Mike Pompeo BANISHES NPR Reporter Even Though It Is A Different NPR Reporter

Man, this guy's a dick.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's spitebitching at mean reporters who ask him questions found a new outlet yesterday. A correspondent for National Public Radio was scratched from the list of reporters allowed to fly on Pompeo's plane for a trip to eastern Europe, including a stop in Ukraine. That follows Pompeo's fuckbomb-laced tirade at NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, who upset him last week by asking why he hadn't defended former US ambassador Marie Yovanovich from Rudy Giuliani's smear campaign.

The retaliation against Kelly actually splattered all over a completely different reporter, Michele Kelemen, a diplomatic correspondent with NPR for like 20 years. But she probably would have asked unfair, reality-based questions, too. Presumably, now that the State Department has barred Kelemen, no members of the remaining press pool traveling with Pompeo to Ukraine will ask nosy questions about his involvement in the administration's Ukrainian fucktussle. Tip to reporters still going on the trip: Bring your own oxygen mask and possibly a parachute.

Hey, remember that time when Barack Obama was a dangerous tyrant when he didn't include Fox  one time in a round of appearances on network Sunday shows? Even worse, he endangered press freedom by dismissing the network as having a "talk radio format." Thank goodness those days are over.

The  State Department Correspondents' Association issued the expected statement condemning Kelemen's banishment; we're impressed by the group's quaint appeals to how the State Department used to treat journalists when it wasn't run by a crowd of thugs:

"Michele is a consummate professional who has covered the State Department for nearly two decades," the statement said. "We respectfully ask the State Department to reconsider and allow Michele to travel on the plane for this trip."

"The State Department has courageously defended journalists around the world through statements under its seal," it continued. "The State Department's professional ethos commits employees to 'serve with unfailing professionalism in both my demeanor and my actions, even in the face of adversity.' We are committed to do our part to preserve a respectful, professional relationship with the institution we cover."

Well sure, but that's before every institution of government was revised to play to the biggest jerks watching Fox News. In a related development we just made up, Ukraine is reassessing its contracts to buy arms from the US until it reviews this country's corrupt leaders.

Kelemen was the designated "pool" reporter for radio coverage on Pompeo's plane; no word yet on whether another radio reporter will go on the trip. Probably not American Urban Radio Networks' April Ryan .

The move is sure to win an attaboy from Donald Trump, who took to Twitter Sunday to echo rightwing media yapper Mark Levin's consternation that NPR is even allowed to be a thing, still.

Golly, looks like NPR's reporting on Trump as if he were just another president, like saying his disjointed rally rants "ranged widely" over a number of topics, just isn't appreciated at all. For all NPR'sattempts at cautious centrism, the right remains certain the network spews lefty propaganda. Which is OUR job.

The New York Times   reports it's unclear whether the shunning of Kelemen and NPR will just be for the one trip, or until the heat death of the Trump administration. But Pompeo's fuck-word hissy at Kelly, followed by the press release where he lied some more about her, has even managed to draw some criticism from the administration's favoritest media outlet:

Even a Fox News host, Steve Hilton, a self-described big fan of Mr. Pompeo, chided the chief diplomat's "whining" invective.

"For goodness' sakes, Mr. Secretary, don't be such a baby," Mr. Hilton said on Monday . "You should be able to handle tough questions by now. And don't be such a bully."

Mr. Hilton is expected to be exempt from Pompeo's wrath, because he is a boy.

[ Politico / WaPo / NYT / Image:  Nonsequiturlass, Creative Commons license 2.0 ]

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