■ Here’s Kinzinger’s video endorsement.
■ Biden today pardoned potentially thousands of ex-service members convicted under a since-repealed ban on consensual gay sex.
■ NOTUS: “Biden’s record is full of climate wins—so why don’t voters know it?”
‘CNN … doesn’t give a damn about the difference between truth and lies.’ Press watchdog Dan Froomkin says the network’s declaration that it won’t fact-check tomorrow’s presidential debate in real-time has signaled Donald Trump that “he can lie without the threat of consequences”—and means Biden will have to burn up his own time to refute Trump’s malarkey.
■ Ex-Chicago TV news exec Jennifer Schulze: CNN’s making “a terrible mistake.”
■ Hey, even reactionary Newsmax ran a disclaimer during a Trump interview (although Newsmax is being sued over previous lies).
■ The Washington Post: Trump’s pre-debate strategy has been to attack the moderators …
■ … and to claim that CNN’s decision will help Biden.
■ USA Today’s Rex Huppke expects Trump to bail on the debate: “He’s going to say he won, no matter what. Why bother showing up in the first place?”
■ A Republican politician’s suggestion that Biden’s debate handlers might “jack him up on Mountain Dew” sent media critic Mark Jacob down a rabbit hole researching that drink’s troubled history.
‘The worst primary night for Trump-endorsed GOP candidates all year’? That’s what Semafor’s Dave Weigel perceives in yesterday’s outcomes.
■ Mediaite: “Trump-Backed Candidates Faceplant.”
■ But the vote brought victory for Beetlejuice-vaping, Trump-loving Rep. Lauren Boebert and the first defeat for one of the members of the Democratic Party’s leftist “The Squad,” Jamaal Bowman.
‘Understand how urgent that oncoming darkness is.’ Law professor Joyce Vance encourages readers to dive into the Heritage Foundation’s—and Trump’s—“Project 2025.”
■ To begin, she recommends simply scrolling through the table of contents and picking the chapter that interests you the most.
Highland Park closure? Highland Park shooting suspect Robert E. Crimo III this morning was poised today to change his “not guilty” plea—possibly averting the automatic life sentence without parole that would follow a guilty verdict at trial.
■ Update, 10:41 a.m.: But then he didn’t.
A Supreme win. Siding with the Biden administration over Republican-led states, the Supreme Court today tossed out claims that the government exceeded its authority in fighting social media bullshit on the pandemic and election security.
■ In a case that could upend the prosecution of some corrupt Illinois politicians, the court overturned the bribery conviction of Portage, Indiana, Mayor James Snyder.
Early Childhood Department. Illinois is getting one, now that Gov. Pritzker has signed a new measure into law.
■ The governor says that, of all the ways government can improve people’s lives, early childhood programs deliver “the biggest payoff for … the lowest cost.”
Who talks Chicago? Block Club explores what a real “Chicago accent” sounds like.
■ That’s timely, ahead of tonight’s early drop of the full Season 3 of the celebrated Chicago-based series The Bear.
Check the freezer. The FDA’s announced a nationwide recall of 13 brands of ice cream—including Hershey’s and Friendly’s—potentially contaminated with the bacterium that causes listeria infections.
■ Scroll down this news release to see photos of the affected products.
■ The Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg celebrates a brand not being recalled.
A Square public service announcement
Know an aspiring young journalist? The Record North Shore will host its second Youth in Journalism Workshop—a one-week educational program in August—free for those aged 16–22 who want to learn more about the field. Apply here.
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.