SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:28 P.M. ET:

YOU CANNOT MAKE IT UP – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  In a remarkable interview, a Yale professor of psychiatry says President Trump should be “contained” against his will for an “emergency” evaluation of his mental state.  According to Vox.com reporter Eliza Barclay, Professor Bandy Lee is “leading the call” by a group of psychiatrists for just that assessment. Lee has “devoted her 20-year career to studying, predicting, and preventing violence,” Barclay writes.  The professor allegedly briefed a dozen members of Congress on the president’s mental state, and along with professors from Harvard and Columbia released a statement noting Mr. Trump is “further unraveling.”  We noted earlier today that a traditional tactic of the left is to declare opponents mentally unfit.  This story fits right in.

MORE MADNESS – FROM TWITCHY.COM:  It’s been quite a week for those in the mental health profession and those in government and the media who like to pretend they are. Yes, the narrative of the week, kicking off with President Trump’s North Korea tweet on Tuesday and continuing through the weekend (and surely into next week), is that Trump is mentally unfit for office and must be removed.  With that in mind, consider this unrelated entry from psychologist Barbara Greenberg, who writes in US News that “the word ‘best’ encourages judgment and promotes exclusion,” and so children should be banned from having best friends in school.  Better talk to your kids.  Make sure they have no favorites.  Tell the best friend she's no longer welcome.  Everyone is equal, remember that.  And remember to recite your Marx.

BERNIE, WE HARDLY KNEW YE – FROM VTDIGGER.ORG:  The federal probe into a 2010 land deal orchestrated by former Burlington College president Jane Sanders, wife of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has deepened. VTDigger has confirmed that a grand jury has been empaneled and has taken sworn testimony in the case.  Former Burlington College board member Robin Lloyd says she testified for about an hour on Oct. 26 before a grand jury at the federal courthouse in Burlington...Jane and Bernie Sanders have vehemently denied any impropriety surrounding the land deal.  Lloyd’s appearance is the first public confirmation that the federal government has empaneled a grand jury, whose principal function is to decide whether to issue a criminal indictment.  There is a presumption of innocence, of course, but this looks like trouble.

January 7, 2018