Pro-Iran-Deal Tillerson Fired; Iran Hardliner Mike Pompeo to Lead State; CIA Careerist Gina Haspel Promoted to Head of CIA
Tillerson Aide Who Contradicted WH Timeline on Firing, Fired

Pompeo has already been approved for a Cabinet-level job (head of the CIA) by the Senate so he needs no additional confirmation to take over as Secretary of State.

As to his replacement: The left doesn't like her because she ran "black site" prisons. On the other hand, the right might not like her because John Brennan does:

People I know are very skeptical of her because they believe she's "swampy" and will put the status quo of the CIA over the urgent need for its reform. In fact, they're hoping the left succeeds in blocking her confirmation over the black-sites matter so we get someone better.

The White House put out a timeline of the firing, stating that John Kelly had informed Tillerson of his firing on Friday. But a Tillerson aide disputed that account, saying today's firing came as a surprise and that Tillerson expected to continue on as SecState.

That aide has now been fired. What's going on there, I couldn't tell you, as I have no endlessly-mutable conspiracy theory by which to explain all happenings.

The NeverTrumpers and their leftist allies in the media, who previously claimed that Tillerson's appointment as Secretary of State was a favor to Putin (because he had contacts with Russia due to his running a major oil producer, Exxon), are now claiming, without any acknowledgment of their previous conspiracy theories, that the firing of Tillerson is a favor to Putin.

Because, you see, the other day, Tillerson said that Russia had "likely" attempted an assassination-by-poison of a Soviet defector in London.

The conspiracy theorists just keep insinuating without laying out what they actually believe about this conspiracy theory. No acknowledgement that the previous conspiracy theory, that Tillerson was actually selected to please Putin, was in error and is no longer in operation.

All this occurs after the House Intelligence Committee announced it had found no evidence of collusion. So the NeverTrumpers just start dreaming up new evidence:

By the way, let's be clear about this: If the NeverTrumper conspiracy theorists are still claiming (or insinuating -- they're too cowardly to flat-out state their beliefs, choosing to mask them as "interesting" questions) that there was collusion with Russia, they are also necessarily saying that the House Intelligence Committee Republicans (and, by extension, all House Republicans) are in on the conspiracy and part of the cover-up.

This is of course the mark of a conspiracy theory: When one proffer of evidence is disproven, you simply invent a new proffer of evidence to replace it. The evidence shifts day-to-day and moment-to-moment, but the conclusion remains ever fixed and immutable like Magnetic North.

And of course: Anyone who investigates the conspiracy and finds that there is no evidence of a conspiracy, is of course therefore now branded a member of the conspiracy.

Happened with the JFK assassination too, of course: When the FBI and Warren Commission both announced they'd found no conspiracy, the FBI and Warren Commission were almost immediately named as members of the conspiracy.

Oh: Bill trolling us with threats that he will amuse us all with the hilarious comic cavalcade of running for president:

posted by Ace at 12:43 PM

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