Old white guys’ night. Politico’s Ryan Lizza reflects on Tuesday’s Democratic National Convention: “Two dead Republicans received more airtime than the most famous young person in the Democratic Party.”
■ Veteran journalist Charlie Madigan: “I don’t think the Democrats needed to trot out Bill Clinton … an asshole of the first order. … A whole army of enthusiastic, inspired and purposeful young people are waiting to move into place.”
■ Politico Illinois Playbook’s Shia Kapos lists six standout moments from Night Two.
■ From 1996: A radio recap of the week that was during the Democrats’ Chicago convention.
‘Think of what Trump is saying here.’ CNN’s Chris Cillizza says that, in attacking Michelle Obama’s acclaimed Monday night speech, the president dissed himself.
■ One reason broadcast networks are giving the Democrats just an hour a night: They don’t want to have to give more than that to Republicans’ re-coronation of President Trump.
■ New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman: “I will walk, I will jog, I will skip, I will crawl, I will slither, I will bike, I will hike, I will hitchhike, I will drive, I will ride, I will run, I will fly, I will roll, I will be rolled, I will be carried, I will trek, I will train, I will trot, I will truck, I will strut, I will float, I will boat, I will ramble, I will amble, I will march, I will bus, I will taxi, I will Uber, Lyft, scooter, skateboard or motorcycle … to my neighborhood polling station to see that my vote … is cast and counted on Nov. 3.”
■ Wonkette on news that the U.S. Postal Service “won’t be blowed up any more”: “Can’t you just smell the ass-covering?”
■ But the city’s water commissioner says plans are in the works to replace all Chicago’s lead water lines.
‘A message of intimidation and terror.’ Critics are sounding an alarm about an influx of surplus federal military gear a Tribune analysis shows has been acquired by Illinois police agencies since Trump lifted restrictions on the program.
■ Chicago’s police union says dozens of officers have been unfairly stripped of their powers during investigations into complaints filed since unrest washed over the city in May.
■ Gary, Indiana, police warn the public about a fake “Gary Police Departmnt” page on Facebook. (And yes, department is misspelled on that page.)
Welcome, Cheeseheads. Chicago’s removing Wisconsin from its pandemic quarantine list. But Iowa’s back.
■ Chicago schools’ all-remote learning plan is out: Live video for much of the day, letter grades for assignments, and attendance tracked daily.
■ Colleges giving up on in-person classes for the fall include Michigan State and Notre Dame …
■ … whose president’s decision to reopen campus, you may recall, won him praise as an “enterpriser” from Indiana Sen. Mike Braun, who encouraged local school leaders to follow Notre Dame’s lead and “take a little risk” by summoning kids back to classrooms. (Aug. 4 link.)
■ The Atlantic: Pandemic “long-haulers”—suffering from unpredictable symptoms for months—are redefining COVID-19.
■ Vox: This year’s flu shot may be your most important ever.
Newsrooms’ end. Newspapers across the country are abandoning physical office spaces, bringing a publishing era to a close.
■ Former Chicago Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski* tells The Washington Post it’s not all bad: “What’s the hesitancy about people living elsewhere?”
‘Brilliant.’ That’s Rolling Stone’s take on the first book by SiriusXM DJ (and alumnus of Chicago’s WBEZ and WNUA-FM**) Mark Ruffin: Bebop Fairy Tales, a short-story collection about justice and equality in baseball and music.
■ Ex-Cubs first baseman Mark Grace is out of the broadcast booth after denigrating his ex-wife during Saturday’s game.
■ The Charlotte Hornets NBA team has suspended its play-by-play guy after he tweeted the N-word … even though it pretty clearly was an autocorrection glitch.
Earth’s warmest ever? That temperature may have been recorded this week in Death Valley.
■ The Conversation: Heat waves are the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S.
■ Climate activist Greta Thunberg: Two years of inaction have cost “many lives and livelihoods … and this is only the very beginning.”
Correction. Yesterday’s Square misidentified what President Trump did for ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He commuted Blagojevich’s sentence. Thanks to Phil Vettel, first to catch the error.
■ Thanks to Marty Berg and John MacLeod for making this edition richer.
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* A former boss to your Square publisher.
** Where Ruffin was a colleague and friend to your Square publisher.