Closing time. Vice President Harris plans to deliver this evening what her campaign is positioning as her “closing argument” to voters …
■ … and she’ll do it from a Very Special Place.
■ Notus: “An election cycle that began with questions about Donald Trump’s Dobbs problem is ending with questions about … Harris’ young men problem.”
‘The most misogynistic ad in the history of politics.’ That’s how Popular Information’s Judd Legum describes a commercial attacking Harris—funded by Elon Musk’s political action committee.
■ Robert Kuttner at The American Prospect on the curious case of Musk: “How did U.S. space and military communications programs become so dependent on one weird Trump ally whose actions border on treason?”
■ The Wall Street Journal (hard paywall): Musk-owned Twitter’s X’s algorithm is feeding users political content—whether they want it or not.
‘Let’s break down this modern-day Nazi hoedown, speaker by repellent speaker.’ LateNighter’s Dennis Perkins examines Trump’s hate-filled Sunday rally—through the lens of last night’s TV monologues.
■ Political analyst Nate Silver sees good news for Harris: Google searches for rally comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” surpassed those for Taylor Swift.
■ Illinois Republicans have been recoiling.
■ The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Will Bunch: “Do Americans who support … detention camps know what it would be like?”
■ The Onion: “Revised Citizenship Test Requires Immigrants To Name Every U.S. State Where They Not Welcome.”
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg: “I watched the rally, but missed the part at the end where they open the Ark of the Covenant.”
‘That’s riiiiight! I’m completely unhiiiinged! I admire Adolf Hiiiiitler! Did I ever tell you about Arnold Palmer’s peeeenis?’ Cartoonist Tom Tomorrow tours the Trump-haunted “MAGA House of Horror.”
■ MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen: “Don’t submit to the margin of terror.”
■ Daily Show alum Jessica Williams made a guest appearance last night to calm down an exasperated Jon Stewart …
■ … who’s agreed to extend his one-day-a-week gig with the show through the first year of the next president’s term.
Mass exodus. NPR reports The Washington Post has lost more than 200,000 subscribers since publisher and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos killed an editorial endorsement of Harris.
■ Post-mortem: CNN’s Brian Stelter reviews Bezos’ published defense of his eleventh-hour wimp-out.
■ Media Guild leader Matt Pearce: Bezos’ use of the word “we while blaming the newsroom for journalism’s trust problems is like an arsonist setting an old house on fire and blaming the wood.”
■ Press Watch columnist Dan Froomkin samples the more than 140,000 comments about the decision on the Post’s own website.
■ Columnist Eric Zorn ponders how to exact revenge on cowardly billionaires: “Maybe a massive one-week cancellation followed by a massive re-subscribe effort (at the lower introductory rates!) would … serve as a ‘don’t do this again’ warning.” (Cartoon: Alex Garcia / Media Moe.)
■ Platformer’s Casey Newton: “CEOs of America’s biggest platforms are playing nice with Trump. And it could come back to haunt them.”
■ The Baltimore Sun, now owned by reactionary Sinclair boss David Smith, has killed its features desk.
■ The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last: “The only way to build a media institution robust enough to stand against authoritarianism is for it to be … supported primarily by its readers.”
An election afire. Police suspect arson in fires set in two Pacific Northwest drop boxes, destroying hundreds of ballots.
■ Law professor and former U.S. prosecutor Joyce Vance: “Call this what it is: An attack on democracy.”
■ CWBChicago: A man who twice this year broke windows at Chicago’s Trump Tower tells police he does it whenever he sees the former president during a mental health episode.
Ready to get this thing over with? The updated Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide is here to help you make all the calls.
■ And then you can kick a vote or two Square’s way in the Reader’s Best of Chicago nominations.
‘Give the money back, or donate it.’ A Sun-Times editorial calls on Mayor Johnson to part with $150,000 donated to his campaign by Lil Durk—a rapper charged with plotting to kill one of his rivals.
■ A Tribune editorial condemns the mayor for “implicitly defending a major campaign contributor … being sought to answer to allegations of heinous behavior.”
Record warmth. Temperatures more than 20 degrees above average today have raised the Chicago area’s fire risk.
■ A new report warns Chicagoans’ heating bills could double under a program to replace Peoples Gas pipelines.
The More Things Change Dept. A Trib editorial today: “Johnson has a choice in his upcoming budget: Stick it to taxpayers or to city workers. Our advice: Don’t choose taxpayers.”
■ Coincidentally today, historian Heather Cox Richardson revisits a Trib editorial at the onset of the Great Depression: “Lay off teachers and government workers, and demand that those who remain accept lower wages.”
■ The mayor’s reportedly ready to push a property tax hike for next year’s budget.
■ WBEZ: Despite a hiring freeze, Johnson’s administration hired hundreds.
■ Added to his to-do list: Finding a new chief for the embattled Chicago Housing Authority.
Pepsi pooped. Without notice, the company shut down its South Side plant, laying off at least 79 workers.
■ A Teamsters leader calls the decision—and its timing—“despicable.”
AI, free. Apple’s unleashed a no-charge software update that brings a taste of artificial intelligence to the iPhone …
■ … but not if it’s an older model.
■ Updates also available for newer Mac computers and iPads.