Rubio, Graham and McCain oppose Trump on the possible appointment of the Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil as Secretary of State, a man by the name of Rex Tillerson. Why? Rubio doesn’t want a man who is friendly with Putin. Graham is suspicious of Tillerson because he received the “order of friendship” from the Kremlin. McCain is concerned because of his “close relationship” with Putin.
For these three Republican senators, being in a position of amity and cooperation with Putin is a negative. It is a cause for concern and suspicion that the man won’t behave as these three want him to behave if he were to take office. How do they want him to behave? He shouldn’t be making deals and cooperating with Putin and Russia. He should be aiming at continuing the Cold War. He should be totally supportive of NATO. He should want more troops and missiles in Poland. He should support sanctions against Russia and Putin personally. He should stand foursquare with Ukraine and support lethal arms for their armed forces, IMF loans, and continuing to demand the re-integration of Crimea and Donbas into Ukraine. He should oppose Russia in Syria, just as Kerry does. He should support maintaining American nuclear weapons, extending them and attaining a first strike capability.
These three want to contain Russia and somehow get rid of Putin. They’d like to see him replaced by a man or woman who’d sell out Russian interests to America. They don’t want cooperation with Russia on any world problems. They want hostility, not friendship.
Why? These three senators haven’t adapted to the fall of the Soviet Union. They think that the Cold War continues or want it to. They think that the Russian Federation has anti-American aims. They know no better way of dealing with Russia than making her an enemy. They believe that the U.S. is and should be the sole superpower of the world and dominate its global discourse and direction. They want Russia to stay poor and remain weak. They think that the way forward for America and Americans is to dominate. They want empire. They have completely abandoned the idea that America and Americans made their greatest advances when they focused on this continent and avoided the entanglements with the politics of distant countries across wide oceans. They do not believe in markets as ways forward. They believe only in power politics.
Their thinking is surely even worse than this. They seem abnormally suspicious, paranoid and fearful. They seem warlike. They contemplate war, even nuclear war. They seem to have a few screws loose. They seem to hate peace. Why would they be suspicious of a man who has made oil and gas deals in Russia or with Russians? That capability and that record should be seen as an asset, not a liability. Is there something wrong with building out relationships based on initial friendly accomplishments? Why look upon this as a bad thing, as these three senators do? Their attitude is never to yield an inch on American demands, but that’s irrational. It’s possible to give up something and get something even better in return.
These three men strike me as being weak men. That is why they try to act so strong. They are afraid of looking weak if Russia makes a gain and attains one of its interests, even if American interests are advanced in the bargain. If these three were dealing from real strength and confidence, they wouldn’t be acting so negatively to this potential appointment. They are afraid to take even a small risk by making a concession, but they will foolishly brandish big sticks and bluster to make themselves and the U.S. government look strong and resolute.
3:00 pm on December 12, 2016
