Mason Jar

Yesterday, there was a great deal of attention and praise given to Reuters reporter Jeff Mason during Trump's press conference with the president of Finland when he asked Trump pointedly what he was hoping to get from the Ukraine president, which jarred Trump so much that he had no answer, and further praise for how Mason politely and professionally stood his ground during Trump’s whole flustered “Ask a question to the president of Finland” rant and his Robert DeNiro moment, “Are you talking to me??” 
 
Let’s put that on hold a moment and go back to last year, when Trump had probably his most-infamous press conference, the one with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.  There were two huge moments there, as you'll recall.  One was, of course, when Trump took Putin’s side over all U.S. intelligence services.  And the other, you may remember, was when Putin himself was asked "Did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?” and Putin answered, “Yes, I did, yes, I did.”  And when the White House put out a transcript of the press conference, they left out that exchange.  I suspect, with a reminder, that most people recall all that.
 
I was out much of the day yesterday, but what hit me when I heard all the news and watched all the reports is that it sounded familiar.  So, I double-checked it and – yes, the reporter who asked Putin that notable question in Helsinki was… Reuters’ Jeff Mason!!  The same fellow who asked Trump that strong question and was admonished to talk instead to the president of Finland.
 
By the way, there's another fun fact related to all of this.  That press conference last year was in Helsinki.  And as I'm sure you recall from the world globe in your library, Helsinki is, of course, the capital of – Finland!
 
Minutiae R Us…
 
On a completely unnecessary level, it would have been really nice if someone on the news noted the connection  to his two important questions and gave him big appreciation.  Along with making the ironic double-connection to Finland.  It’s not even remotely necessary, I know – but two huge newsworthy questions (each with a Finnish connection) is deserving of not just notice, but praise.  Happily, though, it was nice how everyone at least was giving Jeff Mason big credit for this one question yesterday to Trump.