SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

OUTRAGE – FROM FOX:  As reports emerged about an engineer's warning of cracks days before Thursday's calamitous collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Florida, a U.S. senator wants to find out exactly who was behind the construction that may have led to the structure's fatal failure.  Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, is “demanding” documents related to oversight of the construction of the bridge at Florida International University in Miami, according to a statement from his office.  I don't blame the senator.  This was a brand new structure, apparently paid for with federal funds. 

ANOTHER WITCH IN THE HUNT – FROM VARIETY:    John Bailey, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is under investigation for allegations of sexual harassment.  The Academy received three harassment claims on Wednesday and immediately opened a probe, according to sources familiar with the situation.  Bailey was elected president of the institution in August. If he were forced to step down, he would be temporarily replaced by Lois Burwell, a veteran makeup artist who is the Academy’s vice president, until the next election in July.   I have no idea what the truth is here, but that's the point.  Life after life is being ruined by these charges, which are taking on the tone of McCarthyism.  Let's have a serious, but fair investigation before a name is made public. 

CHOPPING BLOCK – FROM FOX:  The Justice Department dealt a stunning blow to former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe on Friday night, firing him just days before he would have been eligible for a lifetime pension after determining that he lied to investigators reviewing the bureau’s probe of Hillary Clinton’s email server.  "Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department’s senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.  This is only the start of a new phase of the story.  Inevitably, the mainstream press will compare this to Watergate's Saturday Night Massacre, because they compare everything to Watergate, including sinus trouble.

March 16, 2018