Tillerson Lobs A Shell Across Trump's Bow

(This caricature of Rex Tillerson is by DonkeyHotey.)

I thought Rex Tillerson was a terrible Secretary of State, and I've seldom agreed with him on anything. He is one of those corporate types that think a corporations bottom line is more important that saving the environment or the planet.

But as they say -- even a broken clock is right twice a day. And Tillerson should be given credit for a moment of truth-telling. I don't know if he did it just to get back at Donald Trump (for ousting him as Secretary of State) or if he just had a moment of intellectual clarity, but he hit the nail on its head when speaking to the graduating class at the Virginia Military Institute.

Here is just a bit of what he said:

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

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

"We do not have to look far to find examples of the cost to individuals and to society when integrity is sacrificed for immediate gain or personal achievement."

"Such damage strikes at the very heart of a free society. It undermines the public trust in institutions and the overwhelming number of individuals, organizations who do live and compete by the rules every day."