Speaking of firings: Should Tillerson go next? Tillerson on Charlottesville: 'The president speaks for himself'. This strokes me as a pretty blatant slap in the face from the SoS. And how can he effectively negotiate on behalf of the U.S. when he's not on the same page as his boss?

My assumption was The President would be a very good judge of leadership and talent, and be able to hire the right people given his experience and success. I am more surprised and perhaps disappointed than concerned only because it seems to have become a distraction from the agenda. I'm certain it's not the issue the media would have us believe, but it doesn't feel like a best case scenario, either. It would be interesting to know whether this type of approach is merely SOP for Trump. After all, there was some of this in the campaign.

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Speaking of firings: Should Tillerson go next? Tillerson on Charlottesville: 'The president speaks for himself'. This strokes me as a pretty blatant slap in the face from the SoS. And how can he effectively negotiate on behalf of the U.S. when he's not on the same page as his boss?

The MSM certainly are trying to make it seem like opposition but it sure looks to me like he said he was not going to speak for the president and that what he said was pretty clear. Anyone who took the time to actually listen to Trump's speech knows he did unequivocally denounce both violence and racism.

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Originally posted by TSE:

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Speaking of firings: Should Tillerson go next? Tillerson on Charlottesville: 'The president speaks for himself'. This strokes me as a pretty blatant slap in the face from the SoS. And how can he effectively negotiate on behalf of the U.S. when he's not on the same page as his boss?

The MSM certainly are trying to make it seem like opposition but it sure looks to me like he said he was not going to speak for the president and that what he said was pretty clear. Anyone who took the time to actually listen to Trump's speech knows he did unequivocally denounce both violence and racism.

I'm a west Texan by birth and upbringing. Rex Tillerson is a north Texan. When I watch videos of him speaking, he reminds me a lot of my grandad. I don't hear any of what ensigmatic is hearing. I heard a cowboy reply. "Man spoke for himself, what are you askin' me for?" It's as flat and plain on the face as it reads.

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Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

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Originally posted by TSE:

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Speaking of firings: Should Tillerson go next? Tillerson on Charlottesville: 'The president speaks for himself'. This strokes me as a pretty blatant slap in the face from the SoS. And how can he effectively negotiate on behalf of the U.S. when he's not on the same page as his boss?

The MSM certainly are trying to make it seem like opposition but it sure looks to me like he said he was not going to speak for the president and that what he said was pretty clear. Anyone who took the time to actually listen to Trump's speech knows he did unequivocally denounce both violence and racism.

I'm a west Texan by birth and upbringing. Rex Tillerson is a north Texan. When I watch videos of him speaking, he reminds me a lot of my grandad. I don't hear any of what ensigmatic is hearing. I heard a cowboy reply. "Man spoke for himself, what are you askin' me for?" It's as flat and plain on the face as it reads.

Moreover, Tillerson is not a man who goes around slapping folks in the face. He has shown himself to be a remarkably smooth diplomat so far, not a flame thrower, but jovial, determined, serious good fellow. He doesn't speak for the President on matters that don't involve his responsibilities.

My impression when I met him two years ago was he was one of the smoothest men I had ever met, very well spoken. I didn't realize he had an accent, though.

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He doesn't speak for the President on matters that don't involve his responsibilities.

That's only smart.

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My impression when I met him two years ago was he was one of the smoothest men I had ever met, very well spoken. I didn't realize he had an accent, though.

He's good. And doing a good job. He doesn't have an accent. West Texans and South Texans have accents.... but North Texans sound like Mid-Westerners.

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Originally posted by JALLEN:
I didn't realize he had an accent, though.

However perceptible it is or is not to others, it instantly makes me miss home.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P220 Smudge,

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Originally posted by TSE:

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Speaking of firings: Should Tillerson go next? Tillerson on Charlottesville: 'The president speaks for himself'. This strokes me as a pretty blatant slap in the face from the SoS. And how can he effectively negotiate on behalf of the U.S. when he's not on the same page as his boss?

The MSM certainly are trying to make it seem like opposition but it sure looks to me like he said he was not going to speak for the president and that what he said was pretty clear.

I wonder if it's a regionalism thing, then? It wasn't the dominant "news" media that gave me that impression, but the words he used.

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Originally posted by TSE:
Anyone who took the time to actually listen to Trump's speech knows he did unequivocally denounce both violence and racism.

Indeed he did. "Problem" is: In his first statement he denounced both sides and, as we all know, the other side can't be racist or bigoted, and violence in the name of their objectives either does not exist or it's justifiable.

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Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
I'm a west Texan by birth and upbringing. Rex Tillerson is a north Texan. When I watch videos of him speaking, he reminds me a lot of my grandad. I don't hear any of what ensigmatic is hearing. I heard a cowboy reply. "Man spoke for himself, what are you askin' me for?" It's as flat and plain on the face as it reads.

Thanks for the insight. That makes much more sense.

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Originally posted by chellim1:
He doesn't have an accent. West Texans and South Texans have accents.... but North Texans sound like Mid-Westerners.

Oh, Tillerson has an accent, all right

The "Midwestern US" consists of Minnesota in the NW, Michigan in the NE, Ohio in the SE and Missouri in the SW. So-called "Midwestern standard" is what we speak, and it's what you mostly hear in TV network "news." It is regarded as the "most unaccented" American speech, though I'm sure they disagree in each of the "four corners" of the country

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Oh, Tillerson has an accent, all right

The "Midwestern US" consists of Minnesota in the NW, Michigan in the NE, Ohio in the SE and Missouri in the SW. So-called "Midwestern standard" is what we speak, and it's what you mostly hear in TV network "news." It is regarded as the "most unaccented" American speech, though I'm sure they disagree in each of the "four corners" of the country

It all depends on what you are used to.

The Kennedys had accents, but not to Bostonians, while LBJ sounded normal to the folks around here.

I realized after living in Whackyland for about 20 years that my mom sounded like Lady Bird!

You can pick out "winter Texans" the folks who visit from Minnesota and Wisconsin in 3 words.

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Originally posted by JALLEN:...
You can pick out "winter Texans" the folks who visit from Minnesota and Wisconsin in 3 words.

Ah! You betcha!

2010Challenger, I'd like an answer, please. I've seen this stuff from you before. Why are you here? You don't want to talk guns and your politics is in the toilet. Why are you here?

You can answer me, or you can just go ahead and find the door to this place.

Trump has hired some amazing people. Sometimes it takes turnover to achieve the best team. In my opinion, some people have become used to mediocre Presidents.

This President is not satisfied with mediocre. He expects dedication to Country, loyalty, and excellence. Good for him for doing his best.

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Good for him for doing his best.

It's funny how that works. People complain about the state of our nation due to how it has been run in the past. All of a sudden somebody comes along who's trying to change it for the better and people complain that he's not doing it the same way everybody else has.

I am "concerned", but only insofar as I know that the media exploits every opportunity to imply every change as "chaos" or "infighting" or "ethical disagreements".

Sometimes people leave because of real disagreements over tactics, without being real disagreements over goals, and other time people leave because they really are sick of the pressure, time constraints, etc.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
People complain about the state of our nation due to how it has been run in the past. All of a sudden somebody comes along who's trying to change it for the better and people complain that he's not doing it the same way everybody else has.

The people complaining and obstructing are the ones who like things the way they are/were. It's our turn to have things go the way we want them to be.

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The people complaining and obstructing are the ones who like things the way they are/were.

There's been plenty of that coming from both Republicans and Democrats...

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Originally posted by chellim1:

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The people complaining and obstructing are the ones who like things the way they are/were.

There's been plenty of that coming from both Republicans and Democrats...

In a generally indiscernible fashion.

I'm less concerned with the President than I am with the media and Antifa idiots. Some of the media in particular is very disturbing. CNN, NY Times and Washington Post seem to be the worst. You expect unmitigated unsubstantiated unattributed lying rumor-mill stupidity crap from Huffington Post, but Washington Post? Please. Lord help us all.

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Originally posted by jimb888:
I'm less concerned with the President than I am with the media and Antifa idiots. Some of the media in particular is very disturbing. CNN, NY Times and Washington Post seem to be the worst. You expect unmitigated unsubstantiated unattributed lying rumor-mill stupidity crap from Huffington Post, but Washington Post? Please. Lord help us all.

I am surprised that you are surprised.

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Originally posted by deepocean:

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
People complain about the state of our nation due to how it has been run in the past. All of a sudden somebody comes along who's trying to change it for the better and people complain that he's not doing it the same way everybody else has.

The people complaining and obstructing are the ones who like things the way they are/were. It's our turn to have things go the way we want them to be.

There are always a lot of croakers and malcontents, even in our most shining moments.