Screengrab from https://youtu.be/ZaLh74eXTDo

Screengrab from https://youtu.be/ZaLh74eXTDo

A couple of weeks ago, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel committed a rare act of journalism. The Broward County School Board had been directed to release redacted records on Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz. The school board, being peopled by the geniuses that are attracted to educational administration the way lint is attracted to Velcro, released a redacted version that was quickly unredacted:

By court order, the district was supposed to black out nearly two-thirds of the report because it disclosed information that Cruz was entitled to keep private under federal and state law. But the method used to post the report on the district’s website made it possible for anyone to read the blacked-out portions by copying and pasting them into another file.

If President Trump wants to hire more of “only the best people” then here is the motherlode for him to pick and choose from.

The documents revealed the monumental incompetence of the Broward County school system in dealing with a young man they knew to be deeply troubled.

The school system, naturally, went ballistic and had the Sun-Sentinel hailed into court for a contempt hearing.

A furious judge scolded the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Wednesday for publishing confidential but legally obtained information about Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz.

Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said the newspaper flouted her order that portions of a school district report about Cruz should remain shielded from the public. In the future, she declared, she will consider listing exactly what the newspaper can and cannot print.

"Hi, judge. It's me, your old pal the First Amendment. I just wanted to stop by and remind you that's not how this works. That's not how any of this works." https://t.co/IqLGG0CZqO

— Drew McCoy (@_Drew_McCoy_) August 16, 2018

That aside, CNN’s Jake Tapper weighed in. (Full disclosure: Tapper has only recently unblocked me, which might not be a good move on his part.)

Sun Sentinel: Judge blasts Sun Sentinel for publishing confidential information in Parkland school shooting case https://t.co/Ncp3duajuv

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 16, 2018

Wish certain officials in Broward County were even half as concerned about their horrific screw-ups and incompetence as they seem to be about hiding it from the public. https://t.co/4eVYRJ5DlI

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 16, 2018

Broward County schools weren’t the only people unconcerned about screw ups. Jake Tapper hosted the hate-fest where Marco Rubio and Dana Loesch were held up to public humiliation and where they shared the stage with Broward Sheriff Scott Israel who was allowed to berate them both. At the time of the event, it was known that Israel’s deputies had been called to the Cruz residence no less than 39 times. By the day after the town hall, it was being reported that the Broward Sheriff’s Office school resource officer was cowering while the shooting was going on. It is hard to believe that was unknown to Tapper during the town hall.

So this return to a pretense at journalism is somewhat disorienting. CNN and Tapper generated a mob-type atmosphere at their town hall and used Rubio and Loesch as scapegoats. To criticize the Broward school system for covering up their own incompetence while being complicit in allowing Sheriff Israel to cover his own seems more than a little opportunistic and hypocritical.

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