'Moron'

Asked whether he had indeed referred to Trump as a "moron," Tillerson said: "I'm not going to deal with petty stuff like that."

Ahem. Cough. Ahem.

Here's the thing: If Tillerson refused to directly deny calling Trump a "moron," you can be almost certain he did in fact call the president exactly that. Think about it: If there is a report that you said your boss was "a big dummy" and you hadn't actually said that, wouldn't you take any chance you could to correct the record? Your job might depend on it!

Tillerson's non-denial comes even as the CNN White House team is reporting that "discord between President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is at an all-time high." And, you can be sure that Tillerson's refusal to publicly acknowledge that he didn't call Trump a moron will only make things worse.

tGreenWay wrote:Setting aside the political labels for a moment:
If a president said the work of his/her SecState in trying to prevent war with a rogue nation was a "waste of time" I would expect that SoS to start with "moron" and then a few more direct expletives in response. At that point, I'd expect that Secretary to tell that president to shove it up their ass.

Back to the political: I can't believe any president other than Trump would be so moronic as to cut off his SOS's knees in such a public fashion. He's trying to prevent war and Trump wants to bomb the shit out of the DPRK.

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:Setting aside the political labels for a moment:
If a president said the work of his/her SecState in trying to prevent war with a rogue nation was a "waste of time" I would expect that SoS to start with "moron" and then a few more direct expletives in response. At that point, I'd expect that Secretary to tell that president to shove it up their ass.

Back to the political: I can't believe any president other than Trump would be so moronic as to cut off his SOS's knees in such a public fashion. He's trying to prevent war and Trump wants to bomb the shit out of the DPRK.

That fucker is always campaigning. Always. Gotta keep that base rallied with false bravado. Those idiots eat that shit up.

Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker suggested Wednesday that Gens. John Kelly and James Mattis as well Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are the "people that help separate our country from chaos," a stinging criticism of President Donald Trump from a man once considered an ally in Washington.

Asked directly by a reporter whether he was referring to Trump in using the word "chaos," Corker, who announced last month he would retire in 2018, responded: "(Mattis, Kelly and Tillerson) work very well together to make sure the policies we put forth around the world are sound and coherent. There are other people within the administration that don't. I hope they stay because they're valuable to the national security of our nation."

Stop for a second and re-read that last paragraph. The sitting Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee is suggesting that if Tillerson was removed from office (or quit), the national security of the country would potentially be in danger. And he's refusing to knock down -- and thereby affirming -- the idea that Trump is an agent of chaos who pushes policies that are not always "sound" or "coherent."

That. Is. Stunning.

Floyd Robertson wrote:I saw the Corker video earlier. You can view it as discouraging, but I see the good in it. High-ranking person in the party admits there's a problem, first step toward solving it.