BREAKING: Has the federal government stolen and lost some kids?

FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2018

Also, new lessons in loathing: We'd still like to know why it took so long for journalists to realize what was happening at the border under the "zero tolerance" policy. That said:

Is it possible that the federal government has basically stolen and lost some kids? Is it possible that kids were taken away from their parents in the process of pursuing a misdemeanor, and that some of those kids were then sent somewhere and were, in effect, lost?

We're thinking especially of the misplaced babies and toddlers who can't even state their own names. Is it possible that babies and toddlers have actually been lost? We've seen major news orgs suggesting that this actually may have happened. See, for example, this morning's Washington Post.

Is it possible that this could have happened? Also this:

If something like that has actually happened, so you feel confident that our major news orgs will ever figure that out and clearly report it? For ourselves, we do not.

We continue to be struck by the nation's failure to discuss the possibility that President Trump is mentally ill—insane. As his conduct becomes more disordered, such a discussion is badly needed. But too bad! Back in January, the New York Times said we shouldn't do that and everyone fell into line.

We're increasingly struck by the role that has been played by General Kelly. By now, he has become the three millionth example of a familiar type in the press corps' endless array of childish novels. To wit:

Kelly is the latest fellow hailed by the press as Most Upright Person Now Living who turns out to be anything but. Do they ever make an accurate judgment when they stage their silly Group Character Wars? Do they ever get one of their Inane Group Assessments right?

A final note about what we saw last night watching Maddow:

Last Wednesday night, we liberals got ourselves badly dumbed down when Maddow opened her program with eighteen (18) pointless minutes about Herbert Kalmbach, Nixon's personal lawyer. That was eighteen (18) minutes she could have been talking about something of value, not excluding events at the border.

Instead, we got an endless dose of Retro Schadenfreude involving the jailing of Kalmbach. It felt so good going down!

Last night, Maddow opened with a pledge to wage a hate campaign aimed at HHS Secretary Alex Azar, who apparently attended his college reunion this weekend when he apparently should have been doing something else. First, though, we had to sit through eight (8) minutes about Condi Rice—more specifically, about her alleged misbehavior during Hurricane Katrina.

At one point, Rice apparently bought some shoes! Last night, Maddow blew her first eight minutes on that.

Maddow is a highly developed personal loathing machine. That said, she's amazingly skilled at disguising this impulse through her constant grinning, laughing, mugging, clowning and talking about herself like she's our personal friend. But we've rarely seen anyone spend so much time encouraging us to hate the very bad persons found on The Other Side.

To her credit, she hasn't played the Bentley Telephone Sex Tape lately. That was deeply disordered conduct—by Maddow, not by Bentley.

Last week, it was 18 pointless minutes on Kalmbach. Last night, it was eight wasted minutes on Rice. Around here, Maddow is known as "The Nun" for the way she wishes ill on those whom she opposes.

For the record, that's a reference to East Coast nuns from the middle part of the last century, not to nuns as they exist today. Also, we have to admire Maddow's skill at hiding this disordered impulse.

Eight minutes of hate about Condi Rice for conduct during Katrina! Donald J. Trump may be flatly insane—but we have our own types Over Here!