Troops at the polls? / Fuelish behavior / Flu on the fly

Troops at the polls? PolitiFact counts off the legal reasons that shouldn’t happen in November—but acknowledges the Trump administration hasn’t ruled it out … and concedes that AI-generated viral video fueling those fears could nevertheless suppress turnout.

■ The Guardian: “AI agents spiral out of control just as they go mainstream.”

■ Surveying the pros and cons of personal AI agents, The Onion sees this upside: “Never liked taste of water in first place.”

Even Republicans … are criticizing Trump’s spending of nearly $1.5 million in taxpayer money for pro-Trump ads.

■ The Atlantic (gift link): Those ads “clearly violate the intent of the law. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be easy to stop.”

■ Dan Froomkin at Press Watch: They’re “the political equivalent of Trump shooting someone on Fifth Avenue.”

■ Reporter Yashar Ali: Lawyers for the singer whose voice repeats “love me” in the ads is demanding the administration stop using that music, take down existing copies and account for every airing and dollar spent.

■ Columnist Heather Delaney Reese is most troubled by the ads’ use of the phrase “once and for all.”

■ They have Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes thinking about Mussolini.

Fuelish behavior. To the dismay of environmentalists, the Trump administration’s rolling back fuel efficiency rules for automakers …

■ … asserting that the shift could cut new vehicles’ average cost by $1,300.

■ The Natural Resources Defense Council: “Oil companies will get a windfall … but the rest of us are going to be handing over more of our hard-earned paychecks to fill up the tank.”

■ USA Today’s Chicago-based columnist Rex Huppke: “Trump’s big to-do about the announcement of an Iowa steel mill looked more like flop sweat than a solution to outrageous gas and food prices.”

■ Popular Information: How Trump’s super political action committee MAGA Inc. raised so much money. (Hint: Corporations or individuals that have gotten—or are seeking—favors from the administration have been generous.)

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich appeals to Trump voters inclined to believe Trump will give ’em $5,000 if Republicans keep control of the House and Senate: “Grow a brain, why don’t you.”

‘It’s time … for courts to hold this administration in contempt when it is.’ Law professor and former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance calls for Trump and company to face consequences for their flouting of the First Amendment.

■ CNN, MS NOW and Politico are back in court asking Trump to end their White House exile—again.

■ Stop the Presses proprietor Mark Jacob: “The cost of sucking up to a dictator is that hardly anyone feels sorry for you when the dictator turns on you. The mainstream media are learning that right now.”

‘Disgusting.’ Columnist Eric Zorn says U.S. captain Brandt Snedecker’s “big wet kiss to the rear end of Donald Trump” marred his team’s comeback victory at the Presidents Cup golf match Sunday.

■ The North American Aerospace Defense Command tells the Sun-Times 15 private planes violated flight restrictions over the president’s visit to the Medinah Country Club.

‘Will not be silenced.’ Testifying before the Senate today, former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith—who indicted Trump twice—says the prospect of prosecution won’t keep him from warning that the rule of law’s under threat as never before.

■ At Chicago Public Square’s deadline, his appearance was streaming live on the web here.

■ The New Yorker: Government lawyers who’ve concluded the administration is subverting justice face a quandary.

‘I—that is, a fake version of me—have become part of a Russian disinformation operation.’ That’s Mother Jones’ David Corn—who’s (plot twist!) just published a book about Russian disinformation operations.

■ The fakers have concocted phony CNN video of him promoting an imaginary new book.

Dogged politics. Block Club: The Wieners Circle hot dog stand owner’s campaign for mayor means more scrutiny for the messages on the stand’s celebrated marquee …

■ … like this one.

Flu on the fly. Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina: “Now is the time. … Schedule your flu vaccine appointment this week.”

■ The Illinois Public Health Department recommends the shot for everyone aged 6 months or older.

■ It’s also the season for Chicago’s bridge lifts—as watercraft make their way from Lake Michigan back to seasonal storage.

Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.

‘Fake news …’ / Wrong-way crash / ‘A billion deaths’

‘Fake news … will say I got a very bad reception.’ That was President Trump’s prediction as he appeared at the Presidents Cup golf tournament outside Chicago—his first visit to the area in this term …

■ … although coverage in the Tribune (free link), the Sun-Times and USA Today—to name a few—was relatively benign.

■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: Trump “got to do one of his favorite things in the whole world: Stand next to a trophy that wasn’t his, and pretend he won something he didn’t.”

■ A mostly friendly reception nevertheless included what The Daily Beast says was a man shouting, “You’re a f--ing pedophile, Donald.”

■ See that here.

■ That was a day after Trump was booed loudly at “a college football game in deep-red Tennessee.”

■ Sources tell CBS Chicago a bulletproof suite built for the president went unused.

■ At least some of “The Front Row Joes”—the ardent Trump supporters who’ve followed him from rally to rally—are jumping ship; one of them tells Politico that if Trump “is impeached again, I will be walking the halls of Congress in support of that impeachment.”

■ Author and filmmaker Steven Beschloss: Republican “rats are fleeing the sinking ship—but they … are still too few in number to change the outcome of a likely Democratic tsunami.”

■ Columnist, former ad agency executive and former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman: “Never have I seen a worse TV spot for a brand than the current Trump TV ad” …

■ … for which you, taxpayers, are paying.

‘Israel’s survival is not on the line in the Michigan Senate elections, but our survival as a constitutional democracy is.’ Pro-Israel Political Update proprietor Steve Sheffey reassures Israel supporters reluctant to vote for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

■ John Oliver last night roasted Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton.

■ CNN: A Republican candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission has repeatedly called for executing his political enemies—including Barack Obama.

Trump’s watching you. The Washington Sun reports that the White House app—riding a burst of popularity as the president launched his own 24/7 video stream amid a broadcast network boycott—includes scripts to monitor a user’s location several times per minute.

■ CNN: Trump’s still engaging in legally questionable “shenanigans” over who gets to cover him.

■ The president’s attorney general doesn’t seem to know the difference between inaccurate and unflattering journalism.

■ Ex-New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan: How you can demand better media coverage.

‘Shared values, not a quid pro quo.’ That’s Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s defense against a Sun-Times report that she’s been taking “millions of dollars in campaign contributions from labor groups that her administration negotiates collective bargaining agreements with.”

■ Chalkbeat reviews how Chicago school board incumbents up for reelection in November have voted on key issues.

Wrong-way crash. At least one woman is dead after a DuSable Lake Shore Drive collision that closed the road for hours overnight.

■ The driver of the car that was going the wrong way, causing a chain-reaction wreck, was in police custody.

Catastrophe-unready. More than a year after Illinois enacted a pioneering law aimed at anticipating migration to the state driven by climate disasters elsewhere, WBEZ and The Grist report the state seems likely to miss a self-imposed deadline.

■ The Sun-Times and WBEZ: Winning asylum in Chicago immigration court is nearly impossible.

■ A Washington Post story out of Champaign-Urbana (gift link): “She waited for hours and left untreated. The ER billed her anyway.”

‘A billion deaths.’ Microsoft founder Bill Gates tells NBC News artificial intelligence tech is powerful enough to do that much damage.

■ Tech watchdog Kim Komando: “A bad car gets recalled. AI can’t be. … Once it’s out, it’s out forever.”

■ Rolling out more digital price labels on its store shelves, Walmart pledges not to “set different prices based on who you are or the time of day.”

Thanks. Chris Koenig and Mike Braden made this edition better.

A Chicago Public Square public service announcement

Walk out of the darkness. Join the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention this Saturday at Montrose Harbor for the nation’s largest suicide prevention event. Details on how to join, fundraise or sponsor here.