Businessmen can be leaders too -- and make money at it!

Submitted by Michael S, Jan 10, 2017 at 10:50

HI, Tovey. It's very good to see you again. You said, among other things,

"From the get-go, Tillerson is an enigma to any who do not realize that any level of inexperience he has in Washington style politics is more than compensated for by his knowledge of the war fought behind the scenes, the economic one that is shielded by those who control the world's money. Tillerson may not have a working knowledge of how much uranium is necessary to be spun in order to get sufficient material to tip a warhead; but one can guess he has insider's knowledge on to fund such a project. That requires negotiating skills, something (soon to be former) Sec of State Kerry does not have."

Business Insider says,

"The foundation for Tillerson's knowledge of foreign diplomacy is thought to be his extensive experience traveling across the the world for Exxon, which has operations in more than 50 countries, according to the Wall Street Journal. Already, his dealmaking history has begun to draw criticism — through his work at Exxon, Tillerson has cultivated longstanding ties to the Russian government that date back to the 1990s. Tillerson has struck several major deals with the Russian state-run corporation Rosneft and has a personal relationship with Russia's president Vladimir Putin, who in 2013 awarded him the country's Order of Friendship."

-- http://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-rex-tillerson-trump-may-pick-exxonmobil-ceo-for-secretary-of-state-2016-12

Tillerson appears to be a man of IMMENSE experience in dealing with foreign leaders, both business leaders and political leaders. Like Donald Trump, he gained his experience by working in business -- a field where, if you make a mistake, you pay through the nose. Professional politicians, on the other hand, deny everything and lett the taxpayers pay for their mistakes.

I do not consider these people "amateurs", just because they got practical degrees from less-than-Harvard-scale colleges. The tiff between the two classes goes way back to the days of the founding of the U of Penn (where Donald Trump got a Business degree, and where Harvard-graduated Daniel Pipes teaches). Harvard and Yale were founded as ministerial training schools, with a strong emphasis on Greek and Latin. Benjamin Franklin, who was instrumental in the establishment of what was to become the U of Penn, was more concerned with practical skills such as writing and science, and less concerned with the classics. The two competing philosophies seem to have been behind much of the snubbing of businessmen like Trump and Tillerson, by Harvard and Yale elitists such as Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush.

Concerning Cuba, it wins the prize as the American continent's most pathetic statelet, perhaps second to Haiti-- where people drive repeatedly refurbished 1956 Chevrolets not because they love American products, but because they can't afford anything else. I don't think a man should be faulted as "amateurish", for knowing more about Russia than about Cuba.

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