Musings on the Confirmation HEARings

Why HEARings?  The idea comes from my lovely wife, who is much more brilliant and witty than I (and a whole lot easier on the eyes).  She believes they're called "hearings" because the sole purpose is for the Senators asking the questions to be heard, to toss out sound bites that can be used to further their own political careers.

I wonder why we don't just give them five minutes each to pontificate, and approve all the nominees by acclamation.

My musings based on what I've heard thus far:

·         I'd rather have Jeff Sessions, Rex Tillerson, Gen. Mattis, Mike Pompeo, and Dr. Carson in their respective roles than any of the people lobbing questions at them.

·         On Rex Tillerson: why not a business executive as Secretary of State?  Speaking from experience, as a CEO you have to excel at diplomacy and negotiation - and Tillerson was CEO of a far larger organization than I was, with global reach, nearly 10,000 employees, a more knowledgeable board of directors, and more assets and income to manage.  He's had to make deals with heads of state, from both friendly nations like Canada and hostile ones like Russia.

·         I had to laugh when ranking member Ben Cardin tried to school Tillerson on what he'd face as Secretary of State: being in charge of a very large organization with some of the most talented employees in their field.  Yeah, I think he's got that role knocked, Senator.  Exxon Mobil has a few pretty smart engineers in its employ, and about three times the State Department's workforce.

·         When Tillerson was asked about his views on sanctions when he was at Exxon Mobil vs. now, I thought his answer was very good: appropriate sanctions, properly targeted and broadly supported by allies, can be effective.  His opposition was to the weak and one-sided sanctions that have been deployed over the past eight years, that served to harm U.S. business interests while benefitting the target nations.  But if I were him, I'd have simply pointed out that my views as head of one organization, with one set of priorities, might differ from my views as head of another with a very different set of priorities.  What, do they think that if he'd left Exxon Mobil to go to British Petroleum he'd continue to serve the interests of Exxon Mobil?

·         I had to cringe when Marco Rubio (who's apparently forgotten that he's not campaigning anymore - or maybe he is) tried to get Tillerson to label Putin a war criminal.  When Tillerson said he'd have to see the evidence, Marco basically said it can be found in news reports.  Yeah, Marco, that's a really good idea: an incoming administration labeling a foreign head of state a war criminal based on what the media says.  (For the record, he probably is, but if I were the Secretary of State nominee, I'd want to see the evidence - in the form of credible intel - before I applied the label.  Isn't diplomacy part of the job?)  If that's Marco's tack, thank goodness he lost the primary.

·         Cory Booker became the first sitting Senator to testify against another sitting Senator - Sessions - in a confirmation hearing.  We know this, because before deciding to testify, Booker's office researched the Senate records to make sure he was.  While his testimony was largely benign, only implicitly accusing the guy who desegregated schools in Alabama and bankrupted the KKK there of being a racist, it was clearly political opportunism.  Booker might as well have just announced his candidacy for President in 2020.

·         Mattis will be one hell of a Defense Secretary.  We want him on that wall, we need him on that wall.

·         Pompeo is a smart dude, and will bring a sense of humor and humility to a tough job.

·         Ben Carson at HUD is a head-scratcher to some, but smart people can figure out how to run divergent organizations.  Probably better than politicians can.

·         How can all those deranged nutbags get into a room where a bunch of our elected leaders are sitting (I mean the protestors, not the Senators)?  Was there some Democrat aide in the back of the room opening the door at opportune times?  I'm glad none of them was wearing a Semtex vest.  Sheesh, just close the hearings to everyone but the cameramen, for crying out loud.