‘Close to criminal’ / ‘We’re #1’ / ‘Racism is at the heart’

‘Close to criminal.’ At CNN’s Thursday night “drive-in town hall,” Joe Biden repeatedly slammed President Trump’s failure to confront the pandemic.
A Washington Post fact-check finds Biden guilty of “an occasional whopper” during his appearance—like that time he said “I’m not making this up,” and he was indeed just making that up.
Politico: CNN gave Biden “kid-gloves” treatment—practically “a hero’s welcome.”
CNN’s Oliver Darcy: “The notion that Trump should be interviewed in the same fashion as Biden is absurd.”
A Sun-Times editorial: “Trump wants to defer payroll taxes because he thinks you are stupid.”
Trump and Biden both planned visits to Minnesota today.

TikTok block. Effective Sunday, the Trump administration is moving to outlaw downloads—and, eventually, virtually all use—of the Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat.
Here’s the Commerce Department’s official announcement.
Journalism professor Jeff Jarvis used TikTok last month for a concise condemnation of the president’s assault on TikTok: “He’s trying to cut off a tool of public speech.”

‘A politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service.’ Condemning the crippling of postal capacity across the country, a federal judge in Washington State is ordering a nationwide halt to Trump-era policies that threaten voting by mail.
ProPublica reports another threat to voting by mail: Poorly protected postal workers are catching COVID-19 by the thousands.

‘It will destroy our country.’ Condemning the Pulitzer-winning New York Times 1619 Project—and the illumination of Black contributions to American civilization it’s brought classrooms—Trump says he’ll create a commission to promote “patriotic education” and embrace a conservative-championed alternative, the “1776 Unites” curriculum.
Trending on Twitter after Trump’s remarks: #HitlerYouth and #TrumpYouth.
Trump’s attorney general, Bill Barr, has encouraged prosecutors to consider charging civil rights protesters with sedition—the incitement of violence to destroy or overthrow lawful authority. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
In Wisconsin yesterday, Trump worked to, in the AP’s words, “elevate cultural issues important to his generally whiter and older base.”
That Princess Bride virtual reunion Sunday raised $4.25 million for Wisconsin Democrats.

De facto defunding. Facing a budget crisis, Mayor Lightfoot is considering leaving a growing number of vacated Chicago Police Department jobs unfilled.
The city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability is under fire for not releasing police use-of-force video as quickly as required.

‘We’re #1.’
A suburban man is putting up a scoreboard facing a train station displaying an updating total of U.S. pandemic deaths. (Photo: Rae Goodman-Lucker.)
Another pandemic victim: A historic Chicago bowling alley enters its final frame Sept. 27, ending a 98-year run.
Van Morrison—the singer-songwriter who brought you “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Moondance” and “Gloria”—has written three new songs protesting pandemic lockdowns.

‘Racism is at the heart.’ Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady acknowledges historic factors that have contributed to Black Chicagoans’ likelihood to die almost nine years sooner than white Chicagoans.
The Sun-Times: Chicago officials knew of brain-damaging pollution in the dirt of a youth baseball field a year ago but didn’t tell the public.

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