‘One of the most humiliating moments the United States of America has ever been through.’ That’s Wonkette’s Evan Hurst assessing Donald Trump’s visit with China’s President Xi Jinping.
■ New York Times analysis (gift link): “Trump was flattering, Xi was resolute. The difference spoke volumes.”
■ Columnist Robert Hubbell: Trump’s trip “was a bust.”
■ The Times explains Xi’s reference to the “Thucydides Trap.”
■ Stephen Colbert analyzed the presidents’ handshake.
■ Colbert also burned his own network over its failure to get evening news anchor Tony Doukoupil a visa to cover Trump’s visit: “CBS News: When events happen, we’re at most one country away.”
Pritzker to the hospital. The governor’s staff says he visited a hospital—but wasn’t admitted—for treatment of a “minor complication” from his urology procedure.
■ He was poised for a full schedule today.
‘Didn’t we do that already?’ Mayor Johnson—a former Chicago school teacher—is ruling out any more Chicago school closings, even though dozens are mostly empty.
■ The Chicago schools superintendent has a date with a Republican-controlled U.S. House committee next month to answer questions about the district’s treatment of gender identity and sexual academic content.
Disunion League. The Tribune (gift link) details a lawsuit filed against the Union League Club of Chicago by a man whose membership was suspended for refusing to disinvite his date for a dinner there—the ex-wife of the club’s outgoing president.
■ A Chicago City Council member is suing the city over administrative findings that he directed an employee to issue “unfounded citations” against a vocal critic in his ward.
■ Spirit Airlines workers are suing the company, complaining that its abrupt shutdown violated their rights under federal law.
Dingi of the week. Lyz Lenz’s pick is a tie: Golden idols and cruise ships.
■ Law prof Joyce Vance: “Epstein is no longer front page news. But he should be.”
■ Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich recommends a vocabulary update for those covering Trump, including: Administration → Regime.
■ Everyone Is Entitled to My Own Opinion proprietor Jeff Tiedrich introduces you to “the smitten cultist who finds racist memes for Dear Leader to post.”
■ Columnist Dan Sinker serves up “a pep talk in the face of despair.”
■ Also a perfect 5/5 here this week on City Cast’s Chicago news quiz.
‘Have you ever had mumps? How many total mumps did you have? Did you ever have just the one mump?’ Pulitzer winner Dave Barry questions those questionnaires patients get asked to fill out at doctors’ offices.
■ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina on the hantavirus outbreak: “Leadership at the federal level is nowhere to be found.”
‘A love letter with teeth.’ Critic Bill Carter reviews David Letterman’s farewell visit to Colbert’s show …
■ … in which they engaged in “wanton destruction of CBS property,” tossing stuff off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater.
Actor turned cop. Kevin Michael Doyle—a Carl Sandburg High School graduate who went on to a memorable role as a police officer in the Chicago-based movie The Untouchables before enlisting with the Chicago Police Department for real—is dead at 68.
■ The Tribune profiled him in 2001 (gift link).
Facebook’s ‘slow death’? Columnist Neil Steinberg: “Young people increasingly view Facebook as a folly of the old. I’m starting to agree with them.”
■ Columnist Matt Pearce: “You couldn’t create a more anti-news internet if you tried.”
■ Not surprisingly, they were abuzz about the rise of—stop us if you’ve heard this one—email newsletters.
■ As the Trump regime targets NPR and PBS, The Onion offers tips for supporting public broadcasting, including: “While grocery shopping, text Morning Edition to see if they need anything.”
■ Mike Braden made this edition better.