‘Lunatic fringe.’ Gov. Pritzker minced few words yesterday in blasting Republican Party leadership.
■ Lumping challenger Darren Bailey with Donald Trump, Pritzker said that “they’ll say anything, do anything, destroy anything to get elected.”
■ Ex-Vice President Pence on Republicans’ reaction to the raid at Trump’s Florida home: “Attacks on the FBI must stop.”
■ Pence indicates he’s open to testifying to the Jan. 6 committee.
■ Charlie Pierce at Esquire: “Has he been worried about alienating the people who wanted to kill him that day?”
■ Two Illinois sisters—one from Chicago, one from Elmhurst—have pleaded guilty in the Capitol insurrection. (Image: FBI.)
■ Cheney says she’ll do “whatever it takes” to defeat Trump …
■ … whose political fundraising, The Washington Post reports, surged to more than $1 million a day after the raid.
24 hours, 6 kids shot. Gunfire Wednesday left a 15-year-old dead, a 6-year-old in critical condition and at least four others wounded.
■ Columnist Eric Zorn says Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s use of motherfucker was “the perfect word to describe the … jerks … who simper and sneer and nitpick at the anguish and rage so many of us feel about the serene indifference so many gun-rights activists exhibit to the sickening levels of gun violence in our society.”
Dangerous Chicago. A second tragedy within days left one man critically hurt and another missing in the Lake Michigan shoreline spot known as the Playpen.
■ Bicyclists are raising a flag about drivers who park in bike lanes for days, forcing bikes into traffic.
Cleaner trains. Metra’s planning to convert six of its oldest diesel locomotives to battery power.
■ Dodge is sounding the death knell for gas-powered muscle cars.
■ Have you joined a community solar program to save on your electric bill? Tribune reporter Nara Schoenberg wants to hear from you.
For you, a measly $5. Aiming to put a bribery scheme behind it, ComEd plans to rebate $38 million to its customers.
■ The Daily Show takes a devastating look at the relatively historically new racket that is bank overdraft fees.
■ Bank of America brags that its overdraft revenue has dropped 90% from a year ago.
■ A new episode of the Arm and a Leg podcast spotlights a nonprofit aiming to boil down medical-bill negotiation to a science.
‘Might be the most devastatingly critical book review I’ve ever read.’ Poynter’s Tom Jones (middle of today’s column) reviews The New York Times’ review of ex-first son-in-law Jared Kushner’s new book.
■ This line alone has gone viral: “Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog’s eye goo.”
Eyeball game. As of last month—for the first time—Variety reports, “Americans now watch more stuff on TV from streaming services than either broadcast or cable.”
■ Critic Richard Roeper gives three stars to Disney+’s “silly but always entertaining” She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Sometimes, Chicago Public Square readers are surprising. Would you have guessed the most popular link in yesterday’s edition—triple the taps on the second-most-tapped link—would be this?
■ In which case, here’s the extended version …
■ … and the subsequent interview with Better Call Saul stars Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn.
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■ Pam Spiegel made this edition better.