Fiona Hill, badass. The New Yorker’s John Cassidy explains why Democrats chose a former National Security Council official to close out this round of impeachment hearings.
■ The Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet: Hill was “a teller of what she called the unfortunate truth.” (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ Sweet’s colleague Neil Steinberg addresses President Trump’s unapologetic backers: “Keep genuflecting to the greatest fraud, bully, liar, criminal and traitor to sit in the Oval Office. Or get off your knees and shuffle slowly over to the millions of Americans who stayed standing the whole time.”
■ Wall Street Journal columnist—and Ronald Reagan speechwriter—Peggy Noonan: “Trump’s Defenders Have No Defense.”
■ As public impeachment hearings take a break, The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer stresses the bottom line: “The high crime that the president has committed is not against Ukraine, but against America.”
■ Meanwhile in the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has launched a formal investigation into the Biden family’s Ukranian connections.
■ Trump’s unhinged “I want nothing” rant has been rendered into songs sung in the style of The Ramones, Morrissey and more.
■ The Onion: “Sweating, Grunting Mike Pence Straining To Rapture Himself Before Impeachment Inquiry Goes Any Further.”
Weed warnings. As Illinois’ legalization of recreational marijuana nears, Mayor Lightfoot is launching a new campaign spotlighting pot’s downsides.
■ The Tribune’s Eric Zorn blames the president for Illinoisans’ coming scramble to upgrade driver’s licenses to federal Real ID standards—even though Congress set the plan in motion 14 years ago.
‘I’m not sure how this is gonna play out.’ Cook County Board President Preckwinkle is hedging on whether she’ll ask for the resignation of a board member missing in action for eight weeks—since the feds raided the office he also holds as a suburban mayor.
■ The County Board has a new budget—with no tax or fee increases.
■ Often at odds, Preckwinkle and Chicago Mayor Lightfoot agree on one thing.
Ding. Amazon’s Ring doorbells were exposing Wi-Fi passwords.
■ Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is under fire for meeting secretly with Trump last month.
Ho, ho, hold on. The CTA holiday train is warming up for another season.
■ Chicago’s official Christmas tree gets lit in Millennium Park tonight at 6—with fireworks to follow.
■ But beware falling light poles.
■ One woman is decorating a stretch of Division Street all by herself—and refusing help to do it.
■ Chicago Public Square owes its continued existence to readers whose support keeps Chicago’s best blog coming your way—including Marc Blesoff, Doug Strubel, Don Kumler, Denise Mattson, Deb Abrahamson, David Weindling and David Mendell. Please consider joining them for a few cents a day.
■ Thanks to reader Lee Coleman for untangling a double-negative knot in yesterday’s edition.