Missed it by that much / ‘An ineffective CTA leader’ / Social rebellion

Missed it by that much. In a long-awaited report released just before midnight Chicago time, special counsel Jack Smith says the Justice Department could have convicted Donald Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 election—if only Trump hadn’t won in 2024 …
 … and concludes a conviction is still possible.
Norm Eisen at The Contrarian: “No matter how many times you read the facts … they never cease to be striking.”
The report—officially, just Volume 1—calls Trump’s claim that the investigation was influenced by politics “laughable.”
Read it here …
 … or, as Politico’s Adam Wren writes, “If you read just one paragraph from the report, make it this one.”

Illinois: Not so blue? Demand here for Trump inauguration tickets has exceeded supply.
The Village People, whose song “Y.M.C.A.” has long been considered a gay anthem, has accepted an invitation to perform for the inauguration.
As the clock ticks down to the end of the Biden administration, author and filmmaker Michael Moore writes, “Just f***in’ do your bucket list, Joe. You literally have nothing to lose.”

Showtime! Updating coverage: The nomination process for Trump’s cabinet picks has begun—today, with Senate hearings for his would-be defense secretary, scandal-scarred Pete Hegseth.
The New Yorker: Hegseth supporters have been intimidating witnesses.
The ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee says Hegseth is unqualified …
 … an assessment remarkably shared by a conservative talking head on Newsmax.
Wonkette: Inside the Pentagon, they’re debating what to do about “illegal orders from Cadet Bone Spurs.”
The American Prospect: The record of Trump’s choice for attorney general “reveals a comfort with basing prosecutorial discretion on money, power, and proximity to the president.”
Columnist Jamison Foser: “The Washington Post just endorsed 19 Trump nominees. Here are the five worst.”
Podcaster Dan Pfeiffer details “an enjoyable battle … between the hardcore MAGA wing of the GOP and the tech bros who helped finance Trump’s successful 2024 campaign.”

‘A money-making opportunity.’ Popular Information finds landlords looking to gouge victims of the Los Angeles fires …
 … which (updating coverage) aren’t over by a longshot.
Jimmy Kimmel, close to tears as he returned to the air in Los Angeles after a week’s cancellations, condemned “all the vile and irresponsible and stupid things our alleged future President and his gaggle of scumbags chose to say during our darkest and most terrifying hour.”
Stephen Colbert, mocking Republicans’ effort to tie political strings to aid for California: “That is an awful, awful way to respond to any emergency: ‘911, what’s in it for me?’”
Or, as the plainspoken Jeff Tiedrich puts it: “Evil Republican shitweasels set conditions on California aid.”
Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous: Trump’s appointees are “hot to destroy climate science.”

‘An ineffective CTA leader.’ A Tribune editorial sheds no tears at the retirement of CEO Dorval Carter Jr. …
Columnist Eric Zorn: “On further review, I’m OK with lowering the speed limit in Chicago to 25 mph.”

An Illinois first? Headed to the General Assembly this week: A groundbreaking bill that would fully decriminalize sex work.
A Cook County judge who shared a racist meme faces a state investigation.

Meet the new bosses. Chalkbeat Chicago introduces you to the city’s new Board of Education, to be sworn in tomorrow.
They take the reins of authority as a new report from the watchdog Civic Federation concludes the district is “on the financial brink”—and a state takeover isn’t out of the question.

Not so welcome. Starbucks is reversing a 2018 policy that admitted anyone for any reason—including use of a restroom; now, you gotta buy something.
Columnist Neil Steinberg ponders a backyard visitor: “The fox poked around, then quickly vanished, a dynamic I will emulate today.”

MSNBC shakeup. Days before Trump’s inauguration and ahead of plans to sever it from parent NBC, the channel’s boss is quitting …

Social rebellion. An influential group of business executives, celebrities and tech visionaries—including Friend of Chicago Public Square Cory Doctorow—is launching a new project, “Free Our Feeds,” to build a billionaire-proof social media ecosystem.
A Meta vice president and the parent of a nonbinary kid defends the company’s shift to allow more hateful speech: “I want nothing more than for my child to be … accepted. But … shutting down all speech I might find hurtful can have the opposite effect. At best, the lack of dialog changes no hearts.”
Coming from law professor Joyce Vance: “The Democracy Index,” a tool to help Americans track information they need to make up their own minds about the next Trump administration.

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Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.

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