Afghanderstanding / 'I can't take it' / He ran for Chicago mayor

AFGHANDERSTANDING. The Washington Post breaks down 12 key points from President Trump’s address to the nation on Afghanistan.

He’s left some of his supporters—and the newly re-Bannonized Breitbart News—wondering what happened to “America First.”
James Fallows in The Atlantic: Trump’s “normal” speech about Afghanistan is a shortcoming, not an achievement.
So much for the president’s “instincts.”
CNN’s Chris Cillizza: Trump’s speech ended up “all about Charlottesville.”
The Onion: We Will Fight In Afghanistan Until Victorious, Or I Change My Mind, Get Distracted, Look Bad, Or Get Bored.”
What’s up with Trump’s phrase “blood and treasure”?

‘THE MOST IMPRESSIVE THING ANY PRESIDENT HAS EVER DONE.’ Fox News host Tucker Carlson praised Donald Trump’s decision to stare at the eclipse without glasses. Twitter was tougher.
The eclipse brought WGN-TV weatherman Tom Skilling to tears.
Have leftover eclipse glasses? Donate them to South America.
Poynter’s Melody Kramer: What if newsrooms treated every day like eclipse day?

‘I CAN’T TAKE IT, IT’S SO SAD.’ A West Side resident bemoans Chicago’s plague of violent crime, which left more people shot over the weekend than any other this year, except for the four-day Fourth of July holiday.
Mayor Emanuel’s administration is pressing ahead in its fight against federal oversight of the city’s troubled police department.
Chicago police arrests last year dropped 24 percent from the year before.
Mount Prospect police: A woman was hurt when she was dragged alongside a vehicle as she tried to save her purse in a robbery.

‘SOME REMAINS.’ The Navy reports the discovery of bodies in compartments of the damaged destroyer USS John S. McCain, which collided with a commercial vessel Monday.
The Navy hasn’t ruled out the possibility its warships have been hacked.

NEED HOME REPAIR? GOOD LUCK. The Tribune’s Robert Reed says a growing shortage of electricians, plumbers and carpenters foretells longer waits and higher costs.
Chicago’s four-week auto mechanics strike is confusing customers.

‘DON’T READ IT.’ Speaking to the City Club of Chicago, the Sun-Times’ new CEO, Edwin Eisendrath, has a simple answer to the question of what to do about “fake news.”
In a shakeup at the Los Angeles Times, ex-Sun-Times editor Jim Kirk is headed west.

HE RAN FOR CHICAGO MAYOR. Comedian Dick Gregory, who died in Washington over the weekend, had a close relationship with the city. And then there was the time FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover told the Chicago bureau to unleash the Outfit on him. (Photo: Herman Hiller.)
Tribune critic Michael Phillips recounts the time he and Jerry Lewis, who died Sunday in Las Vegas, fought over a check.
A woman R. Kelly paid not to talk about underage sex is sharing her story with BuzzFeed.

Subscribe to Square.