‘Crude and racist’ / ‘Billionaire cowards’ / Netflix goes shareable

‘Crude and racist.’ In a rally that unmistakably echoed a 1939 Nazi fest at Madison Square Garden, Donald Trump gathered his faithful there for what his campaign portrayed as his “closing argument” to the voters.
Historian Heather Cox Richardson perceived an ominous message in Trump’s allusion to “our little secret”—possibly a plan to pull out victory in the House even if he dramatically loses the popular vote.
CNN’s Stephen Collinson calls it “the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history.”
Politico calls it “a political fiasco.”
The Daily Beast:It was also political suicide.”
Rolling Stone’s Mark Follman: “The ugly insanity … was inevitable.”
It wouldn’t have been a Trump rally without lie after lie.

‘A floating island of garbage.’ The Guardian: Racist remarks about Puerto Rico at the rally have put other Republican candidates in “damage control” mode …
Trump niece Mary L. Trump: “A nation of immigrants turns on them.”
Trump thrall JD Vance is defending the convicted felon’s vow to sic the U.S. military on Americans …
 … insisting that Trump is talking not about Democratic Party leaders but about dissenting Americans he described as “far-left lunatics.”
John Oliver took an ax last night to Trump’s deportation plans.

‘Allison.’ Trump keeps bestowing a woman’s first name on CNN anchor Anderson Cooper—one of the nation’s best-known gay journalists.
Columnist Neil Steinberg, looking back 50 years ago to the day President Ford signed a law giving women the right to their own credit cards, sees parallels to questions about women’s role in U.S. society today: “Can one be elected president? Should women be trusted to make their own reproductive choices?”

‘Billionaire cowards.’ Columnist Will Bunch at The Philadelphia Inquirer—which has ringingly endorsed Harris for president—says that, in killing editorials doing the same by their teams, the publishers of The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times have shown “what life under a dictator would feel like.”
Popular Information’s Judd Legum: “Is [Amazon founder and Post owner] Bezos now making decisions at The Washington Post to protect and enhance the value of his other enterprises? Many current and former employees of the Washington Post believe so.”
Post opinion columnist Michele Norris is quitting in protest.
Her colleague Dana Milbank: “Why I’m not quitting … and why I hope you don’t, either.”
The Post’s not shying away from the story—putting Bezos at the center of a piece headlined “Some billionaires, CEOs hedge bets as Trump vows retribution” …
 … and it’s documenting a wave of subscription cancellations.
Los Angeles Times staffer and Media Guild leader Matt Pearce: “Canceling subscriptions to billionaires’ newsrooms hurts the wrong people.”
Post satirist Alexandra Petri: “It has fallen to me, the humor columnist, to make our presidential endorsement. … Kamala Harris for president, because I like elections and want to keep having them.”
Cartoonist/columnist Jack Ohman envisions “All The President’s Men II: The Remake. Directed by Jeff Bezos.”
Former New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan: “Billionaires, pretty clearly, are not going to save us. Quite the opposite.”
Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob’s list of 2024 campaign heroes includes “journalists who quit cowardly publications.”

Harris’ closing argument. Pod Save America cohost Dan Pfeiffer looks ahead to the vice president’s speech tomorrow from the Ellipse on Washington’s National Mall—aptly, the same spot where Trump held his rally before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
In case you thought Illinois votes wouldn’t count much next week, the Tribune spotlights a state congressional race that could determine control of the U.S. House.

For What It’s Worth law blogger Jack Leyhane: The Illinois State Board of Elections posts on Twitter X are “really good.”
After you’ve tended to the serious stuff, send a nod Square’s way in the Reader’s Best of Chicago nominations.

The Quarter Pounder’s back. McDonald’s has returned it to the menu after the beef patties themselves have been ruled out as the source of E. coli poisoning.
Author Cory Doctorow celebrates a victory in “the bizarre war over the tragically fragile McFlurry machine.”

Netflix goes shareable. It’s added a feature to its iPhone app letting members bookmark a scene for later viewing and for posting to social media.
CNN’s Brian Stelter calls this “the clipping election,” where social media video excerpts are playing a role much more prominent than ever.

‘I think more than most people about how brittle Butterfingers are.’ Tedium’s Ernie Smith shares what he knows—including the product’s connection to candy corn.
Trick or treat: In what Notus calls perfect timing for the Trump campaign, Trump enabler Steve Bannon gets outta jail tomorrow.

Thanks … to those who turned out yesterday, in person or online, to hear your Square columnist take questions on “Journalism and the American Crisis” at Chicago’s Third Unitarian Church. You can hear an excerpt here.
Correction to that presentation: The phrase anticipatory obedience should have been attributed to Yale professor Timothy Snyder, who cut a YouTube video over the weekend.
Mike Braden made this edition better.

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