Showtime / Sleeves up, kiddies / ‘A real s___ show’

Showtime. Promising never-seen video, never-heard audio and a “mountain of evidence,” the U.S. House Committee investigating the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, takes to primetime TV tonight at 7 p.m. Chicago time.
It’s the first in a series likely to last through July.
Protect Democracy policy advocate Grant Tudor warns that “Jan. 6” is dangerous shorthand for the real threat.
Keep an eye on retiring Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of the committee’s only two Republicans.
A Sun-Times editorial: You should watch, and then demand “a public reckoning and reforms to strengthen our democracy.”
Stephen Colbert’s Late Show goes live tonight after the proceedings.

‘Children decapitated.’ A Uvalde, Texas, pediatrician brought a congressional hearing room into stunned silence as he testified about the horrific school massacre there.
A fourth-grader who covered herself in a friend’s blood so as to appear dead told the committee, “I put it all over me and I just stayed quiet.”
The former FBI special agent who created the agency’s active shooter program after the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary: Kids should be trained that Job No. 1 in an attack is to run, not hide.
A benighted Texas congressman blames mass shootings on “overuse of these dang smartphones.”
The House nevertheless has approved a broad set of gun controls …
 … but … you know … the Senate.
In the first in-person late-night talk show appearance of his presidency, Joe Biden faced tough questions from Jimmy Kimmel, who pressed the president for an executive order on guns.

‘Attempting to murder or kidnap a U.S. judge.’ That’s the charge against a 26-year-old man arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home early yesterday.
The FBI last night raided the suspect’s home.
George Washington University law prof Jonathan Turley: In light of the murder last week of a Wisconsin judge at home, this arrest “shouldn’t surprise any of us.”

Sleeves up, kiddies. The feds have cleared pharmacies and state governments to order COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 …
 … possibly to become available after FDA approval next week.

Cop out. The Sun-Times reports that a Chicago police officer caught on video last summer bullying a Black woman walking her dog on the beach—a man who’d been the subject of 25 complaints, including three that were sustained—has quit before he could be disciplined.
The department’s initiative to engage in 1.5 million “positive community interactions” this year is up for an overhaul—amid concerns it just “encourages more unconstitutional stops.”

Money that could have been yours, taxpayers. The Canadian pension plans that acquired control of the Chicago Skyway under then-Mayor Richard M. Daley are looking to sell for $4 billion.

‘Ranting, sniping and fits of pique are not evidence of competent, confident leadership.’ Columnist Eric Zorn takes a dim view of Mayor Lightfoot’s reelection campaign theme.
Patch columnist Mark Konkol: “Retired Ald. Michael Scott Jr. wants his sister to replace him as 24th Ward boss … a classic Chicago clout play that keeps power in the same political family.”

‘A real s___ show.’ That’s how a Washington Post staffer describes an internal drama consuming the organization.
Columnist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls the national media’s take on California’s elections Tuesday “utter rubbish” that “makes my blood boil.”
Among the victims in layoffs at radio behemoth iHeartMedia: Iconic traffic reporter Bart Shore.

‘It is a virtually meaningless designation.’ Popular Information’s Judd Legum encourages investors to tread carefully when investing in stock funds focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
Morningstar’s global head of sustainable investing research, Jon Hale: “Why the right hates ESG.”
A new study rates Cook County’s popularity high among those moving across the country to escape climate change.

‘This disaster makes the case for letting this franchise go extinct.’ Critic Richard Roeper calls Jurassic World: Dominiontwo hours and 27 minutes of pure dinosaur droppings.”
It’s struggling on Metacritic, too.
An Arizona State University professor says Jurassic tales nevertheless carry cautionary lessons for real-world genetic engineers.

When shirts attack. Reader Gary Colabuono* chose a distinctive backdrop for his Chicago Public Square T-shirt selfie.
Support Square at any of these levels and get $5 off a shirt of your own.
Or just buy one.
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* Heard in this 1995 interview with your Square columnist.

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