Help refugees. Columnist Steve Sheffey spotlights a Biden administration initiative—the Welcome Corps—that lets groups of five or more Americans sponsor a refugee or refugee family’s entrance to the U.S.
■ Here’s where to start—at least until a second Donald Trump administration kills it …
■ … a thing that could happen on Trump’s Day 1 back.
■ Loop North News: City Council members welcome the closing of a Chicago migrant shelter.
■ A contingent of Nazis paraded though a Columbus, Ohio, neighborhood Saturday, waving swastikas and shouting a racist slur …
■ … while carrying firearms.
Govs to the rescue? Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin lists Illinois’ JB Pritzker among “an extraordinary batch of Democratic governors … ready to both protect their residents from a reckless administration and offer an alternative vision that benefits average Americans.”
■ One suburban mayor is pledging “whatever it takes” to be ready for the worst of Trump’s policies.
■ The Tribune: A funding crunch has put the state’s after-school programs on the chopping block.
‘Trump may have jumped the shark.’ Columnist Brian Tyler Cohen says the president-elect’s choice of “vile character” Matt Gaetz as attorney general—seemingly to test congressional Republicans’ loyalty—could backfire: “If the GOP does not overwhelmingly confirm Gaetz … Trump’s bubble of invincibility and unchecked authority will be pierced in the first week of his presidency.”
■ Even though Public Notice says House Speaker Johnson could make Trump’s unchallenged “recess appointments” a reality …
■ … Politico says to expect “a very uncomfortable week” for Gaetz.
■ Law prof Joyce Vance: If the Republican-controlled House refuses to release its report on Gaetz’s alleged sex trafficking, the Senate “can certainly … hear from the same witnesses. … They could compile the information in the report even if they don’t get the report itself.”
■ PolitiFact: Is Gaetz “an accomplished attorney”? Well, he has argued at least seven cases.
■ In his Last Week Tonight season finale, John Oliver suggested that Gaetz’s high school class voted him “Most Likely to Not Be Allowed Within 500 Feet of Here” …
■ … and Oliver gleefully shared an environmental activist’s take on Gaetz: “All of our environmental laws are older than 18 years, so Rep. Gaetz shouldn’t have much interest in them.”
■ The Onion: “RFK Jr. Vows To Ban Soaps That Smell So Good You Eat A Little.”
‘A target for blackmail.’ Popular Information: 13 things everyone should know about Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth—including: “Hegseth is a serial philanderer.”
■ Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein says Trump’s administration picks are crazy, but to focus on their lack of “qualifications” is to ignore “the last 20 years of national security appointees … running U.S. foreign policy into the ground.”
■ Will Bunch at The Philadelphia Inquirer advances “the real reason Trump picked a sex fiend, dog killer and anti-vaxxer for his cabinet.”
■ Ex-New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan calls for retiring wimpy headline words like “controversial” and “provocative” to describe Trump’s dangerous behavior.
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “The grievance babies are just getting started. The MAGAsphere has never been treated so unfairly!”
Crunch time. The Washington Post: If the Senate OKs all the Biden administration’s remaining judicial nominees, Trump will have just 36 judicial vacancies to fill when he takes office, compared to 108 when he took office in 2017.
■ Law Dork Chris Geidner calls on President Biden to use his final days in office to clear the federal Death Row.
‘Not the moment to give up.’ Traditionally conservative columnist Charlie Sykes: “Logging off was healthy. But it’s time to re-engage.”
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg: “Half the country just didn’t give a damn. Well, if that worked for them before the election, maybe it’ll work for us after.”
Carrot quake. An E. coli outbreak has prompted the recall of bagged organic whole and baby carrots.
■ Here’s the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s full list of recalled brands.
Spirited away. The nation’s biggest budget airline, Spirit, has filed for bankruptcy.
■ Got a Spirit ticket? Be on the lookout for cancellations or schedule changes.
‘You are a stain on the universe. Please die.’ Google’s artificial intelligence, Gemini, threatened a Michigan college student.
■ Bloomberg: An AI chatbot “girlfriend” backfired for a Snapchat influencer.
■ Author and enshittification coiner Cory Doctorow: Fox godfather Rupert Murdoch’s Harpercollins wants authors to sign away their rights and let their work be used to train AIs.
‘Get off that shit.’ The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel calls on news organizations to abandon Twitter X: “Why is anyone working for Elon Musk for free? … Building a real audience is the media skill; figure that out and you’ll have a career.”
■ Poynter surveys at least three ways Trump could menace the news media.
■ The Associated Press is cutting about 8% of its staff …
■ … even as Semafor notes a post-election “Trump bump redux” for the news biz.
■ Despite a few subscription cancellations from dispirited readers, Chicago Public Square’s audience has grown a bit, and engagement—as gauged by opens and clicks—has remained stable …
■ … and, as this 2017 flashback explains, the nation’s state brings us back to where Square started.
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Snow? Chicago could get some before the week’s up.