‘It’d be hard to resist.’ Gov. Pritzker tells CNN he’d consider becoming Kamala Harris’ running mate if he got the call …
■ He’s one of 12 reportedly on Harris’ shortlist.
■ Politico’s Shia Kapos: “It seems a long shot. … But Pritzker brings a lot to the table.”
■ A Tribune editorial calls on Democrats to nominate their ticket live on the Chicago convention floor instead of via virtual vote beforehand.
■ WTTW: Anticipating possible mass arrests during the convention, Cook County’s opening a new court facility and clearing judges’ schedules.
‘Especially brutal and personal.’ That’s the AP’s take [link added] on Donald Trump’s first rally since President Biden dropped out—a rant brimming with new insults for Harris.
■ Press critic Dan Froomkin: “The New York Times casts Trump’s racist and misogynistic response … as inevitable, rather than as a deliberate choice.”
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Now he’s got to run against that black lady—and everybody loves the black lady. It’s so unfair.”
■ Vanity Fair contributing editor and former Tribune TV critic Maureen Ryan braces for the unmasking in the weeks ahead of “a lot more … racist, sexist shitlords.”
■ Popular Information examines the impact of Trump’s commitment to a corporate tax cut if he’s reelected.
■ Columnist and ex-U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich spotlights Elon Musk’s support for Trump—“the Mump,” he calls it—and suggests a boycott of Musk’s companies.
■ Journalism professor Jeff Jarvis shares a pissing match with an MSNBC reporter over her assemblage of a #sowhite focus group of Wisconsin voters.
‘Do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy?’ In his historic first speech since dropping out, Biden warned about Trump—without naming him.
■ Here’s a transcript of Biden’s address, in which he vowed to spend the next six months “doing my job as president.”
■ Columnist Ken Klippenstein makes the case for Biden quitting now, giving Harris time to “demonstrate her fitness for the Oval Office”—and to render moot questions about whether a woman is ready to be president.
■ The Daily Beast: Why the veteran Democrats who host Pod Save America refused to cover for Biden after that disastrous debate showing.
■ Stephen Colbert last night: “I’m a little bit worried—because since Sunday afternoon, I haven’t been that worried.”
■ The Hollywood Reporter: HBO’s Veep is viral—again.
‘Mostly false.’ That’s PolitiFact’s assessment of Republicans’ labeling of Harris as the Biden administration’s “border czar” …
■ … and also its rating of Harris’ assertion that their Project 2025 calls for restricting “access to IVF and contraception.”
■ CNN: She wrongly described Project 2025’s blueprint for Social Security.
‘How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?’ The FBI director says the gunman who nearly got Trump July 13 googled that phrase a week before the shooting …
■ … and he flew a drone around the area two hours before Trump began speaking.
Stark contrast. Comparing congressional reaction to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech with emotions outside the Capitol, Zeteo’s Prem Thakker perceives a big gap between the American people and those in power.
■ Three Illinois lawmakers skipped the address …
■ … instead to meet with families of hostages held in Gaza, who condemned Netanyahu for not discussing ceasefire terms.
COVID comeback. It’s on the rise again in Chicago.
■ Block Club: Drugstores’ closures are creating “pharmacy deserts” in the city.
■ CVS and its pharmacy benefits arm, Caremark, reportedly have agreed to pay Illinois at least $45 million to settle charges it cheated the state out of drugmakers’ rebates.
■ Bloomberg: Poorly trained nurse practitioners, often now at the center of U.S. health care, are imperiling patients.
■ The Arm and a Leg podcast about healthcare wants to see your hospital bills.
Southwest Airlines’ revolutionary changes. It’s abandoning open seating, offering premium seating and adding overnight flights.
■ It ends a more-than-50-year tradition.
Sorry for the global chaos. Here’s $10. CrowdStrike, whose Windows software upgrade last week generated blue screens of death for governments, businesses and, you know, regular humans worldwide, has been sending its clients $10 Uber Eats gift cards …
■ … and lots of them didn’t work.
■ Somone stole computers potentially rich with confidential information from Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office.
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