Trump’s ‘bench slap.’ Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern say yesterday’s appeals court ruling denying Donald Trump’s absolute immunity for criminal prosecution over his role in the 2021 insurrection makes it harder for the Supreme Court to pull off the “craven move” of kicking the can down the road far enough to help Trump dodge accountability before the November election.
■ Jimmy Kimmel: “It was a devastating moment for Trump, especially when Melania started clapping.”
■ If Trump can’t persuade the justices to intervene, the case gets restarted at the trial court level.
■ Jimmy Fallon: “The Supreme Court hasn’t announced if they’ll hear the case, but Clarence Thomas announced that he’d like an Apple Vision Pro and Super Bowl tickets if they do.”
■ Law prof Joyce Vance: “You don’t need a fancy law degree to understand the principles at work here. … The president was never intended to assume the mantle of a king.”
■ It’ll be six days in prison for a suburban man who joined Trump yahoos storming the Capitol.
Ouch. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley lost in a blowout to “None of these candidates” in Nevada’s Trump-free primary.
■ Politico calls her showing “worse than you can imagine.”
■ PolitiFact slaps a False rating on Haley’s assertion that Texas could secede from the U.S.
■ The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes sees “a perfect storm” of Republican dysfunction: “It’s going to get a lot worse. Unfortunately, the collateral damage—for Ukraine, the Mideast, the border … our image in the world—is going to be immense.”
Whoops. Chicago’s efforts to keep protesters away from this summer’s Democratic National Convention has run afoul of a technicality—and so the Sun-Times reports that at least the Poor People’s Army will get to march to the sidewalk in front of the United Center.
■ Chicago’s firebrand Rev. Michael Pfleger wants Chicago to cancel the convention unless the Biden administration gives the city more cash to help the homeless.
‘We … regret … the unintended consequences of our actions.’ Add the board of directors overseeing Northwestern University’s student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, to the roster of those opposed to the filing of criminal charges against Black students who published a parody of the paper—accusing the university of being “complicit in genocide of Palestinians.”
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg: Mayor Johnson’s passage of a resolution calling for a Mideast ceasefire is not “the most antisemitic moment in Chicago mayoral history. Not even close.”
■ A cofounder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council calls Johnson’s tiebreaking vote “an act of genuine moral leadership.” (Chicago Tribune gift link courtesy of Chicago Public Square supporters.)
■ Ben Joravsky at The Reader: “Whether you liked the outcome or not, I think we’ll agree that Mayor Johnson masterfully orchestrated the City Council.”
■ Orland Park’s mayor rebuked those supporting a ceasefire resolution there: “You can … go to another country and support that country.”
■ Cease-fire or ceasefire? Merriam-Webster and Cambridge disagree, and—after weeks of waffling—Chicago Public Square’s going with Cambridge.
‘This verdict is gonna echo throughout every household in the country.’ The father of a student killed in a mass school attack in Michigan sadly hails the conviction of the shooter’s mom for failing to secure a gun at home and failing to get psychological help for her son.
■ A Dayton University law professor notes that 76% of the guns used in school shootings came from a parent or close relative.
‘This bill has juice.’ Politico’s Shia Kapos says legislation to raise Illinois’ miserly subminimum wage for tipped workers could be the real deal.
■ In line with a national trend, more than a quarter of Oak Park’s police positions are unfilled.
Wisconsin’s brainy breakthrough. University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have 3D-bioprinted functioning human brain tissue.
‘You know like when people are excited when a duck and a horse are friends? Well, for the record, I was the duck.’ A tearful and notably liberal Stephen Colbert recounts his friendship with musically and politically conservative country music star Toby Keith, who’s dead at 62.
■ See Colbert’s tearful and funny remembrance here.
■ See Colbert’s tearful and funny remembrance here.
Happy BBirthday. Chicago’s WBBM-AM yesterday marked its 100th birthday.
The end is near. We’re almost ready to wrap up this roll call of Chicago Public Square supporters. Chip in today—as little as $1, once—and see your name here tomorrow … just like these fine humans:
■ Stephen Brenner, Daniel Parker, Charles Pratt, Judy Davy, Andrew Thackray (again!), Aris Georgiadis, Sandra Slater, Stephen Schlesinger, Robert Toon, Martin Berg, Paul M. Moretta, Marjorie Huerta, Michael Kelly, Bridget Hatch, Jack Hafferkamp, Judy Karlov, Deborah J. Wess, Stephen J. ONeil, Christine Cupaiuolo, Michael Weiland, Paul Kungl, Craig Kaiser, Susan Karol, Barbara Heskett, Gregg Runburg, Sherry Nordstrom, Mike Fainman, David Weindling, Paul Zavagno, Andrew Nord, Sandy and Jeremy Lipschultz, Shel Lustig, Jean Remsen, Fredric Stein, Elaine Soloway, Deborah Montgomery, Lucy Smith, Bill Herbert, Jeff Hanneman, Linnea Crowther, Owen Youngman, Stephen Brown, Robert Alan Innocenzi, Daniel Forden, Ryan Bird, Edward Witt, Jeffery Angevine, Jen Purrenhage, Susan Benloucif, Ronald A. Fox, Stephanie Springsteen, Deb Humiston, Mary M. Jeans, Charlene Thomas, Paula Weinbaum, Maureen Kelly, Ron Magers, Michael Mini, Jan Menaker Brock, Julia Gray, John Robinson, Emily Gage, Kurt Wehrmeister, Steve Winner, Heather O’Reilly, Eric Davis, Jerry Delaney, Jon Hilkevitch, Lisa McNulty, Leo Bonnie Dohogne and Kathleen O’Brien.