If you follow the people I do on Twitter, it seems as if the whole world is talking about this Pompeo profile in the New Yorker. It's an illusion, of course; in reality, the number of people who would be keenly interested in this is miniscule. I just follow them all on Twitter.
So I read every word of the article, certain I'd figure out why everyone was reading it.
But it bored me. The point seemed to be to recite DC gossip about Pompeo in a slightly supercilious tone. The highlight is the anonymously-sourced quote everyone's Tweeting.
I have no insight, as a result of reading it, into Pompeo. I don't know how he understands the world, why he wanted the job he's doing; how he understands his own change of heart about Trump. Is it sincere? Has he come to like and trust the president? If so, why?
If not, does he view himself as someone who protects the US and the world from Trump's instincts? Or is he nakedly hungry for power for its own sake?
I have no sense at all from reading this of the man's motivations or his personality.
The closest we get is hearing that Louise Linton thinks he's warm and gregarious and a great story-teller. No one else--not even off the record--says anything that evokes a strong voice, either his or their own.
There are many anonymously-sourced quotes that sound as if they're *supposed* to be surprising, but aren't. "The first former senior intelligence official told me that Pompeo challenged the agency’s Iran analysts: 'He would ask, "What evidence? Are the Iranians cheating?'"
Why is that a "challenge?" Or "strong brushback," as it's described? Isn't that the question you'd expect anyone in his position to ask? It's a straightforward, work-related question.
I'd be fascinated if I read, say, that Pompeo asked them questions I'd *never* expect of him.
If he challenged, them, say to recite their findings in the form of an panegyric poem, scolding them for lapses in meter while stroking his pet chinchilla and whispering, "There there, Percival. After this *boresome* briefing I shall take you to urinate on Bolton's trousers."
But this Pompeo is a dutiful cipher. I know no more about his soul than I did before reading the article.
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