“It is worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine”
—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a formal statement Friday following a profanity-laced tirade directed at NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly after he dared her to identify Ukraine on a blank map—and she correctly did.
(Perhaps it was Pompeo who misidentified Ukraine on the map. Whatever, it’s pretty evident that he ignored the old courtroom tenet known by any good lawyer: never ask a witness a question unless you already know their answer.)
“Why does NPR still exist?”
—Conservative radio host Mark Levin tweet, following the exchange between Pompeo and Kelly.
“A very good question”
—Donald Trump’s (tweeted) response to Levin’s question. (the answer might be it’s the only shred of balance remaining in radio after repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcast licensees to present both sides of controversial issues. The policy was eliminated in 1987.)
Louisiana Voice 
A simple question: Whose word do you trust more? 1. Any public broadcasting journalist, or 2. Any person President Trump has appointed in any way?
Since Mary Louise Kelly [note: she has a master’s degree in European Studies and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard in Government and French Literature] correctly identified Ukraine on an unlabeled map presented to her by Pompeo, the Bangladesh reference is puzzling, at best.
I am frankly surprised President Trump has not already had his minions in the legislative branch attempt to eliminate funding for public broadcasting. If that ever happens, we will clearly be on the road to having NO non-commercial source of news and information – and by non-commericial, I don’t just mean no commercials, I mean no corporate sponsorship control of content.
Since Fox can no longer be trusted to not report anything negative about the Trump administration, we could look for something like OANN to step into the breach to provide all the information we mullets need to know. Check it out:
https://www.oann.com/
P. S. Full disclosure: I confess public radio is the only radio I listen to unless I am trying to catch an LSU football game and I would be lost without it.
On Saturday night, Don Lemon on CNN had two guests, New York Times contributing op-ed writer Wajahat Ali and Rick Wilson, the author of the bestselling 2018 book Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever and the new book Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump — and Democrats from Themselves.
The three were discussing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s interview with “All Things Considered” host Mary Louise Kelly, where he reportedly demanded she point to Ukraine on a blank map.
Rich Wilson said, Pompeo “also knows, deep in his heart, that Donald Trump couldn’t find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter u and a picture of an actual, physical crane next to it.”
I thought Don Lemon would never stop laughing. But while funny, it unfortunately illuminates this President’s ignorance.
Does anyone know why Pompeo even asked Kelly to locate Ukraine on a map? Was he trying to humiliate her because of her lack of knowledge? Where did he get an un-named country map? The entire thing seems like a very juvenile stunt that back-fired on Pompeo. Is this the best that he can do? In fact, what has he ever done that has benefited American policy internationally? Just wondering…. because I can’t find anything good that he has accomplished….which would be huge news if anyone in Trumpland accomplished anything good…
He shoulda asked about her prior to asking that. He would have been told she was born in Germany, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. AND in Cambridge, England earned her Masters in European Studies. One doesn’t have to be first in his class at West Point (as Pompeo was) to get a clue she *may* know where the Breadbasket of Europe is located.
To anyone interested in having witnesses testify and documents allowed in the Senate trial, please voice your opinion to our Louisiana U.S. Senators and here are their phone numbers: Sen. Cassidy – 202-224-5824 and Sen. Kennedy – 202-224-4623.
I just tried calling & both voicemail boxes are full. This is a good thinh?
Edith, go here:
https://www.senate.gov/senators/index.htm
You can find both Cassidy’s and John-no relation-Kennedy’s local office info. Call one of their local offices telling them both Senators’ vm mailboxes in DC are full and express your opinion. I’ll bet those offices are passing along any comments they receive.
Well, I guess we won’t be able to go to NPR for objective coverage of this trip.
WaPo Headline:
State Department removes NPR reporter from trip with Pompeo
“Michele Kelemen, a veteran State Department correspondent for NPR, was scheduled to be one of a handful of reporters flying on Pompeo’s plane to report on his week-long trip to Europe and Central Asia starting Wednesday. It was Kelemen’s turn in a rotation for a “pool” seat on the plane representing radio reporters, and she got the needed visas.”