Tillerson shills for Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar

President Trump has thus far talked a good game about radical Islamic terrorism, but he has yet to designate the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization as he was expected to do.

The designation falls under the job description of the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. But Tillerson has chosen the MB and its backers in Qatar and Turkey over their Arab rivals. In fact, Tillerson has only negative things to say about the idea of designating them a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Tillerson's main talking point is that the MB's political parties have representatives in governments in Turkey and Bahrain, which is irrelevant. Bahrain has banned the Brotherhood and the U.S. would not deal with Lebanon since it has Hezbollah in it, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The Secretary of State also spouted the same "non-violent" and "moderate" Brotherhood propaganda and claimed the Brotherhood's political parties in governments "have become so by renouncing violence and terrorism."

That's bull crap and it was bull crap when Obama said it. 

Now that Trump is in office and has said all the politically incorrect things one can say about Islamic terrorism, you would think his Secretary of State would be honest too, but perhaps Trump didn't quite know what he was getting with Tillerson. 

The disappointment in Tillerson's position is exacerbated by the fact that now is an opportune time to designate the MB as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. 

Again, Trump said he would but he hasn't. 

The Arab world is pressuring Qatar over its support of the MB and other jihadists. Those Arabs wonder where we stand since our president and our Secretary of State are on opposite sides of the fence on this issue.

Patrick Poole, a counter-terrorism expert, asserts that Tillerson is "sabotaging" Trump's foreign policy. Poole would like to see Tillerson do a "Priebus" and don't let the door hit him on his way out.

Here we have Trump expressing his support for those Arab nations taking measures against Qatar and unequivocally describing them as a major terrorism funder. Tillerson describes Qatar as "very reasonable" in his reaction to Arab pressure.

Tillerson was formerly the CEO of ExxonMobil, a company that is also a member of the U.S.-Turkish Business Council. The chairman is Ekin Alptekin, the same businessman who's at the center of controversy regarding former National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn.  

Alptekin's company contracted with Flynn for $600,000 to promote Erdogan government's interests. Flynn's firm registered as a lobbyist but didn't register as a foreign agent--that was the problem that got Flynn in trouble and fired from the Trump administration and replaced by General H.R. McMaster.

There's no proof of direct dealings between Tillerson and Alptekin, but ExxonMobil's involvement in the U.S.-Turkish Business Council is a good indication how Tillerson's previous relationship with Turkey's government may influence his behavior.

While Erdogan had few defenders, he certainly had one in Tillerson.

At the beginning of July, Tillerson went to Istanbul to receive an award from the World Petroleum Congress where he openly praised those who defended Erdogan against a coup attempt last year. He even went so far as to describe the Islamist theocratic dictatorship as a democracy. 

He said:

"Nearly a year ago, the Turkish people--brave men and women--stood up against coup plotters and defended their democracy. I take this moment to recognize their courage and honor the victims of the events of July 15, 2016. It was on that day that the Turkish people exercised their rights under the Turkish constitution, defended their place in a prosperous Turkey, and we remember those who were injured or died in that event."

Although Tillerson condemned the Turkish security personnel who violently attacked protesters in Washington D.C. in May, something any public official would do, when it comes to difficult issues, Tillerson sides with Turkey and Qatar, contradicting President Trump, who selected him for Secretary of State.

Even when it comes to the Kurds, our closest allies in fighting Islamic State, Tillerson's State Department sided with Turkey in criticizing the Iraqi Kurds' referendum on independent statehood, implying his opposition to Kurdish independence.

Trump was elected for change, but Tillerson is not the man for the job. Nothing has changed and maybe it's worse.


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Trump's Cabinet picks will be questioned by both parties

Monday will be President Donald Trump's first regular workday on the job. His Cabinet picks will be questioned by the Senate at the confirmation hearings. 

Trump's pick for CIA Director, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas) will be grilled for the top spook position. He has already been asked by the Democrats about his opinions regarding global warming because Democrats think the fires set by ISIS to kill Jordanian pilots were actually caused by climate change.

Both parties have strong differences about the future of Trump's over 20 nominees. Top Democrats have decided to slow down the process of picking Pompeo for CIA Director. They worry that in spite of his graduating first in his class at West Point, he may not have a good grasp on LBGTQEXIK issues and abortion. 

Worse, he might also be a racist due to his party affiliation.

So the party that brought us the Vietnam War but protested it when Nixon became president is now gumming up the works in spite of the swift conformations Obama was granted by the GOP his first day in office. The top Democrats postponed Pompeo's vote because they wouldn't rush through the process of confirmation because they tend to need more time to suck enough.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck "Nostrils" Schumer told CNN's "State of the Union" that several of Trump's remaining nominees will be subject to a "thorough debate." And Schumer, as we all know, is a master debater, but he said he was "dubious" about eight or nine of Trump's picks.

So far, the Senate has confirmed Gens. James Mattis (aka "The Monk") as SecDef, and John Kelly as Homeland Security Secretary. But with all his bluster and nostril flaring, there is little Schumer can do about blocking a confirmation if the Republicans stick together. And we can all thank Harry Reid (aka "Hairy Weed") for that. 

A simple majority of 51 will do just fine and the GOP has a 52 to 48 majority in the Senate thanks to Obama's policies.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appears confident about being able to get enough votes to have all of President Trump's nominees confirmed. (What goes around, comes around, Hairy.)

Even former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson's chances becoming Secretary of State has improved when two influential GOPers expressed support after having waivered over his past professional ties to Russia.

"Though we still have concerns about his past dealing with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests," Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham said in a joint statement.

Along with McCain and Graham, fellow GOPer Sen. Marco Rubio questioned whether Tillerson has too many conflicts of interest, especially with Russia to champion U.S. policy abroad. 

For example, while at ExxonMobil, Tillerson spoke out against the sanctions we levied on Moscow when they annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. The penalties cost ExxonMobil hundreds of millions of dollars.

So Monday should prove to be an interesting day in terms of how the Democrats handle the confirmation hearing. By gumming up the gears they risk losing whatever support they have among somewhat normal independents.

Let's just see.


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