‘Deranged and dangerous.’ That’s how California Gov. Gavin Newsom describes President Trump’s suggestion that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego and he’d consider that “a very small price to pay.”
■ Newsom’s ordering California agencies to step up their threat monitoring—against the prospect anyone takes the president’s remarks as an invitation.
■ CNN’s Aaron Blake maintains that Trump’s comment “was incoherent, not malicious” …
■ … but the anti-Trump conservatives at The Lincoln Project nevertheless see it as fodder for a frightful ad that echoes a 1964 spot credited with sinking Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater’s campaign.
■ … whose child star grew up to appear in a sequel ad for Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful 2016 campaign against Trump.
Toldja. Remember how yesterday’s Chicago Public Square called for an asterisk after the headline “Trump says his super PAC will pay for taxpayer-funded ads that sparked backlash for glorifying him”? Sure enough, here’s The New York Times a day later (gift link): “Trump Does Not Plan to Reimburse Taxpayers for Promotional Ads.”
■ The Daily Beast: Trump’s flashing of his suit jacket reveals that it was not—as he so often champions for manufacturing—made in the U.S.A.
■ Neil Steinberg at the Sun-Times: “Trump hasn’t redefined morality—he’s just worn some of us out.”
■ USA Today’s Rex Huppke: “Trump isn’t helping Republicans one bit. It’s all about him.”
■ Columnist Charlie Madigan: “Time to get this man out of the White House.”
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: “Judging from his social media posts, Trump is panicking.”
■ CNN’s new owner says he supports the network’s lawsuit against the Trump administration for blocking White House access.
■ Columnist Andy Borowitz and cartoonist Ann Telnaes have teamed up for an illustrated list of “people we’d like to see banned from government.”
Dem sweep. The traditionally Republican-leaning Tribune editorial board (free link) is backing four Democrats for statewide offices on the ballot next month—with a caveat for one who’s also seeking the Chicago mayor’s job.
■ Trib columnist—and political veteran—Laura Washington (free link) advises Chicago voters that those “brutally competitive” school board elections are the name of the game: “Special interests want to buy and own these candidates. Do not let them.”
■ Popular Information spotlights “falsehoods billionaires are mailing to Ohio voters.”
■ CNN and WXRT News alumnus Charles Jaco*: “MAGA is already trying to steal this election. It’ll be a bloody (figurative? literal?) November.”
■ Vote smart: Check the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.
Corners cut. Emails uncovered by The Washington Post (gift link) show just how much ICE cut back on officer training as it scrambled to deliver expanded enforcement nationwide.
■ The Reader: A year later, a Chicago restaurant owner remembers a “quiet, hardworking cook” killed by an ICE agent.
■ An Illinois state representative from Chicago has closed his district office—blaming online threats after his interaction with immigration officials went viral …
■ … although his constituents have been complaining for weeks that he’s gone completely incommunicado (September link).
Towed in Chicago? The city’s inspector general is out with a guide to “pirate towing” companies—including how to identify them and report violations.
■ A pair of ex-suburban cops face felony charges of abusing Flock license plate-reading cameras.
■ Block Club: Chicago’s civilian police accountability office says an off-duty Chicago officer fired two guns simultaneously after “an exchange of words” early Sunday morning.
‘Measles epidemic.’ Columnist Susan Berger says the federal government should be on TV every day sounding an alarm about the disease’s U.S. spread.
■ New York’s governor is declaring that state’s outbreak a disaster emergency.
■ Wisconsin’s spread has prompted a warning for Illinoisans.
Hej då, Bolingbrook. Ending a double-decade run, Ikea’s closing its store there—decamping for a smaller store in Naperville.
■ Amazon’s taking over an empty warehouse on Chicago’s West Side—with an eye toward advancing its same-day delivery services.
Happy birthday, HWLC. Today marks the 35th anniversary of the opening of Chicago’s Harold Washington Library Center.
■ Unheard since its airing in 1991, here’s an audio tour of the library as it was then.
■ Today also marks 30 years of Fox News.
‘Time to talk about our nation’s tragic addiction to giant plastic skeletons.’ Columnist Rex Huppke—now sometimes posting independent of his USA Today column—says Americans have a problem.
■ ComicBook.com lists seven classic Halloween cartoons it considers “mandatory viewing for spooky season.”
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■ Mike Braden made this edition better.
* To whom your Chicago Public Square columnist owes a long career.
