JOHN KELLY TAKES TIME OUT OF HIS BUSY SCHEDULE TO PUNCH DOWN

With all the other news right now, you probably missed this:

White House chief of staff John Kelly, in a wide-ranging interview with Fox News Radio, said the California teacher who has made headlines for bashing the military in a profane classroom rant should “go to hell” ....

“Well, I think the guy ought to go to hell,” Kelly, a retired Marine general, told host Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday in a post-State of the Union interview. “I just hope he enjoys the liberties and the lifestyle that we have fought for.”

Yes, the president had just delivered his State of the Union address, which you'd think the White House would want to be the main story, and there was Kelly giving an interview (on Fox News Radio) to Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends, the most Trump-friendly program on television with the possible exception of Sean Hannity's show. According to Fox, Kelly talked about the Nunes memo (which he promised would be released soon), the U.S. military campaign against ISIS (going great, Kelly says) ... and this teacher, "who has made headlines."

What -- you didn't notice the headlines? They were all over ... um, Fox News. But Fox tells us that the teacher was quickly dealt with:

The Southern California teacher facing a firestorm after he was recorded by a student bashing the military in a profane classroom rant has been placed on administrative leave and removed from all assignments he'd be given as a city councilman.

Gregory Salcido, the El Rancho High School teacher and elected Pico Rivera city councilman, will not be able to enter the classroom while school officials conduct an investigation into the recording, the Whittier Daily News reported late Monday....

His anti-military rant has also resulted in his removal from all Pico Rivera City Council committee assignments, CBS2 Los Angeles reported.

So what did Salcido say?

In the recordings, Salcido is heard asking students in his government class why they would want to serve in the military overseas.

“Think about the people who you know who are over there. Your freaking stupid Uncle Louie or whatever. They’re dumbs‑‑‑s. They’re not like high-level thinkers, they’re not academic people, they’re not intellectual people. They’re the lowest of our low.”

I understand why that would give offense. But the authorities have intervened. Also, it's a local story. It's certainly not worth the attention of the White House chief of staff.

Kilmeade would never do anything that ran counter to what the White House considers its best interests. He's essentially a part of Team Tump. That means that Team Trump wanted news of Kelly punching down to run today, of all days, at least in the right-wing press, because even the day after the State of the Union address, Team Trump and the right-wing media need to slake the mob's insatiable hunger for enemies -- even low-level, completely neutralized enemies. Because that's the whole point of conservatism now.