The worst was to come. After a relatively mild—but nevertheless factually flawed—inaugural address …
■ … including a passage that author and columnist James Fallows considers “the absolutely stupidest part” …
■ … and another that columnist Eric Zorn said displayed “an unbecoming arrogance” …
■ … President Donald Trump delivered what the Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet says was “a much more candid—meaning more grievance-fueled” speech that he said his advisers didn’t want him to give at the main event.
■ Like the actual inaugural address, it, too, was loaded with lies.
■ The Onion: “Confused Trump Autographs Swearing-In Bible Before Handing It Back To Justice Roberts.”
Then came the executive orders. Trump repealed dozens of Biden administration actions and policies …
■ … including what Law Dork Chris Geidner calls a “clearly unconstitutional … effort to restrict birthright citizenship” …
■ … a thing that Illinois’ governor and attorney general say they will resist.
■ Hundreds turned out to protest yesterday in Chicago.
■ Bill Kristol at The Bulwark: Trump “swore that he would … ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ He spent the rest of the day violating that oath.”
Pardonpalooza. Trump granted clemency to more than 1,500 of his supporters who stormed the Capitol five years ago …
■ … including more than 50 from Illinois.
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg: “So much for law and order.”
■ Pulitzer winner Gene Weingarten: “‘Crime committed in my name … is OK,’ Trump seems to be saying.”
■ Former Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger: “Trump pardons ‘his’ thugs.”
■ Veteran Chicago and network reporter Jeff Kamen fears those pardons “will dramatically increase the number of new recruits to Nazi … and other antigovernment extremist groups.”
■ Talking Points Memo: “The Jan. 6 coup attempt is finally complete.”
‘YOU’RE FIRED.’ Late last night, Trump tactlessly announced some high-profile dismissals.
■ Also out: The woman who’s headed the Coast Guard.
■ He’s ordering federal workers back to the office.
■ Do you work for the federal government? ProPublica wants to hear from you.
■ Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob: “How to know if you’re living in a dictatorship.”
Earlier Monday … Departing President Biden issued a final round of pardons …
■ … including one for Leonard Peltier, an indigenous activist who Wonkette’s Robyn Pennacchia says “has been imprisoned for 50 years for a crime he almost definitely did not commit” …
■ … and other Biden pardons for members of his administration who haven’t even been investigated—in what the AP says “lays the groundwork for an even more expansive use of pardons by Trump.”
■ Daily Show host Jon Stewart’s takeaway on the whole day: “A man who tried to overthrow the government has been peacefully handed the reins of power, and the outgoing president has started a new tradition of blanket pardoning everyone in his orbit. The two men created a magnificent snake sucking its own dick, a cycle of no accountability.”
Speaking of Nazis … They’re positively thrilled by Trump ally Elon Musk’s “Sieg Heil”-style salutes …
■ … a thing that Marisa Kabas at The Handbasket says corporate news organizations and the Anti-Defamation League “were all too willing to … gloss over.”
■ Law professor Joyce Vance remarks on five powerful CEOs’ presence at the inauguration: “Trump seemed to be intent on demonstrating his ability to bring the powerful to heel.”
■ The American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson (no relation): “Like Nosferatu, Trump arrives—loosing the world’s richest rats on his country.”
■ Popular Information’s launched a sibling newsletter: Musk Watch, “dedicated to covering Musk’s frenetic business and political activities.”
Journalists at bay. Media watcher Oliver Darcy, searching closed captioning for TV networks’ “hours and hours of special coverage” yesterday, finds that—with the exception of MSNBC—they “almost entirely avoided using terms like ‘twice-impeached’ or ‘convicted felon’” (an account sadly behind a paywall).
■ Everyone Is Entitled to My Own Opinion proprietor Jeff Tiedrich: “Based on their coverage of the events around Donny Convict’s first day in office, it looks like the media is going to keep right on failing us.”
■ Late Night host Seth Meyers after pretending celebrity gossip was the day’s big news: “Oh sh*t, right—Donald Trump’s now the president of the United States. F*ck me.”
The ‘largest housing discrimination case in Illinois history.’ A human rights group has filed a load of complaints with the state, accusing real estate agents, brokerage firms and landlords of routinely rejecting renters who sought to use housing vouchers.
■ Axios says Illinois ranks fourth in the U.S. for “Do Not Call” complaints to the FTC.
R.I.P. Cartoonist, author and screenwriter Jules Feiffer is dead at 95.
■ He illustrated one of your Chicago Public Square columnist’s favorite books ever (2013 link).
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■ Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.