The headline here is pretty dishonest. It says in the article the "reason for Tillerson’s insult isn’t clear." In fact, I doubt that's why he called Trump a moron. Trump is actually making a decent point with that anecdote, especially for him, to get more input from rank and file forces on the ground, rather than relying exclusively on the word of the elite generals.

I heard a much more plausible theory, at least on the face, that Tillerson called Trump a moron over his unhinged speech to the Boy Scouts. Remember Tillerson was an scout, and headed the Boy Scouts of America for many years before taking on his Secretariship.

Well ****.

Two days ago, Mattis said literally the exact opposite thing.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/03/politi...ity/index.html

when you remember that Trump knows more than the generals, it makes a lot more sense

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) being much more honest now that he's decided not to run in 2018

From an interview:

Deficit spending puts downward pressure on interest rates.
Treasury securities, as they relate to deficit spending, are sold in order to maintain a positive overnight lending rate.

It is not strictly to finance the government because the Treasury is able to finance itself in multiple other ways e.g.:
Modern Money Theory and Interrelations between the Treasury and the Central Bank
more on the same subject:
Can Taxes and Bonds Finance Government Spending?
Deficit spending 101 – Part 3

The classic idea of the relationship between the deficit and exports is that as the deficit rises, money that non-residents would have used for imports is instead used to buy debt instruments. There is probably some truth to this, but very unrealistic imo to expect a 1:1 correlation at all times between a marginal increase in the deficit and change in foreign holdings; if I’m right, excess government spending will tend to be soaked up in part by the private sector:

source

'The dollar has value because you can buy things with it' etc. begs the question.

If the US government switched to using bitcoin, and accepted bitcoin for taxes, the value of the dollar would drop precipitously. People do use the dollar to buy things, and to store value, but the reason a dollar is viewed as something more than just a piece of paper is fundamentally due to the government using and demanding it.
The Real Reason the U.S. Dollar Has Value.

why start one war when you can start two wars?

He's probably just undoing the iran deal simply because obama did it and everything obama did I must do the opposite. As a bonus, he gets to setup a pretense for war with iran. (going to war, controlling oil AND killing a bunch of people that believe in islam, the ultimate republican wet dream)

I really don't want to see what chaos is if we aren't in it yet...

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...tnyt&smtyp=cur

Lol Wyoming

How do they even get to be a state?

With you? Probably nothing.

I feel like Noodle's view is essentially being CEO of Exxon has zero correlation to competency generally or as a leader, any random would be just as good as any CEO, etc.

More specifically I think he's saying Tillerson is a bumbling moron in a general sense which I think is likely inaccurate.

If he is not saying these things then I am arguing with myself. So far he hasn't corrected my interpretation of his view.

Note: I grunched this so I may be pwning myself.

Trump's action on Iran really is just tossing a grenade into the room for no reason at all. I don't think there's any way the other signatories to the deal (UK, France, China, Russia, Germany) will come out in proper support of his action, and apart from the UK I can't really see any of them even pushing for re-negotiation - which is supposedly the consequence of not re-certifying it - to try and give the move slight legitimacy. Obviously Trump isn't up for that either, and Iran certainly isn't, so it would be a pointless gesture anyway.

If congress doesn't reimpose sanctions then I can't see why Iran would care too much. I'm sure their rhetoric would be spicy, but enough people in power there seem to believe it's a worthwhile deal, so they can probably let it limp along. If congress does reimpose sanctions, I haven't a clue. Again presumably none of the other countries would (with the UK wildcard if May is still bumbling about), but I imagine even just the US doing it would be enough to seriously piss off the Iranians.

The best plan you can puzzle out is to further alienate the US from countries you would traditionally think of as its allies, and destablise the current Iranian regime towards more hardline people who hate the deal simply because it's with the US and the West. That all seems to help the insane "more war, less talk" foreign policy that occasionally seems might be the Trump regime's bag, but who can say. I suspect even that is probably too much thought to suppose is behind it. That will all probably happen as a result though, at the very least.

I think there's too little information regarding the transferability of CEO skills as SOS. I could think of a number of reasons why that would be desirable. I can think of just as many why it could be a negative [e.g., bad habits gained trying to maximize revenue, set in ways based on past "success," thinks he knows more than he does, hard to learn new tricks, used to "commanding" when diplomacy often requires understanding nuance, etc.]

One super duper red flag for me is Tillerson's "reform" effort. The Dept. of State is a 230-year-old institution that conducts diplomacy for the most powerful nation in the world. There are probably reasons most things are set up and done the way they are. Sure, you can come in and reorganize and shake things up, but I think you would want to understand 1) how the Dept. is actually organized and 2) how specific forms of reorganization could promote the goals of the Dept.

From what I can tell, Tillerson started reorganization on day 1, before he knew anything. That says to me that he is not overly concerned about understanding the consequences of his actions before engaging in them. Something like Trump, just without the rank stupidity.

The best interpretation of this Iran thing--understanding that the best interpretation is generally wrong with all things Trump--is that Congress, as usual **** the bed by requiring certification every 3 months to tweak HRC for political gain, and they will do away with that requirement so Trump doesn't appear to be the cuck that he is by recertifying every 3 months. This assumes that Congress acts like an adult, which is not even money. If they don't recertify, then the other countries will stay in and everything will be the same, except the US will look like its word cannot be trusted. Similar to leaving the Paris climate accord, all the downside with none of the upside.

As far as this and NK diplomacy being a "strategy" by Trump. I think, in his mind, it probably is. However, he's not negotiating over marble countertops. You don't need to bluff. When you are the most powerful nation in the world, it's important that your statements are true, your actions are predictable, and your word is good.

Trump is used to being a bottom feeding conman, and that's how he approaches everything. He has no understanding of how to act when you have real power.

John Kelly's personal cell phone was compromised, White House believes

hadnt been working for months, finally decided to have it checked out

the best people

https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephberns...bW5#.rcV0BV4xy

Amazing Buzzfeed article on how Breitbart, Bannon and Milo courted white nationalists.

do they still do espionage anymore? i gotta figure anyone can get any information they want just by paying trump's family for it

Yup. A must read.

Dude is off his rocker. He commands the military. This is real life. Firing Muller?

Probably tearing up the Iran deal.

He started talking about the "great military" after that; he's gonna bomb the Nigers

Relative to the rest of the clown car.

You can't even follow your own dumb**** conversation.

You're such a godawful ****ty poster you're forcing people to actually defend Sexy Rexy Tillerson because the alternative is drooling derp.