Don, Rex and Vlad

Democrats and liberal activists and the New York Times and the Washington Post are all going crazy – absolutely crazy – these days. They just can’t accept the fact that Donald Trump won the election —  and because he did – he gets to appoint people to serve him in his cabinet.

Democrats and liberal activists and the Times and the Post just hate that. And they hate virtually every single man and woman Trump has nominated. They’re either too rich. Or too military. Or too tall. Or too short. You get the idea. Well, here’s my idea. Trump won. He gets to choose the people he trusts to help him govern. Yes, elections have consequences, and the Democrats and liberals and the Times and the Post lost.

But there is one appointment that needs to be looked at closer than the others. That’s Trump’s nomination of Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State. Tillerson runs ExxonMobil – and no doubt he is an excellent businessman. Trouble is – he has close ties to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.  Tillerson has cut so many deals with Putin over the years that Putin awarded him Russia’s Order of Friendship.

So given that American intelligence agencies believe Russian agents meddled in our presidential election – apparently to try to harm Hillary Clinton – and given that Trump doesn’t want to accept that – what does it say now when Trump nominates a man who has such close ties to Putin? Is this  “payback” to Putin for something?  Does Trump secretly believe Putin did intervene on his behalf in the election — and Tillerson’s appointment is Trump’s way of saying “thank you”?

Is this Trump’s signal to Putin that he and the Russian strongman can get along and make deals?  If so, what kind of deals?  Would Trump like Putin to take the lead in the fight against ISIS in the Middle East?  If that’s the case — Putin likely would go along, but he’d demand something in return — say, a free hand to extend Russia’s influence in that region, or in Eastern Europe.  After all, Putin’s vision is to restore Russia’s glory — and he wants and needs land to do that.

I don’t know the answers, but we should all care, because the future of our nation demands it.   Senators who must confirm Tillerson had better ask him some very tough questions and not just rubber-stamp this most-important of all Trump appointments. Because if Tillerson becomes Secretary of State – we’d better all be sure he — and Trump — are not going to become Putin’s patsies.