller puts some cracks in the dike, maybe some of the White House expats will come along for the ride. But they lack the spines to initiate anything calamitous for Trump on their own: Trump knows this, and that is why he appointed them in the first place. They are cowards – just as much as he is.
4
Rex was a grownup? I thought he was a Trumpbot oil shill who was also racist—I’m fairly certain this is what I was reading during his nomination and confirmation.
4
There is only one question for a responsible journalist to ask Cohn and Tillerson now: Did you sign an NDA with Donald Trump?
3
“Rediscover your spines!”movement is looking for members on the Hill. Mitch, Ryan if your patriotism is not a charade, if you believe in democracy, if the American ideals are indeed close to your heart the sooner you join the Spine movement the greater your service will be to our country.
9
Ryan and McConnell? Dream on. ;-) They're stuck between a rock and a hard place. To try to move in any direction would risk losing the already tenuous positions they hold in government, positions that may very well end in November no matter what they do.
Edmonds, I have just one comment on Ryan and McConnell, they are not stuck between “a rock and a hard place” ......they are both well and truly under the hard rock!!
Trump probably has each person he has fired or who has resigned from his White House employment to sign a 'Gag Order' not to talk or be subjected to huge fines and imprisonment.
5
They are govenment employees, so any agreement they have is with the government of the Unted States. They can talk about anything they want to with the exception of classifed informaiton.
1
Yes, we can hope Tillerson and others will tell the truth from within this dumpster fire.
The USA was never perfect, but over time the balance has been on the side of reason, decency, goodness, and occasionally greatness. But thanks to the Russians and our own homegrown enemies we’ve become a two-bit kleptocracy headed by a dangerous ignoramus and international laughingstock. And we’re headed for even worse. The coming election is quite possibly the most important in our history.
24
Rex should spill the beans.
6
The low life "president" is too ashamed and dishonest to fire people face to face.
12
The voices of the young were heard in regard to the Viet Nan War. They had a stake in their future or lack of one. They young today, who are terrified of being killed in their classrooms...and with good reason...are addressing the gun problem in our country, not having been properly taught about the rich history of our country. No classes on poly-sci..no American History 1 and 2, no courses on American geography, where in the 2nd grade I learned about this country's abundance of natural resources. The young are trying to stay alive. The rest are trying to keep their jobs to pay the mortgage. The rich are immersed in the status quo. Maybe we're in trouble?
9
I am reading "Let Trump be Trump" at the moment. I am appalled that such a dedicated, hard working team around Trump's presidential operation has put up with the rudeness, the selfishness and sheer crassness of this monstrously arrogant man. I don't quarrel with his policies, the swamp definitely needed and needs cleaning but this tarnished gold-plated fake is not the man to do it. It is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.
6
Day after day one more thing he is one pice of work! I run a small business talk to people daily some have been so brain washed by Fox, they love the guy he is looking out for us they say dose not need the money and on and on. I have tried to tell them look at the big picture can't you see what he doing until if effects them with there pocket books I do not think much will matter to his backers and even that may be a reach. Some type of war will be next. Shear love of power and money that's the GOP. We are damaged!
8
It is absolutely high time for staff like Tillerson, who have seen the pathetic operation of the White House from inside, and now know how dangerous this unhinged President is, speak out in clear and unambiguous terms the 'real and present danger' that this country faces under Trump.
It will be unconscionable for Cohn's, Tillersons, Comeys and others who have been unceremoniously ejected from this administration to remain silent, for the sake of the very survival of this country!
6
I believe Mr Tillerson has already said everything that he needed to say and needed to be said.
2
Tillerson speaking out against the Administration may help on the margins, but what can he do about the real threat facing America?
Fifty million Americans picked Trump and want him to push his Trump agenda - blaming and scapegoating immigrants and allies, indulging their own racist tendencies, and permitting the Chief Executive to lie, cheat, and plunder on live TV. The crazier and more mendacious he is, the more they love him.
If and when Tillerson speaks out, he will be cast aside by Trump Nation as a left-wing co-conspirator - a RINO - and the cycle will begin anew.
The economy may be strong, but America is in big trouble.
13
Rex might want to look to history and follow Winston's example. Churchill was a member of Prime Minister Chamberlain's Conservative party. Neither loyalty to the party nor to Chamberlain, kept him from speaking out about the looming Nazi menace and Chamberlain's flawed leadership. He paid a heavy price in both popularity and political influence within his party. Rex might want to take note of history's judgment on those two men who played such pivotal roles in the lead up to what later became WWII.
12
I doubt we will get a Profiles in Courage moment from this crowd.
12
We forget that Rex and his friends are wealthy and therefore benefit from having Trump in the White House. He suffered indignities and humiliation, but we forget that men like that get to where they do by knowing when the stay quiet.
Besides, what Republican in Congress is lacking in reasons to denounce Trump? One more isn't going to send them over the edge. We're on our own.
9
Yep ..oils ain’t oils unless Rex could remove the oil sanctions off Russia. If he had succeeded Russia,Exxon and Trump Inc. would have made billions of dollars.He failed.
Its just a myth that any of these people went to serve Trump to protect us from him. They're all greedy opportunists. Even the ones that wear uniforms.
11
I dream of the good old days when March Madness referred to basketball.
14
Wow! This much empathy for a guy who pretty much gutted the State department!!
In comparison to Traitor Trump, Rex might come across as a noble patriot. However, a noble patriot does not give up on fellow citizen who have devoted their lives towards serving the country. At best Rex came across as a person of gravitas amongst the evil assembled by Traitor Trump. That is still evil.
8
Of course, Congress is supposed to be the bulwark against inappropriate, unqualified, inexperienced and crazy cabinet appointments.
So far they are batting zero.
13
Mr. Tillerson is not a politician. He has too much class and integrity to bad-mouth his former employer.
Ipso facto, you don't get to lead one of the largest public companies on earth without being a politician. He's NOT a politician like Pope Francis is NOT a politician. It's how reality works.
We also rely on hundreds of thousands of civil servants, law enforcement, and citizens to maintain freedom of their conscience - resist an abhorrent leader.
challenge his crazy commands in court. challenge this incompetence and corruption in writing, calling and visiting your reps, your police chief, your mayor. protest in the streets. practice civil disobedience.
and for godsake, protect our neighbors. we don't want to tell our grandchildren they came for the refugees, the immigrants, the Muslims, the black people, the gay people, the high school kids, and we did nothing.
6
A good reason for Tillerson not to speak out is that he too is Putin's puppet.
13
Oh contraire mon ami, now is the time for Rex to heal and formulate his story for the history books. Write it all down and have it ready. Some day soon Trump's shenanigans will be aired out before Congress and the world's press, and then will be the time to reveal all.
3
We need a Claus von Stauffenberg to deal with this mess.
1
The Republican Congress is the key to Trump's neutralization as president. It doesn't matter whether Tillerson attacks Trump, or even if he confirms having witnessed the president in the worst possible light. So long as the Republicans continue to support the president, the country will be encumbered with a person who exemplifies the worst of the worst. McConnell and Ryan give new meaning to the phrase, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely.'
7
In the future we will analyze this period to try to understand why so many did nothing, why they acquiesced, why they were complicit. We may never know
There must be a lot of "Kompromat" out there and perhaps Trump shows his hand to each potential adversary when they meet for golf or lunch. Perhaps this runs through the NRA and their Russian funders. This is the story - we just don't know the details - yet.
17
The people Rex really has to convince are the Kochs and the Mercers. If they decide to oppose Trump's enablers in Congress, then we'd see some action. But as Trump's chaos has not hit their wallets, good luck with that. There is not a single patriot among them.
22
I'm sure those like David Brooks are quick to call your work partisan and ideological, and a testament to the 'fact' that Democrats and Republicans are all the same; we assault one another's perspectives. Unfortunately, you are right, and they are wrong. Your work is grounded in reality, so please continue.
7
The right speaks often about patriotism. Well, it's time to step up and be a patriot. Tell we the people what is really going on, with the President and his GOP enablers.
6
None will say a word, publicly, about Trump's incompetence and general unfitness for office, for now. They know what would happen: 1. total trashing by Trump; and 2. zero support from Republicans.
I think the best one can hope for is that come the 2020 election, this ever-growing band of ex-Trump appointees will join their patriotic voices and sing in harmony, especially if some republican tries to primary Trump.
3
Tillerson's "Tales of the Trump White House" are unnecessary. The problem is not that the degree of dysfunction and self-dealing is not obvious. The problem is that there is no apparent Constitutional remedy available given that the majority party has abdicated oversight responsibility, and the Cabinet is packed with Trump's venal and complicit nincompoops.
After over 200 years of Democracy we are now relying solely on a Special Prosecutor to remove an obviously incompetent and likely criminal President from office. If he can't do it there is always 2018-20!
5
I guess this writer is encouraging civil war, wishing that we tear each other apart for petty reasons. "Come on, Rex, tell us, tell us all the bad things you saw so we can run away with it and encourage Democrats to hate Republicans".
I wish this writer and others like her could instead encourage Americans to understand each other, get along and be less divided.
Maybe I'm wishing for too much and must realize the deeper issue in America today: a lack of grown-up, rational voices
4
If the situation in which we find ourselves was indeed "petty" as you assert, Michelle would not have written this column , commenters would not be agreeing with her if she had, Rex would not have been so dare I say "cagey" in his departure remarks. Let us hope that those tears were real-- and not for his own sense of loss, but for the more profound degradation of this nation. From those tears, let us hope he finds courage. Many times the "right thing" is done by someone we least expect has the capacity to do so, damn the torpedoes that might come his way.
1
If the occupant of the White House was a rational conservative we would be arguing about the issues, not that person's character or fitness to lead.
Please don't confuse the two different things that are going on here. First, the conservatives won this round. Too bad for the liberals. Better luck next time. Second, the leader of the conservatives is unstable, erratic, and possibly a nutjob with unprecedented access to power. Fix that and give us a stable conservative, and next election the Cons and Libs can duke it out over issues.
2
Correct. Goldberg is beyond the pale.
Okay, Trump is a greasy dumpster fire of an individual, worthy of all the negative adjectives the collective efforts of the NY Times comments' sections can throw at him. And the sycophants and toadies around him are in the same category. But the real question is doing something about it.
It appears, unless Mr. Mueller has something up his sleeve no one's imagined, we're going to have Le Grand Orange in the Oval Office until at least 2020. (Technically, the beginning of 2021.) The Republican enablers in Congress are not going to allow impeachment hearings.
So the course of action is obvious. This November, get those Republican enablers out of Congress. Get a Democratic majority in there that, even if it can't impeach Trump, can stand in the way of a lot of his, and his hangers-on, dismantling of our nation and its institutions.
Ensure you are registered to vote. Ensure everyone around you is registered to vote. Ensure that on Election Day, you and everyone around you goes to vote. Stand in that long line if you have to--and in a lot of voter suppression states, you'll have to--bring snacks and music, and electronic recording devices to show just what these enablers make you wait through to vote. Keep those devices handy for recording the inevitable encounters with election officials that will claim certain inconvenient people are not eligible to vote.
Short of violent uprising, people--never a good idea--this is the only option. We all know it. Now go do it.
17
Question to every voter who believed the "adults in the room" would keep Trump's worst instincts in check: why would you choose a president who needs "adults in the room" in the first place?
About burning it down... I wish everyone leaving Team Trump had to submit to an exit interview (conducted by the ghost of Mike Wallace, perhaps), in a public forum. But since that's not in the cards, I guess we hang our hopes on Robert Mueller, Omarosa and Stormy Daniels.
13
Well said. Unfortunately, these people will probably take their hundreds of millions and just go away. Stay after 'em.
Overwhelmingly people seek high level government jobs for power and glory, not for "government service". Moral spine and ethical behavior is rare to non-existent. Tillerson and his ilk will not speak out because of irrational fantasies of maintaining their quest for public power and glory. There is a huge cadre of government "leaders" that I personally would not hire and would not want for neighbors because of their chronic skill spinning and lying and looking the other way in the face of unethical and illegal behavior.
Perhaps the real patriots in the US are members of the press like Michael Wolff and many others. Any "speaking out" is going to be focused through the American media which is the only reliable watchdog over pervasive internal government graft and corruption.
5
I'm quite sure the employee exit interview - with Mueller - will help burn this dangerous sham of an administration down. Otherwise these "nobly sacrificing" individuals are the same "fine people" who knew exactly what they were getting into in hopes of enriching themselves a la trump at the nation's expense.
The economy is doing fine - artificially propped up by trillions taken from future generations and the increased reckless plundering of our environment and only planet. When the music stops, there will not be a planet future generations can afford to live, breath or drink on.
He HAS started real wars - here in the homeland - against American children's immigrant parents, immigrant youth and tearing up families - creating a massive refugee crisis of our own. A war against science, the press, and basic decency.
Kudlow "known for the consistent wrongness of his predictions" may be useful. Given trump's tendency of going against recommendations, he may consistently do the right thing for the economy. Then again, most likely not.
Which TV character will he nominate next? Perhaps he will nominate James Bond from across the pond to head the CIA. Definitely nyet - he can't tolerate the competition or incorruptible character of Bond. Besides, he is likely busy saving the world from the likes of Putin and trump.
The national crisis - it is here and now.
7
It's irrelevant whether or not Mr. Tillerson has any ongoing connection with or respect from Trump. The point is that he almost certainly doesn't have ongoing ambitions in government, unlike the career DC power players you mention. He can burn those bridges with impunity. I am not antigovernment but I am realistic about how much if DC is filled with people who want nothing more than to be at the center of American political power and will put up with anything to stay there in hopes of regaining their seats at the table.
2
Yay- awesome essay Michelle!
Keep up the great work!
1
The elections in 2020 will be too late . Trump has done a lot of damage to the Country during his first year . In 2020 this damage will be probably impossible to repair . The Republicans and the members of the Administration need to act . Otherwise it will be like the people who watch a terrible crime and are afraid to report it .
3
Many people are reporting it but nobody's able to stop it.
Trump is a huge fan of nondisclosure agreements. One has to wonder if those leaving the administration were forced to sign one.
1
Burn it down? There`s nothing of substance to burn down.Your asking someone to burn down a sound stage. Do you think the real people running our government would let someone like Donnie call the shots? He is just the distraction put in place to toot the horn of the KOAS train. With Pompeo on board all that is left is to bring Sessions under control, or dump him, to solidfy the Shadow Governments control of both the day to day and the reality stage they produce. The Kochs, the Federists, the Evangelists and the NRA are running the Federal government and close to two thirds of the states. I say it`s time to take our government back out of the shadows by booting their paid actors off the stage and closing this theater down. I can only hope that our media can get the lights and cameras turned on the Producers in the shadows and start running the real show.
4
It won't be adults in the room who save us from this miasma...it will be children. Lots and lots of aware, intelligent, motivated children. They will take their lessons out of the classrooms where they have had their innocence stolen at the end of an assault rifle, and they will apply them in every realm of responsibility where the"adults" have failed them miserably.
5
Couldn't agree more. If the likes of Tillerson really want to serve their country they need to speak out. Trump is an imminent danger to us all.
4
Maybe Ms. Goldberg doesn't write her own headlines, but this is an irresponsible one - given the fragile state of our country's collective psyche. Much of this we owe to the media's hammering and hand-wringing. Yes, I get the author's points, and I am all for Tillerson - not Trump. Writers like Goldberg tend toward emotionalism and not rationalism - it's the same strategy used to address Trump's insane antics, but to allow Obama's do-nothing approach to the world. Sure, he could attend Summits that allowed him to strut and posture, but when it came to hard stuff (Syria comes to mind), he could not show up. And media seemed okay with this.
2
While it would be nice to see Tillerson acknowledge the mess he left behind, we still have a Congress full of elected officials who have completely abandoned their sworn promise to uphold the rule of law and serve their electorate. The problem is far larger than Donald Trump, and it includes Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and the entire GOP leadership. Frankly, even the so-called "leaders" of the Democratic Party have failed to tell us the truth about how dysfunctional our government has become. This will not end well, and it is a much more extensive problem than the sociopath in the White House.
2
For those of us who view the concept of the “exalted, esteemed, responsible, ethical business titan” with a high degree of skepticism, Tillerson’s willingness to get into the litter box with this immoral grifter only reinforces our cynicism. Unless, of course, Goldberg is right and he publicly divorces himself and divulges the behavior of these miscreants. Everything she says about Tillerson and anyone in the administration applies with even more force to the lackey Republicans in Congress who sit quietly while our Rome burns.
4
Remember that *we* are still in the boat, and it is made of wood. Rex was kicked off the bridge, and back into the cargo bay with us (yes he is in the top row of the cargo bay). If he tells all now, to what end? This congress won't take any action; and the bad actors sharing the sea with us will be further emboldened to take advantage of the situation if he 'burns it down'..
To get orderly change you must vote.
3
Ms. Goldberg's problem rests in the fact that she only has the screed as a tool to get the votes that are needed for her wildly leftist view to achieve.
Ms. Goldberg seems to have a serious problem with our republican, representative from or democracy.
And, I am quite sure that she would not be comfortable with the results of a fully democratic governance when the inevitable swings of the pendulum put her on the side that the pendulum has deserted.
Politics is an exercise in compromise, and the successful are the ones that can bring about that consensus that is needed for government to be effective.
I would urge Ms. Goldberg to temper her tantrums with a realization that consensus and compromise if far more essential to good governance than the sharp lines of ideological orthodoxy.
1
Those who have have left the WH owe the rest of us a clear, concise, and perhaps bleak picture of how the work is done in the WH. These documents should be read aloud to the house and the senate and broadcast live on national television.
The people of the US deserve to know what is happening without the president's constant "fake news" narrative. Let the accounts speak for themselves and let us determine how much pressure (if any) to apply to ALL our representatives to impeach this man.
We are supposed to have a voice in our country's direction. By that I mean ALL of us are supposed to have a voice. Not just one voice that is owned by one man that doesn't give a thought to nearly 2/3 of the population's concerns.
4
This is a"reality" show posing as a government. There are no "adults" only contestants. Once the contestants have been "fired", they're forgotten anecdotes. A year from now people will say "whatever happened to Rex Tillerson, he had such nice hair". This "program" is only about the star, it's not an ensemble. No one else counts. We better cancel this show.
1
Tillerson and Trump are cut from similar cloth ideologically, although Tillerson is probably not a sociopath like Trump is. But it's not in Tillerson's interests to come clean. I doubt he's surprised he got the boot -- he's not stupid. Indeed, it was inevitable. I wouldn't be surprised if he's relieved to be freed from the nuthouse environment at the White House, so he can go back to making money.
Generally speaking, if Trump's behavior among his close associates were sufficient to ignite righteous indignation in those people, it would have happened long ago. Trump's entire reputation has been built on the dead certainty that the world is filled with individuals and institutions who can be manipulated by greed and self-interest. Trump has been enabled every step of the way, having spent his entire career skating over the facts of his bankruptcies, defaults, scams, schemes and lies. He knows how easy it is to cover his tracks with a combination of palm-greasing and threats. Read David Cay Johnston's eye-popping biography, The Making of Donald Trump, for the details on how the courts have enabled Trump for decades. The trend continues unabated in Congress and the Senate. Whatever Republican politicians may think of Trump in private, they will ride his coattails as far as they can as long as constituents continue to support him.
3
Tillerson won't speak out. His conduct has never been driven by public service but fealty to the corporation and particularly Exxon and it's share holders. His goal was to create a working relationship between Putin and Trump so that the sanctions could be lifted and Exxon could create the oil pipeline with Russia. Exxon needs taxpayer funded welfare and tRump and his congressional toadies have control over that.
When you lose a top position you don't bash the CEO publicly. After all, Tillerson doesn't want to burn any bridges behind him that could affect corporate interests.
1
The 25th amendment requires the cabinet to act against the president. trump is eliminating those who see the danger to the country. That is who he is eliminating --he is not seeking "kindred spirits".
Mueller must be getting close and trump knows what there is to find out.He must act fast.
This has been a coup from day one. The Republican Congress has been compromised by the same Russian interference and cannot vote to impeach.
Tillerson may not be weeping for himself "but for your children".
1
Surely many professional political writers would give up their day jobs to produce a tell-all tome based on information provided by Trump's cast-offs. It would not only be a huge money maker but a service to history about how a fabulous county lost its mind.
3
If Trump had his way, he would have made any and all staff and cabinet appointments conditional on the appointees' willingness to sign a nondisclosure clause when they get fired.
1
I'm not sure Tillerson knows much of anything to speak out about. He seems to have been physically isolated from Trump's menagerie on Pennsylvania Ave. and Mar-a-Lago, pursuing one agenda of how he'd remake foreign policy (unaided by professionals) in contrast to what Orangeman was saying and doing ensconced in isolation with his phone, twittering away.
I just hope that when Mueller nails Trump for obstruction of justice, he can take down Kushner, Conway and a few others as well for their traitorous actions in supporting and shielding Orangeman.
4
For a lot of my life as a news junkie, I would read stories, the gist of which was: Some populist firebrand had been elected. Surrounding that person, however, were sober-minded administrators who took side courses at Yale, Harvard or Westpoint. Maybe, it would work.
Those countries were always banana republics or similar.
It seldom worked. They ended up in one-party perpetual rule, with the possible exception of Brazil.
I always wondered, how is that these people allow this to happen?
How is this story different from all those prior ones - the ones where we said to ourselves, smugly. "It's over there. Not here. They should learn. Send them a copy of the constitution," and similar?
2