No news here: National media didn't get what it wanted from secretary of state

Who are you calling a moron, loser!

Maybe that was the reaction the national media was hoping for from President Trump on Wednesday when NBC "broke" the story that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson allegedly called him an "expletive" moron after a Pentagon meeting back in July.

So, America tuned in to see if Rex and Donnie were going to duke it out under the flagpole at recess.

Spoiler alert: They didn't.

No, the real basis for all of this is that it was suspected that Tillerson might resign today -- or in the near future -- over his differing tone with North Korea than the president's, a supposed source of contention between the two.

But the break from the Puerto Rico and Las Vegas onslaught of Trump-gets-it-wrong-again coverage was enough to get the kindergarten media class to put its Crayons down, at least for moment.

Tillerson surprised everyone though, by holding an unplanned press conference to swear allegiance to the president and to his duty to protect the American people, at home and abroad, he said.

As journalists it's sometimes tough to watch the craft we remain so dedicated to get muddied this way, but then again we get called "Fake News" just as much for reporting actual events and that's not easy to digest either.

So, for the record, the president's comments about Puerto Rico throwing the American budget out of whack, while obviously in jest, was ill-timed. The use of the word "miracle" in describing the events in Las Vegas was a poor choice of words, although we understand he was referring to the heroic and swift action of the police there. And his sentiment was on point, he just flubbed the delivery.

So the president doesn't always assess the crowd or the moment the same way a more polished politician might. But at least he had the sense not to go storming down the West Wing calling Rex out to the flagpole.

Even if Tillerson said it -- which he neither confirmed nor denied while swearing fealty to Trump -- so what?

We all gripe about our bosses sometimes, and once in a while we might be overheard doing so.

That's not breaking news. That's further breaking the news and I'd like to think we can do better than that.

Published in Editorials on October 4, 2017 11:06 PM