PeterS

Looks like Rex knew what he was doing when he called Trump an moron...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rex-tillerson-warns-of-growing-crisis-of-integrity-and-ethics/

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson argued Wednesday that the U.S. is experiencing a "growing crisis of integrity and ethics" in his first public speech since leaving the Trump administration almost two months ago.

"When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth even on what may seem the most trivial of matters, we go wobbly on America," Tillerson told the graduating class of cadets at the Virginia Military Institute.

While he did not mention President Trump by name, Tillerson did reference an "accepting of alternate realities" and warned that the country is in danger if Americans can't agree on basic facts.

"If our leaders seek to conceal the truth and we as people become accepting of alternative realities that are no longer grounded in facts, then as an American people we are on a pathway to relinquishing our freedom," Tillerson said.

Tillerson emphasized that what makes America different from Iran, China, Russia and other adversaries is its commitment to fact-based truths. And he expects doomsday if the U.S. starts accepting alternate realities not based on a set of facts.

"If we do not as Americans confront the crisis of ethics and integrity in our society and among our leaders in both private and public sector, and regrettably at times even the nonprofit sector, then American democracy as we know it is entering its twilight years," Tillerson said.

Tillerson always emphasized the importance of following a moral compass and maintaining personal integrity when he gave remarks to employees at the State Department. He pressed that sentiment in his short departing remarks.

"Never lose sight of your most valuable asset, the most valuable asset you possess: your personal integrity," he said before leaving the department and heading home to Texas in March. "This can be a very mean-spirited town. But you don't have to choose to participate in that."

woodguru

I've seen both transparency in government and truth in media to be key issues since Bush was in office. Obama during the campaign authored the transparency act, which I thought at the time was perhaps one of the most important things necessary to good government. It actually was recognized as a serious piece of legislation, and it outraged McCain that he would do such a good thing during an election campaign. Obama, as this was being crafted allowed McCain to be a coauthor.

It doesn't get much attention, at least not nearly as much as it should, but a government that does things in a way designed to be able to keep people from seeing what they are doing while it's being done gets harder and harder to stop their abuses.

Obama went into office in an era of a new level of transparency than we'd seen for a long time. I recognized that we were going to be seeing things about the way government was doing things that we had not been able to see at all previously. That this was going to create an awareness that people were going to be jumping on that they hadn't even known about before.

Trump brings a degree of operating in secrecy into the white house that to me is appalling, he is shredding the transparencies that Obama was trying to make part of the institution. Visitor sign in logs, so that we know who meets with the president. Meetings with foreign dignitaries that always have multiple people involved so that a president has no opportunity to talk about personal side deals and shifts in policy. Trump wants all the things that are toxic to being the top public servant. Even the president works for us, the people.

The right elects this president and seems to agree that he is an absolute authority that doesn't have to answer to the law of the land or the people.

Tillerson has just a bit too much personal policy integrity to go along with stupid shit, and Trump doesn't tolerate anyone who dares to defy his wishes...

...that said, I was not comfortable with Tillerson having an agenda to push the Exxon oil deal through, giving Putin these kinds of monetary and revenue resources is absolutely not a good thing.

bylm1-Bernie

Do I understand you to be saying that the Obama administration was a transparent one? I do remember his saying that his administration would be transparent, such as carrying important meetings and events on CSPAN, etc. I also recall that virtually none of his promises in this regard actually were materialized. I guess I must have been sleeping for the past 8 years.

Bad Bob Loc: Virginia

woodguru

Things came out that would not have been seen at all in past administrations. Policies such as visitor sign in sheets, 100% chaperoned meetings with foreign heads of state, well monitored staff meetings, these things force a president to operate in a different zone than the one that operates in zones of hidden agendas where the public has a right to know.

Are you aware that Obama always had someone listening to phone calls with Putin? How many times in eight years did Obama find it necessary to talk face to face with Putin? There is nothing that needs to be said between Putin and Trump that can't be heard by witnesses, and done on official correspondence lines. Private meetings with Putin and Trump are only necessary because things are being talked about that are not okay.

Bug58

I had to laugh when I read this article the other day.

Implying these issues are 'just beginning' to be a problem in DC because of Trump, these things have been an issue up there for many years, and those who have paid attention have known this for years. The truth is, Trump's admin is shining a very bright light on just how bad things are up there, and people are just now seeing it for the first time (they have been sleeping).

Even here we see him calling out the lies from the Media elite and those who claimed to have had inside information about what was going on: Showing even then there was 'an integrity and ethics' problem in DC.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tillerson-takes-critics-no-hollowing-194554828.html

Then of course there is this ethics and integrity problem--again has nothing to do w/ the Trump Admin, but those who have been there for many years..


https://townhall.com/columnists/pauldriessen/2018/05/19/real-russian-collusion-the-dems-and-msm-ignore-n2482221?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

So, while the media prefers to 'imply' the issue is Trump or those in his admin, they fail to look at the reality of the situation, and where the deeper issues have been for many years.

Big Kahuna

The most opaque and corrupt administration in my lifetime is and was hands down the Ovommit administration. The 8 years were full of hidden college records, hidden social security numbers, hidden birth certificate info, hidden marriage and pregnancy pictures, hidden sermons of reverend wright, hidden info on ovommits maijuana years, hidden info on his muslim upbringing, hidden info on his hatred for capitalism and everything western, his hidden hatred for traditional Christianity, his Jewish hatred, the hidden pic of him toasting the islamic brotherhood, his hiding his whereabouts during the Benghazi fiasco, his hiding the fact that he knew about hitlary's illegal email server and lying about it, his hiding of how bad ovommit care was going to be for the American people, his hiding his past dating history, his hiding of his gay bathhouse visits, his lying about race relations, and his lying about not lying, and this was mostly done in the 1st couple years of his tedious unbearable 8 year term.