The dead and the fired. A police officer has become the fifth to die as a result of a Trump-supporting mob’s storming of the Capitol.
■ Across the country, people identified as part of the mob are losing their jobs …
■ … including a Chicago real estate agent.
■ Two Chicago-area men are among those arrested in D.C.
■ The New York Times: “The mob that rampaged the halls of Congress included infamous white supremacists and conspiracy theorists” …
■ … whose dress code and banners backing seemingly lost causes echoed post-Soviet uprisings.
■ Tribune columnist Paul Sullivan wonders if the Cubs ownership’s close ties to Trump will come home to roost at Wrigley.
‘Stoked in plain sight.’ ProPublica: “Capitol Rioters Planned for Weeks in Plain Sight. The Police Weren’t Ready.”
■ PolitiFact: No evidence “Capitol Police granted rioters access to the building or that they were ‘in on’ the breach.”
■ Politico: “The kid-glove treatment pro-Trump rioters got … compared to the badgering that Black Lives Matters protesters received … wasn’t lost on Illinois lawmakers working on police reforms.”
■ Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx sees links with the protests outside her office almost two years ago.
■ Exhibit A: Those Foxx protests were attended by Chicago police union leader John Catanzara, who’s still spouting bullshit about the presidential election.
Trump recants. In a statement delivered with all the sincerity of a hostage video, the president has conceded he won’t have a second term.
■ The Onion: “‘I’ve Been Selfish And Arrogant, And I Apologize,’ Says Content, Mentally Healthy Trump Minutes After Social Media Ban.” (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ Democrats are pondering quickie impeachment for a president Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff calls a “danger to the Republic.”
■ But Trump is reportedly considering pardoning himself.
■ Trump-loving Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s mentor, a former U.S. senator, blames Hawley for the riot and calls backing him “the worst mistake I ever made.”
■ A Kansas City Star editorial: “If Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley had a conscience, he’d resign. He’ll have to be removed.”
‘You feed this garbage.’ A New Jersey assemblyman is turning the spotlight on Comcast and other cable companies that have helped “news” channels like One America, Newsmax and Fox News spread falsehoods about the election.
■ CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter says the nation’s biggest cable operators have refused to answer questions about their responsibility for distributing nonsense.
■ Wired: “Mark Zuckerberg Has Had Enough of Trump” …
■ … but Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky has had enough of Zuckerberg.
■ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg: “The fantasy crowd has always been among us. The internet makes it easier for them to find each other, that’s all.”
Merrick Garland’s history lesson. Named by President-elect Biden to head the Justice Department, the Chicago-area native reminded the nation of the department’s original post-Civil War mission: “To ensure civil rights, which were under militant attack.”
■ Biden’s charge to Garland: “You won’t work for me. You are not the president or the vice president’s lawyer. Your loyalty is … to the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation, to guarantee justice.”
$2.5 billion—but no jail. A settlement the U.S. House Transportation Committee chair calls “a slap on the wrist” will get Chicago-based Boeing off the hook for its 737 Max planes, whose flaws contributed to the deaths of hundreds.
■ Despite the charges’ criminal nature, no one’s headed to prison.
■ Ex-Chicago Ald. Proco Joe Moreno is off to jail for a drunk-driving incident that didn’t kill anyone.
Meanwhile in Illinois …
■ The number of coronavirus cases in the state since the start of the pandemic topped 1 million Thursday—as more than 4,000 died nationwide.
■ Another Gap store is closing in Chicago—this one, in Water Tower Place.
■ Chicago’s historic Southport Lanes bowling alley may not be dead after all.
■ Wanna be appointed a Cook County judge? Here’s how.
Quiback. Roku’s landed rights to dozens of shows created for the failed mobile “quick bites” video streaming service Quibi and plans to stream them for free.
■ Best line in NBC’s Mr. Mayor premiere: “Why are you wearing flip-flops?” “They’re prescription. I have podiatric claustrophobia.”
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Graham Crackers is a Chicago Public Square advertiser.
Thanks to Pam Spiegel for some typographical housecleaning this go-round.