One of the first appointments made by Donald Trump was Kansas Representative Mike Pompeo as CIA director.  Earlier today, my colleague Susan Wright reported on that nomination and on Pompeo’s background.

Pompeo certainly has the knowledge and skills to run the CIA. More than that he has the guts to make a tough call, something the CIA has been unwilling to do since early in the George W. Bush administration.

Back in March of this year, a mosque in Wichita, KS, invited a Islamic hatemonger and unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism case to be what can only be described as a “motivational speaker.” Here you can see this cretin performing a stirring rendidition of that old jihadi campfire song, “I Am From Hamas” (I swear I am not making this up) for a spellbound CAIR audience.

Protests were planned. Then Mike Pompeo intervened:

“I am profoundly disappointed and disturbed by both the content and the timing of the Islamic Society of Wichita’s decision to bring Sheik Monzer Talib to Wichita, Kansas. On one of the most holy days on the Christian calendar, and only days after radical Islamic extremists murdered dozens of innocents of many faiths in Brussels, Belgium, they chose to bring a Hamas-connected sheik to their community center here in Wichita. They should cancel his appearance.

“I have, for years and continuously, implored leaders of the Islamic faith here in Kansas and around the world to stand with leaders of all faiths in condemning terrorist attacks by radical Islamic groups. I can find not a mention of the Brussels murders on ISW’s website, facebook page or twitter account. This is unconscionable. ISW and its leaders should use this time to condemn this attack instead of celebrating Sheik Talib.

“But worse, now, in my own community, rather than make clear that violence in the name of Allah is always wrong, the Islamic Society of Wichita has chosen the day, when millions of Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross, to bring a cleric who has claimed his commitment to Hamas, to lead their services. Hamas is a designated terrorist organization that has the destruction of Israel as its core tenet and terror and murder as its core operating principle. This decision by ISW is horribly misguided and puts at risk much work that has been done to improve relations among members of all faiths here in Kansas.

“I am a passionate believer in the First Amendment. I acknowledge and support ISW’s right to hold this service with Sheik Talib. But having this right to do so does not mitigate the harm that will be done to our community if the ISW leaders move forward with this event on Holy Friday. They will be responsible for the damage among religious faiths that is sure to follow.

“Mr. Talib has a long history of association with radical Islam. He was named as a co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance case in which millions of American dollars were funneled to the terrorist organization Hamas. He was also a member of an organization that advocated for the destruction of Israel and is on videotape affirming his allegiance to Hamas that has killed thousands of Westerners.

“The leaders of the ISW surely know what they are doing in bringing this hateful man to help them raise money on this day so important to Christians. While I do not know their motives, I do know that they should reconsider. The ISW can help everyone focus on uniting all faiths against such barbarism – this scheduled event does exactly the opposite.

“I call on the Islamic Society of Wichita to show its commitment to uniting believers of all faiths and to cancel the appearance of Sheik Monzer Talib.”

The mosque cancelled the harangueing session.

What Mike Pompeo displayed was nearly a singular act of courage in confronting the overt threat to the United States represented by radical Islam. Look around for another public figure calling out these noxious hatemongers. You won’t find them because they are more terrified of being called “islamophobe” by the likes of CAIR and the ACLU than they are concerned about their constituents being shot or blown up. What is more important, Pompeo was not afraid to use their own “tolerance card” against them and to object to a specific behavior rather than launching some broad brush attack on Islam in general. If he cares the same clarity into the CIA he will have done the nation a great service.