‘Punishable by DEATH.’ President Trump’s on the rampage over a video posted to the web by half a dozen Democratic lawmakers—all veterans of the armed services and intelligence community—calling on the U.S. military to defy unconstitutional “illegal orders.”
■ PolitiFact: Legal experts say Trump’s sedition accusation doesn’t hold up.
■ Law prof Joyce Vance disputs Trump’s assertion: “George Washington would not have hanged them.”
■ Columnist Mary Geddry: “The man who pardoned 1,600 insurrectionists says we’re the traitors.”
■ The anonymously bylined What Did Trump Do Today?: “Nothing says ‘healthy democracy’ like publicly fantasizing about executing political opponents.”
■ Sen. Elizabeth Warren to Stephen Colbert last night: “He picked the wrong set of people to try to intimidate.”
■ On further review, the Coast Guard has reversed a decision to relax rules against hate symbols including swastikas and nooses.
■ Wonkette dissects what might have been “the weakest week of Donald Trump’s second weak presidency.”
Busted. In a 233-page report (read it here), U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis rips into Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ lies and cover-ups regarding their arrests in Chicago.
■ One legal expert’s reaction to the judge’s findings: “WOW.”
■ In another Chicago courtroom, Judge Gabriel Fuentes laid into federal prosecutors as they dropped the last of five now-dismissed prosecutions tied to September protests in Broadview.
■ An appeals court has stalled freedom for hundreds of migrants arrested in Illinois.
‘I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes.’ Trump’s Justice Department is retreating on charges against a woman shot several times by a Border Patrol agent last month in Chicago—in part because the agent who did it bragged to his comrades about his marksmanship.
■ Law Dork Chris Geidner: A federal judge has ruled that Trump’s D.C. troop invasion is likely illegal and needs to end by Dec. 11.
■ Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week: Lindsey Halligan, the lawyer prosecuting ex-FBI chief James Comey—who admits she never showed a grand jury the final indictment before it was signed and submitted to a judge.
‘Accused of the crime of working.’ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg surveys the impact ICE’s blitz on Chicago has had on the landscaping business.
■ The AP: “A Chicago street vendor couple has a defiant response to immigration arrests: Stick to the routine.”
■ Also: “Chicago’s immigration crackdown is being documented, one jarring phone video at a time.”
■ A Chicago City Council member writes for the Tribune: “Chicago is under no obligation to do business with any company that helps the conduct of these out-of-control agencies.”
Ouch. An off-duty Chicago cop on probationary status was listed in good condition after accidentally shooting himself in the testicles.
■ Mayor Johnson calls the case of a man accused of setting a woman on fire on a CTA Blue Line train an “absolute failure” of the criminal justice and mental health systems …
■ … and an incentive to expedite $1.5 billion in state funding for mass transit—a package that includes cash for mental health services.
■ A Trib editorial (gift link): “What happened … cannot simply be treated as a single act. It’s part of a pattern of violence, often random in nature, playing out on trains, buses and transit stops.”
Last Republican standing … sits. The Cook County Board’s sole Republican commissioner, Sean Morrison, says he won’t seek reelection.
■ He joined his Democratic colleagues in approving a new budget that Board President Toni Preckwinkle says shores up county finances ahead of Trump administration cuts to the Affordable Care Act and other public health funding.
■ The American Prospect: “Panic tears through U.S. as health insurance costs spike.”
■ Journalist and filmmaker Steven Beschloss: Trump’s “increasingly transparent BS isn’t working as Americans struggle to make ends meet.”
‘Part of CDC flatlined.’ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina mourns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s publication of false claims about vaccines and autism …
■ … specifically, a website changed to contradict the longtime scientific conclusion that vaccines do not cause autism.
‘Demolition of the neighborhood’s historic fabric.’ Count the civic organization Preservation Chicago among those disappointed in Chicago Plan Commission approval of the demolition of century-old residential buildings to make way for a DePaul University basketball practice facility.
■ Those buildings made Preservation Chicago’s “Most Endangered” list for 2024.
Hey, 75% is passing, right? Your Chicago Public Square columnist scored 6/8 on this week’s news quiz from The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.
■ Coming next week: A pre-Thanksgiving “nice news” edition.
‘I’ll go when you go.’ Jimmy Kimmel’s not backing down in the face of Trump’s repeated demands he be fired …
■ … adding: “If I may borrow a phrase from you: Quiet, piggy!”
‘Extraneous turkey parts … that bored employees at the meat-processing plant like to put inside turkeys as a prank.’ Pulitzer winner Dave Barry has a few cautionary notes about … giblets.
■ It’s National Stuffing Day.
■ Wirecutter rounds up “hundreds of gems” among the early Black Friday deals.
Elon Musk ‘could drink piss better than any human in history.’ The world’s richest man’s answer to Wikipedia has gone—the Grok chatbot—has gone absolutely bonkers for its creator …
■ … declaring that he is, in 404 Media’s words, “a better role model than Jesus, better at conquering Europe than Hitler, the greatest blowjob giver of all time … and … a better porn star than Riley Reid.”
‘The Onion crossed a line.’ Reader Becky Brofman writes about an item linked from yesterday’s Square: “Suggesting suicide even in jest is never appropriate. [Ex-Harvard President Larry Summers] may be scum, but his family doesn’t need any more humiliation.”
■ Yesterday’s edition also misidentified the location of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and misspelled Daily Show host Ronny Chieng’s name.
■ Making mistakes hurts; having readers who care enough to take the time to set things right is cool.
We promise: The 2,000th edition of Square is coming. But after sifting through almost nine years of this newsletter and discounting nonstandard dispatches like “On vacation,” “On vacation, but here’s a quiz,” “Don’t forget to vote for Square in the Reader’s Best of Chicago poll” (Will we make it again this year? We’ll find out next month) and corrected editions, No. 2,000 turns out to be a little further off than we thought.
■ Still, you know, that milestone would never be reached if not for support over the years from readers including Amy Parker, Sue Zablocki, Ruth Hroncich, Bonnie Saunders, Suzanne Ross, Lynn Rappaport, Tom Wethekam, Rick Hutt, Paul Crossey, Deborah J. Wess, Liz Strause, Kevin Lampe, Ken Shiner, Margaret Benson, Mary Greenwald, Bruce Steinberg, Ken Stroble, Judy Hoffman, Robert Toon, David Protess, David Layden, Kermit Carlson, Charles Pratt, Louise Dimiceli-Mitran, Tom Revord, Darold Barnum, Sandy Kaczmarski, Debbie Becker, Paul Engman, Chris Beck, Mike Fainman, Ben Goldgar, Andrew Thackray, Karen Klickman, Jonathan Yenkin, Sofia Marcovici, Justin Schroeder, Collin Canright, Mike Barzacchini, Diane Scott, Deborah Montgomery, Christine Mackey, Robert A. Shipley, Marlen Garcia, Terri Lonier, Maggie Ellsworth, Mark Thurow, Janet Holden, Gil Herman, MJ Garnier, David Leonard, Jennifer Fardy, Mark Miller, Lynne Stiefel, Robert Clifford, Athene C, Kevin Hendricks, In memoriam: Marianne Matthews, Joan Richmond, Emily Blum, Robert S. Gold, Deborah Stone, Doreen Rice, David Green, Annette Cade, Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin, Deb Humiston, Orin Day, Shel Lustig, Charles Marker, Carolyn Grisko, Matt Griffin, Aya A, Paul M. Moretta, Ann Tanner, Allen Matthews, Marie Dillon, Cory Brown, David Boulanger, Paul Teodo, M. Braun, Deborah Murphy, Mollie Kramer, Cindy Homan, Riva Reed, Ron Castan, Tim Colburn, Rebecca Ewan, John Aerni, Mary Piper-Stanwyck, Patrick Stout, John Jaramillo, Tom Barnes, Linnea Crowther, Jeanne Mcinerney, Tim Woods, Maureen Stratton, David Weindling, Barbara Kalina, Harla Hutchinson, Lilia Chacon, Ann Spittle, Christa Velbel, Norm Spiegel, Jim Maguire, Bennett Hart, Alan Hoffstadter, Laura Putre, Ann Ryan, Howie Anderson, Ronald A. Fox, Daniela Dolak, Kristin Lems, Gene Paquette, Marjorie Huerta, Mary Deady, Judee Barone, Cynde Seegers, Sallie Wolf, Mike Pillatsch and Susan Gregoire.
■ Join ’em this weekend for any amount you choose—even just $1, once—and see your name atop Monday’s roll call.
■ Mike Braden made this edition better.