Ready for … anything? / Whoops / Easy on the water

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Ready for … anything? Columnist and former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman says Donald Trump’s increasingly desperate behavior means Democratic leaders need to get serious about plans to fight election theft.
■ Contrarian Jennifer Rubin: “Courts are not going to save voting rights.”
■ Politico (may require your email address to read): Both Gov. Pritzker and former Mayor Emanuel are headed to South Carolina—the Democrats’ first 2028 presidential primary state.
■ The Tribune’s traditionally Republican-leaning editorial board asks forlornly (free link): “Where have all the good Republican candidates gone?”

‘One other thing … makes me think this is a campaign ad—which is that this is literally a campaign ad.’ Y’know those TV commercials that Trump’s spent at least $2.5 million in taxpayer money to air? The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper says they include footage from the president’s 2024 campaign.
■ The Atlantic (gift link): Bereft of his Democratic fundraisers, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s mining MAGA for money.

‘Cataclysmic sports gaffe.’ SB Nation: In attempting to deliver a “gotcha” moment during Senate grilling of former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith, Missouri Republican Eric Schmitt confused a couple of basketball teams …
■ … prompting Jimmy Kimmel to dub him MAGA’s biggest “Schmitt-head.”
■ Columnist Charlotte Clymer ranks it “the most embarrassing moment in a congressional hearing. Ever.”
■ Satirist Andy Borowitz: “Schmitt Confuses Ass with Hole in the Ground.”
■ That unfolded just hours after Wonkette’s Evan Hurst notes that Axios “ran the most adorable Playgirl ‘Man Of The Month’ feature” on Schmitt, saying he’s been “drawing buzz” as a 2028 vice presidential candidate.
■ During that hours-long session, Smith resolutely maintained that “Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation” …

Whoops. Block Club reports that OpenAI has advised Chicago that its tech has raided the city’s online database.
■ A deal that Trump and AI industry leaders have signed, pledging “self-policing” of their technology, misspells “Unites States.”
■ The AP: Trump’s revamped and AI-powered America.gov website gives some answers he probably won’t like …
■ … and, CNN’s fact-checker Daniel Dale reports, it’s debunked many of Trump’s false claims.
■ Popular Information reports the site’s chatbot was censored hours after its launch.
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich asks: “Are you smarter than the White House’s new AI chatbot? Let’s find out.”

R.I.P., ‘the worst deal in municipal history.’ The Chicago City Council has, with some reservations, approved sale of its parking meters to different private investors …
■ … who, as part of the deal, have agreed to share a chunk of their profits with the city.
■ Council member Jason Ervin’s response to a reporter asking about his role in the negotiations: A middle finger and “[Expletive] you.”
■ Under pressure from the council, the investors have sold a cargo airline providing long-haul deportation flights for Homeland Security.
■ Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s cleared the Trump administration to continue deporting people to countries other than their own …
■ … as ICE plans to hire another 5,000 new agents.

Nice work if you can get it. WTTW: The interim chief of the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority, Jamie Rhee, will collect an annual city taxpayer-funded pension of more than $213,000 while earning $350,000 to run the agency—bringing her total annual compensation to more than $563,000.
■ The Daily Herald (free link): “A high-tech, battery-powered Metra train will leave the drawing board and enter reality next week.”

Easy on the water. Because Chicago’s rainy weather increases the risk of flooding and basement backups, it’s an Overflow Action Day …

Welcome, Stephen(’s set). The set from the gone-but-not-forgotten Late Show with Stephen Colbert goes on display this week at Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications.
■ Crain’s (gift link): Investment research group Morningstar’s moving in with Google at the former State of Illinois (Thompson) Center.
■ Oligarch Watch: Wary of state action against AI and data centers, Google and Facebook parent Meta are focusing more of their political spending on local elections.

2 genii. This year’s honorees in the MacArthur Fellows Program—which gives what’ve come to be known as “genius grants” of $800,000 to creative people—include a University of Chicago physicist and a University of Illinois climate scientist.
■ Here’s the list of all 20 recipients.

Chicago Public Square’s distribution cost: $103/month—and growing. Your contribution—of as little as $1/month—helps cover Mailchimp’s charges for delivering this newsletter.

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

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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.

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