The Trump administration continues to horrify the nation as many already predicted Donald Trump would, if he became president. And when he did... the growing list of failures this administration has produced only confirms us of the downward spiral America is on. The most recent failure is the administration's inability to promote American values to the rest of the world.
Putting out Liberty's torch
Opinion | John McCain: Why we must support human rights https://t.co/fRYaUCG0JG pic.twitter.com/uVt8B4NNfo
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 8, 2017
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed this fact in a recent statement he gave to State Department employees which inspired Sen.
John McCain to write an op-ed for the New York Times about how Tillerson has dimmed -- if not turned off entirely -- the light from America's beacon that's supposed to shine all over the world.
What Tillerson essentially showed the world was that the State Department as a body whose responsibility is to keep that beacon lit, no longer functions as it should under this administration. Rex Tillerson seemed to make this clear when he said that America's foreign policy is conditioned "too heavily" on values. Here is a segment which breaks down the statement and what Trump and Tillerson intend to do with the State Department.
He said that these values had become obstacles which will only prevent their administration from advancing America's national interests.
In fact, John McCain could have written his op-ed a few months ago when Tillerson had his first full interview with the Independent Journal Review where he essentially said the same thing.
Trump and Tillerson prepare to cripple State Department
Blasting News provided some analysis of that interview and opines that next to President Trump, Tillerson showed that he was just as dangerous to the State Department when he said that the problem the department has had was with making too many public statements.
This would explain why they haven't been consistent with their press briefings as they apparently don't seem to want to keep a consistent message on what the administration's agenda is or remind the world of American values.
Tillerson was on Meet The Press on Sunday where he responded to John McCain's criticism, presenting a view that's no different from what he showed during his confirmation hearing in January.
Rex Tillerson went back and forth with Sen. Marco Rubio during his hearing who questioned why -- even when members of Congress told him so -- Rex Tillerson would not take them at their word that Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his opponents killed.
Tillerson only listens to Tillerson
Rubio pointed to various reports that even went back decades which he used to make his case to Tillerson, in order for him to accept that Vladimir Putin was a thug and a killer, which Tillerson would not accept, saying that he would need to see the evidence first.
Again, the panel seemed to have to reiterate that their reports were credible but Tillerson would not accept this. The Trump cabinet pick would have the last word after Marco Rubio told him that Putin's opponents were dead, which he hoped would have been enough to convince Tillerson who responded that even if this were true, he would not connect their deaths to Putin as the cause.
The Secretary of State's response to McCain's criticism on Meet The Press was that he respected the Senator but that touting American values would only be appropriate in certain but not in every situation when dealing with foreign policy. This shows that he simply cannot be convinced to keep America's beacon on as the Secretary of State. Here is his full Meet The Press interview.
