MAGA-mind, explained. An anthropology professor offers five reasons people still back Donald Trump—despite, you know, everything.
■ Columnist and former Illinois Rep. Marie Newman fears MAGA is birthing female misogynists.
‘You really know how to flatter a lady.’ The Daily Show’s Desi Lydic is skeptical of Trump’s push to court women.
■ Columnist and MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen calls Trump’s message “skin-crawling.”
■ Chicago Public Square reader Pete Anderson writes: “‘You will no longer be abandoned, lonely or scared.’ Comforting words from a convicted sexual predator.”
■ Jimmy Kimmel’s wife and producer, whom Trump name-checked at a recent rally, took the stage during last night’s monologue to counsel Trump: “Spend all day, every day cheating at golf and masturbating to Newsmax, and let a competent woman take over.”
■ The American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson (no relation): “While campaigning for Catholic votes, Trump echoes the Klan.”
‘Political heroin dealer.’ Public Notice columnist David Lurie: Vice-presidential candidate JD Vance has become “a leading pusher of the cultural drug he once decried.”
■ Hassan Ali Kanu at The American Prospect: Scandal-scarred North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson is “plainly hateful and unhinged,” but he represents “the future of the Republican Party.”
‘A good president with a gun wouldn’t have stopped a mass killing in Birmingham.’ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch is unimpressed by Vice President Harris’ boast that she owns a gun: “People with guns in their home are more likely to get shot than those who do not.”
■ The American Prospect’s Rick Perlstein: “Presidential polls are no more reliable than they were a century ago. So why do they consume our political lives?”
‘The response ran 5-to-1 pro-immigrant.’ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg is sharing reader replies to his Monday request to “show me where the immigrants hurt you.”
■ Debbie Nathan at The Intercept: Stop calling immigrants “migrants.”
■ Community groups and government agencies have a plan for merging Chicago’s efforts to provide shelter for newly arrived immigrants and others without homes.
‘Writing postcards to voters works.’ Law professor Joyce Vance shares “a feel-good story.”
■ Yeah, but noting that state elections officials across the country have expressed concern about the U.S. Postal Service’s “ability to deliver election mail in a timely and accurate manner” under the leadership of Trump-appointed Louis DeJoy, the Los Angeles Times’ Michael Hiltzik asks “Why is DeJoy still in his job?”
‘They’re working to ensure the freedom to vote for the people of Chicago.’ A union official hails Chicago Board of Election employees’ move to unionize …
■ … but they say the board’s blocking the effort.
■ The AP talks to an expert about the worldwide movement toward a four-day workweek.
He ain’t goin’ nowhere. In commentary published by the Tribune, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez refuses Mayor Johnson’s demand that he quit: “Doing so would risk creating a leadership vacuum and instability that could disrupt the strategic progress we’ve made to date.”
■ A source in the mayor’s office describes the administration as “infuriated.”
■ Politico: Some of Chicago’s big names have aligned behind Martinez.
‘Why is Dorval Carter Jr. still head of the CTA?’ Trib columnist Laura Washington serves up “a burgeoning pile of reasons Chicagoans should wonder why this $376,000-a-year transit executive is still hanging onto his job.”
■ Also from the Trib: Chicago-area railroad track pedestrian crossings still lack basic safety measures.
Sex miseducation. Popular Information reports that Florida’s forbidding school districts from teaching students about contraception and consent.
■ Men Yell at Me columnist Lyz Lenz: An Iowa college is requiring faculty to report pregnant students.
■ More than 200 men and women have joined hundreds of others who’ve filed lawsuits asserting they were sexually abused as kids at Illinois juvenile detention centers.
‘I had never seen a more crowded hearing in my time covering Capitol Hill.’ Bloomberg’s Riley Griffin recaps yesterday’s showdown between Sen. Bernie Sanders and the CEO of the company charging U.S. patients more than those in any other country for the weight-loss drug Wegovy.
■ Sanders’ demand: “Stop ripping us off.”
‘All eyes will be on the agency to see how far it is willing to go to police recycling claims.’ A law professor examines the prospect of a Federal Trade Commission crackdown on what “recyclable” means.
■ Jimmy Kimmel on news that California’s suing Exxon Mobil for not recycling 95 percent of its plastic waste: “If you can’t trust a big oil company to protect the environment, then who can you trust?”
End zones. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the NFL are teaming up to designate football stadiums nationwide as official emergency shelters during disasters.
■ Chicago magazine: The guy leading Illinois’ energy transition is upbeat about the state’s climate change efforts.
CBS News layoffs. Former Evening News anchor Jeff Glor is among those out.
■ It’s the Democracy, Stupid columnist Jennifer Schulze: “The Olivia Nuzzi/ RFK Jr. scandal is part of a much larger media failure.”
■ Mark Jacob at Stop the Presses: “During the time Nuzzi was ‘personal’ with RFK Jr., she argued in a New York Times piece that the media was ‘ignoring something rather important’—Kennedy’s candidacy.”
Four stars. Critic Catey Sullivan praises the Goodman Theatre’s revival of the classic courtroom drama Inherit the Wind.
■ The Tribune’s Chris Jones sees the play as “a picture of a community under the stress of change.”
■ From another reader (who didn’t cancel): “Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump this, Trump that. Look at your posting. It’s all about Trump. … Why not focus more on the positive and hopeful future for our country?”
■ Every reader lost stings a bit. You can help ease the pain by recommending Square to a friend.
■ And of course, pitching in financial support—even just $1, once; via PayPal, if you prefer—is nice, too.
■ Patrick Olsen made this edition better.
A Square public service announcement
Square columnist Charlie Meyerson will be one of the evening’s storytellers.