Pompeo Pomposity

   Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. Or who has a broadcast license. And especially someone who is a news anchor for NPR and has degrees from Harvard and the University of Cambridge and who worked for the BBC before returning to America.
   All these cautionary mottos were ignored by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as he stormed out of an interview with Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR's program "All Things Considered." And because he did not like the questions, he salted his abuse of Kelly with obscenities, according to numerous reports. After he left, aides wanted to take her recording of the interview.
   NPR has a solid, well deserved reputation for neutral, objective reporting of the news, and the program Kelly hosts is a prime example of that reputation.
   Clearly, Pompeo did not like the questions Kelly was asking. Tough tacos, mate. Journalists ask questions that need to be asked, and while there may be some news outlets that have a bias in favor of a certain political standpoint (you know who they are), NPR is not one of them.
   The operation is publicly supported, and runs no commercial advertising. It reports news clearly and concisely, without regard to any political viewpoint. And much as the current White House inmates want favorable (read: propaganda) coverage from every news outlet, the very last one to fall into that trap would be NPR.
   So be careful whom you insult, politicos, because that only means sharper pencils. And more air time to expose abusive behavior.