The VSG administration's most unorthodox manner of handling human-resources situations

Look, Andrew McCabe was not devoid of really suspect behavior. Leaking details about the FBI's investigation into Madame Bleachbit's email server to the Wall Street Journal and then lying about it to the Inspector General's office. Using the official FBI email system to steer those interested in donating to his wife's Virginia-state-senate campaign to the campaign website. Then there's Terry McAuliffe's deep involvement in both Mrs. McCabe's campaign and the Clinton empire.

But firing him days before his retirement benefits kick in, without any of the above being officially determined to be criminal behavior, is pretty damn hardball.

What are the odds he's going to quietly slink away?

And then there's John Kelly's announcement to a roomful of reporters that Rex Tillerson was told he was fired while sitting on the toilet.

What an unnecessary detail. Two things about it that are head-scratchers: It's out of character for Kelly. He was brought into this White House because he was reliable grownup, a man of decorum. And he'd been a Tillerson ally:

The comment was especially bizarre given Kelly’s reported past cover for Tillerson. The chief of staff tried for months to keep the secretary of state in his post, The New York Times reported, and fumed at his dismissal. 

It sure has all the trappings of his having been put up to the dispensing of such a gratuitous tidbit.

Still, the slavish devotees say, "This isn't an unusual level of White House chaos. This is our hero playing 5-D chess."