'Total double standard' / 'Then they became prey' / Doughnut deals

‘Total double standard.’ In a tweet, President Trump asks why TBS hasn’t fired “no talent Samantha Bee” after her use of an offensive phrase to describe his daughter Ivanka.

Vulture: Bee’s Joke Isn’t the Same As Roseanne Barr’s Tweet.”
Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter: “Stop comparing an insult to a dehumanizing term used in oppressing Black people and sanctioning … slavery.”
Two companies have suspended their ads on Bee’s show.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid is under new pressure after the unearthing of more of her old blog posts.

‘Shutting up is an art form.’ So contends the Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg, who nevertheless accuses the president in a tweet of being “a liar, a bully, a fraud and most likely a traitor.”
Trump’s on track to have told 10,000 lies by the end of a full term.
New York: Trump Is Probing the Constitution for Weaknesses, and Finding Them.”

‘Then they became prey.’ A Tribune investigation finds hundreds of students across Chicago—no neighborhood spared—were subject to juvenile sexual assault and abuse over the last decade in the city’s public schools.
How reporting a teacher’s kiss and touch became a 14-year-old freshman’s ordeal.
Chicago Public Schools is cleaning house—dumping the woman in charge of keeping its house clean.

‘Does your husband know how lucky he is?’ That’s one of the come-on lines attributed to Illinois State Rep. Lou Lang, who’s quitting his role as deputy House majority leader amid an unfolding investigation into charges he blackmailed, sexually harassed and verbally abused an advocate for the medical marijuana industry.
A Tribune editorial: “The legislature’s formal ethics process … is broken.”

‘If a defiant, conniving Blagojevich leaves prison due to the whims of a defiant and ignorant president, that will be an outrage.’ The Tribune’s Eric Zorn weighs in on the possibility Trump may curtail the sentence of the “sleazy crook” who used to be Illinois’ governor.
A Sun-Times editorial concedes a conflict: “If Trump goes ahead with his plans, it actually would be a fair shake for Blagojevich, whose lawyer, Leonard Goodman, is an investor in our newspaper.”
The Tribune lists five things to know about federal clemency, including its ineffectiveness on state rulings—like the impeachment measure that banned Blagojevich from holding state office again.

Journalist’s fake death ‘may further erode trust in the media.’ Wired’s Louise Matsakis says Ukranian authorities’ effort to help Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko pretend he was dead could embolden Russia to tell more lies.
The Guardian: “When ‘fake news’ is the rallying cry of those seeking to bury facts … such injuries are more serious than ever.”

Doughnut deals. ABC7 runs down which stores are doing what to mark National Doughnut Day today.
That April Fool’s Day when Chicago Public Square went all-doughnuts.

Feeling moist? Chicago’s May set a rainfall record.
The Arab world could’ve used some of that.
Beware dangerous waves this weekend on Lake Michigan.


Corrections. The ever-vigilant Mike Braden spotted a couple of flaws in yesterday’s Chicago Public Square, including an extra word in the phrase “shot after leaving left a rap concert early Wednesday.”
… and over the course of an extended exchange about dramatic composition, he contended successfully that the question mark in the subhead “Wait— Sears still has 72 stores?” should have been italicized.
… but he failed to make a compelling case that the word “Sears” also merited italicization.
Spot an error in Square? Email Squerror@ChicagoPublicSquare.com.

Subscribe to Square.