Money and media. A Washington Post profile reveals that the CEO of Politico’s new owner, Axel Springer, sent an email to his top executives in the fall of 2020 suggesting they gather to “pray that Donald Trump will again become President of the United States of America.”
■ Popular Information: One of the first major hires by CNN’s new CEO casts a shadow over his pledge for more “objective” programming.
■ ProPublica and The Lever: A Chicago electronics magnate’s “attack philanthropy” strategy has for years secretly funded climate denialism, the right-wing judicial pipeline and other reactionary causes.
Hi, there. The names of hundreds of U.S. cops, elected officials and soldiers appear on the leaked membership rolls of the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers …
■ … including an Illinois county board member who offered help along these lines: “Military training … knowledge and enforcement of State and local laws. Graduate of FBI basic SWAT, and FBI advanced SWAT schools. Graduate of Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command.”
Denialism rising. FiveThirtyEight finds more than one in two Americans will face a ballot this fall featuring at least one candidate who’s refuted (correction) disputed the 2020 election’s legitimacy …
■ … and that includes Illinoisans.
■ Speaking of whom: Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey wants the state death penalty back. (Cartoon: Mattie Lubchansky at The Nib.)
■ Fatalistic economist Umair Haque is unusually upbeat: “Joe Biden’s electrifying America—and the new stance the Democrats have taken, finally fighting for democracy, modernity, progress, is too.”
‘What’s good for the Otero County Commission ought to be good for the Congress of the United States.’ Esquire columnist Charlie Pierce celebrates a New Mexico court’s banning of county commissioner and Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin from holding public office …
■ Columnist Robert Reich calls the ruling “historic.”
‘Shady as fuck.’ Vanity Fair’s Bess Levin boils down legal experts’ analysis of a federal judge’s “absurdly deferential ruling” in favor of Trump’s request for a “special master” to review the 11,000 government documents seized from Mar-a-Lago—blocking prosecutors from using those papers in their investigation until that review’s complete.
■ The Washington Post: The raid discovered a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses—including its nuclear capabilities.
■ Stephen Colbert rejects Trump defenders’ claim that empty folders marked classified were always empty and so no big deal: “Much in the same way finding condoms in your wife’s purse is upsetting, but finding empty condom wrappers in your wife’s purse is fine.”
Cash incoming. Beginning next week, the Illinois Family Relief Plan will dispatch rebates to qualifying Illinoisans who paid income and property taxes for 2021.
■ Check on your rebate here.
Ouch. One of Chicago’s departing City Council members, Susan Sadlowski Garza, lumps Mayor Lightfoot in with “people that use you and throw you away like a piece of paper towel.”
■ Add City Council member Howard Brookins Jr. to the roster of the departing.
■ At least 15 council members have declined automatic pay raises tied to inflation.
Still kinda mysterious. Chicago’s Dirksen Federal Courthouse was open again today after a Monday closure attributed only to “building-wide system failures.”
■ A ransomware attack on the country’s second-largest school system—the Los Angeles Unified School District—spotlights public education’s lousy cybersecurity.
Vaccine-ready? Vaccines.gov will help you find the new booster near you.
■ Or check a Chicago-centric map.
■ Chicago’s top doc: “Please don’t think … ‘I’m really tired of COVID. I don’t need to do anything.’”
‘Hello, bar of soap.’ The Bears’ speculative rendering of a new home in Arlington Heights is drawing mockery.
■ Here’s the team’s still-vague “open letter” media kit.
■ Potential neighbors are unimpressed.
■ The team hosts a public meeting (correction) Thursday night at John Hersey High School.
‘Never fracture your femur. It is very painful.’ On-leave WXRT DJ Lin Brehmer updates his treatment for prostate cancer and its complications.
Thanks. Debi Gordon and Bill Smith made this edition better.