"Tillerson claimed the decision not to allow more reporters had to do with a desire to save money, saying the plane “flies faster, allows me to be more efficient” with fewer people on it."

Uh, sure Rex. Sure.

Read this earlier and not quite sure where that came from. Was it a Tillerson staff directed thing, or something the diplomat corps came up with on their own?

I was an audit team of Exxon Mobil for a brief period as an intern. That company was among the more bizarre companies I ever visited in my whole career. This was back in 2001, so Tillerson wasn't CEO at that point, but really high up. Basically you had to go through three tiers of security much more secure than airports at the time (pre-911 by a couple months). The first floor was a maze of blast resistant security glass. You submitted all your materials through x-ray and walked through metal detectors. Additional security was required to get beyond the main visitor area. No x-rays but metal detectors. Then blast resistant doors required RFID, a newish technology at that point.

But the weirdness didn't stop there. I was told to not discuss any controversial audit issues outside a sterile room. That PWC had arranged. Rumor was the whole building was bugged. Prior to arriving, I was told not to go faster than 17 mph on the 15 mph campus as I would get stopped and asked why I was there. My employer would then be notified of my speeding. A very controlling company. So it wouldn't surprise me if this is a tillerson staff directed requirement, but seems bizarre to introduce to a new entity where you are seen as a temporary placeholder.

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"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden

Holy crap that sounds like a wonderful place to work.

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Don't hold back

This seemingly endless parade of key government appointees that are weird, incompetent, paranoid and dishonest and would be comical if this was a TV political satire, but given that this is real life it's frighting. There is a real danger of this administration destroying the precarious position the USA holds as a world leader and with it the Pax Americana that has been in place since for the last 60 years.

Is it that the President is such a dolt that he genuinely thinks these are the best people America has to offer for the job? Is it someone whispering in Trump's ear telling him to do it? Or is Trump seen as so toxic that most of the good candidates he's informally approached have turned him down?

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Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's

Is his Secret Service codename "Medusa"?

Hahaha

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Don't hold back

There are all sorts of weird CEO stories. Some folks at Costco that I know told me when the CEO of AMEX came to their HQ to discuss the decision on whether to drop AMEX an advance team came to look at where he would have to walk to get to the conference, what the chair was like, where he would sit, etc. I've also heard of the Samsung CEO team ensuring when he is out and about that he does not encounter a non Samsung phone.

Being a CEO of a fortune 100 let alone the top 10 is a huge amount of power. Perhaps more than most countries. And unlike elected officials, they lord over people who have no say on whether they maintain their position. I'm sure the transition can weird.

Look at Jack Welch? Most CEOs fade into obscurity after they retire, but he has been openly critical of companies that didn't do things the Jack Welch way, and even critical of his successor.

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"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden

You're asking iO4 for logic or facts? LOL!!!

I had an email exchange with the CEO of AT&T about an issue he was having that was golf related. Down to earth guy. I waited in line behind Bill Gates to see U-571 years ago. No security, paid cash. He was with a friend.

Come on Old Chicory, don't come unhinged on me. Try not to be a snowflake. Let's find a way to blame Obama and put this behind us.

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Don't hold back

I heard Nick Saban has the same rule. No eye contact when you pass him in the hall.

Total douchebag move...

I heard you weren't supposed to look at his neck...

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

From a compartmentalization aspect, it makes sense. I know a guy who works in the State Dept security details. There is definitely a culture that views most SoSs as outsiders. Political appointees who don't know shit about anything. Therefore the culture tends to work on autopilot at upper management direction with upper management playing the politics and in some cases actively shielding the status quo from any sort of changes.

My guess is if this is from Tillerson himself, it is because he intends to fire even more people or allow drastic cuts by not fighting for them. The guy I know has been actively against this on facebook. So that is a fear. I think he is stupid for posting such, but he is doing it in bureaucrat speak. Where as he isn't coming out and saying he thinks tillerson is a POS, but pointing out that tillerson doesn't seem to understand the group he is in charge of.

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"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden